Early life and career Chorney was born in
Washington, D.C. and raised in
Buffalo, New York. Having had no formal art education, he moved to
Southern California in 1971 to pursue his dream of becoming a visual artist. "My father was trained as a
commercial artist in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It may be said that he made the largest impact on my decision to follow this chosen field." Chorney landed a position with a small independent agency on the
Sunset Strip in Hollywood, animating and designing television commercials. In 1976, his entry to the
Chicago International Film Festival garnered the First Place Award for Animated Television Commercials. Later, while creating numerous
freelance assignments for the recording industry the marketing departments of some of the major Hollywood studios began to take note. "A turning point came" relates the artist, "with the creation of a movie poster design for the film
Lassiter starring
Tom Selleck and
Jane Seymour." The bold approach was a departure from the standard montage often seen. Others took note as well, and the assignments began to come in. "I like to think it was something I did...but more truthfully, I was in the right place at the right time," he said.
Later career Over the 1983-86 period, Chorney created dramatic illustrations for over 50
TV Guide advertisements for CBS and
NBC television programs, including,
Dynasty,
Miami Vice, Mickey Spillane's
Mike Hammer, Private Eye,
T.J. Hooker, and
Cagney and Lacey. In 1987 his work on the popular television series
Designing Women won First Place in
The Hollywood Reporter Key Art Awards for Television. The artist's drawing skills and dramatic technique have been applied to over 120 motion picture campaigns for many of the major studios including
Disney,
MGM,
Universal and
Warner Bros. As an example, the artwork for the poster
Stakeout highlights Steven's skills as a motion picture industry illustrator working under pressure with tight deadlines in a production environment. Recognized for his design and conceptual abilities, Chorney was frequently enlisted to develop the preliminary designs for the final movie posters on films as diverse as
Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the James Bond film
Licence to Kill,
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and many more. for the film
Inherent Vice; his work, along with the creative design team at BLT Communications, Ltd, was awarded three Clio Entertainment Awards (1 Grand, 2 Gold), for the Domestic One-Sheet Poster, Illustrated Character Campaign, and Dimensional Billboard. ==Present==