The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has announced that Larry Chernoff has been named 2017 recipient of the prized HPA Lifetime Achievement Award. Chernoff will receive the award during the HPA Awards gala on November 16, 2017, at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. The HPA Lifetime Achievement Award is given to an individual who is recognized for service and commitment to the professional media content industry. The mission of the award is to give recognition to individuals who have, with great service, dedicated their careers to the betterment of the industry. The Lifetime Achievement Award is given at the discretion of the HPA Board and Awards Committee and it is not required to be bestowed every year.
As the recipient of the Los Angeles Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 1997, Chernoff is recognized as a talented entrepreneur, helping to found and lead several successful postproduction companies that, in turn, have launched hundreds of postproduction careers. He has built companies and impacted the industry by fostering innovation and by nurturing talented young people to develop their craft, believing that they are the key to a company’s, and hence the industry’s, future. At the vanguard of inventive, creative and collaborative professionals who have led the postproduction industry, he is a tireless champion of the industry, a keen interpreter of its strengths and needs, and an architect of its future.
Chernoff grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and attended New York’s School of Visual Arts. Between high school and college, at the age of 18, he landed a job as a “can carrier” at a commercial production house. Once there, he learned to sync dailies. When an editor called in sick, he was asked to fill in, thus beginning his editing career.
In 1974, Chernoff moved to Los Angeles and joined Filmcore, a recently formed commercial editing company. Within two years he became partner, going on to play a lead role in the founding of post houses Encore and R!OT. He served as president of 4MC, later Ascent Media Creative Services, overseeing operations in Los Angeles, New York and London.
Chernoff joined MTI Film as a board member in 2003 and was elevated to CEO in 2005. Under his stewardship, the company has become a leading independent provider of postproduction finishing and restoration services. Its software division has been the source of products including DRS™ NOVA, an industry standard tool for digital restoration, and CORTEX, a family of solutions for dailies processing and workflow management.
In announcing the award, HPA president Seth Hallen said, “Larry is one of the most thoughtful and insightful leaders I have ever known. His sense of the industry, his understanding of its trends, and his ability to build successful facilities where creative people love to work make him incredibly worthy of this Lifetime Achievement Award. On a daily basis, I meet people who got their start under his tutelage. Larry has literally helped build the future of our industry through the talent he’s nurtured, the companies he’s built, and the innovations he’s created. I extend my congratulations to a brilliant and inspiring leader.”
Chernoff said “I am, of course, honored to be recognized by my peers. I follow an illustrious list of previous honorees who, like me, have dedicated their professional lives to the advancement of postproduction and its standing in the industry. I share this award with many people who have consistently partnered with me to create outstanding contributions to the work and industry we love.”
In addition to The Lifetime Achievement Award, other special awards, including Engineering Excellence, The Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation, and honors in 12 creative categories (editing, visual effects, sound and color grading for features, TV and commercials) will be bestowed at the gala.
