# Wally Pfister

Walter C. Pfister (born July 8, 1961) is an American director and former cinematographer.
He's best known for his partnership with filmmaker Christopher Nolan, working as a cinematographer in all his films from 2000 to 2012, with his work in Inception (2010) earning him an Academy Award for Best Cinematography.
Pfister then transitioned to a career as a director, debuting with Transcendence (2014). After that, he worked mostly in commercials and television, including episodes of Flaked and The Tick.

## Early life

Pfister was born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in the New York City suburb of Irvington-on-Hudson. He is the son of Patricia Ann (née Conway) and Walter J. Pfister, Jr. His grandfather was the city editor of a newspaper in Wisconsin. His father, also known as Wally, was a TV news producer, who began his career with CBS-TV in Chicago in 1955. Later, as an executive at ABC News, the elder Pfister worked with David Brinkley and Peter Jennings, covering political conventions, space flights and the civil rights movement.
When Pfister was about 11, a film company shot scenes for Shamus (1973), featuring Burt Reynolds, in his Irvington neighborhood. The boy was fascinated by the crew setting up lights and cameras. Soon afterward, he began shooting 8 mm home movies and short films. Pfister also emulated his father by shooting slides on Kodachrome film and assembling them into shows for family and friends.

## Career

After high school, Pfister found a job as a production assistant at a television station, WMDT-TV, in Salisbury, Maryland. Within a couple of months, he borrowed a CP-16 news camera and began shooting films on weekends, including a visual essay about a Victorian house. "I did these slow, little intricate moves around the architecture of the house", he recalls, "cut it together with music, and showed it to the production manager. They made me a cameraman. I shot very low budget PSAs for $125 a week".
Within a few months, Pfister found a job as a cameraman for a Washington news service, which provided film for TV stations around the country. He covered the United States Congress, the White House and breaking news from 1982 through 1985. In 1985 Pfister began a freelance career shooting documentaries for the PBS series Frontline and industrial videos for various Washington production companies.
In 1988, Robert Altman came to Washington to direct a mini-series for HBO called Tanner '88 (1988). Altman was looking for a real news cameraman to play that role in his show. They hired Pfister and asked him to also shoot some B-roll. When the producers saw his work, they brought Pfister on the show as the second unit cameraman. It was the first time he was exposed to acting and dramatic material.
After that experience, Pfister enrolled at the American Film Institute. During his second year, he collaborated with his classmates on a short film called "Senzeni Na?", which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 1991. The film told the story of a man caught up in the apartheid struggle. Pfister drew on his documentary experience, and lit it darkly and stark, using a single light so the actor could play in and out of that source.
Janusz Kamiński had just graduated from the AFI Conservatory and met Pfister that year. He saw Pfister's film and recruited him as a grip and electrician for various projects, including a few with Phedon Papamichael.
Roger Corman gave Pfister an opportunity to shoot pickup shots and inserts for a Papamichael film. It was the first time he shot a 35 mm film. After that, Pfister handled the second unit for Papamichael on Body Chemistry and also on other Corman films.
Pfister shot The Unborn, his first feature, in 1991. After that, he filmed an array of independent B-movies, typically on 15-day schedules. Many of these early films were directed by Gregory Dark.
In 1995, Papamichael asked Pfister to operate for him on Diane Keaton's Unstrung Heroes (1995).

### Work with Christopher Nolan

In 1998, Pfister shot The Hi-Line in Montana in the dead of winter on a $300,000 budget, which got into the competition at Sundance Film Festival. There, he met Nolan, who had a film at the same festival.
Pfister's first collaboration with Nolan was on the neo-noir thriller Memento (2000), and after that, he became Nolan's regular cinematographer of his subsequent films.
From seven movies directed by Nolan, Pfister received four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, winning one for his work on Inception in 2011.
Pfister has stated that he "turned down many projects (including several Harry Potter films), in some cases just to be available for Nolan, or to stay home with my family."
Their collaboration came to an end in 2012, with The Dark Knight Rises, as he got the chance to direct his first film, Transcendence.
Hoyte van Hoytema then replaced Pfister for Nolan's Interstellar, and after Pfister retired as a cinematographer, Van Hoytema became Nolan's regular, having worked together ever since.

### Directorial work

Pfister made his directorial debut with the science fiction thriller Transcendence in 2014, with Nolan acting as executive producer.
Despite receiving negative reviews and bombing at the box-office, Pfister had stated in 2015 that he is finished with working as a cinematographer and planned to continue as a director.
Ever since, Pfister had worked mostly in commercials and television series, like Flaked and The Tick..

## Personal life

Pfister currently resides in Los Angeles, California with his partner Loan Chabanol and has three children: Nick, actress Claire Julien, and Mia.
He is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) since 2002, and the British Society of Cinematographers (BSC) since 2011.

## Filmography
### Cinematographer

Direct-to-video
| Year | Title | Director |
| 1991 | Lower Level | Kristine Peterson |
| 1992 | Secret Games | Gregory Dark |
| 1992 | Animal Instincts | Gregory Dark |
| 1993 | Stepmonster | Jeremy Stanford |
| 1993 | Amityville: A New Generation | John Murlowski |
| 1993 | Mirror Images 2 | Gregory Dark |
| 1994 | Stranger by Night | Gregory Dark |
| 1995 | The Granny | Luca Bercovici |
| 1997 | A Kid in Aladdin's Palace | Robert L. Levy |
Feature film
| Year | Title | Director |
| 1991 | The Unborn | Rodman Flender |
| 1992 | In the Heat of Passion | Rodman Flender |
| 1992 | Night Rhythms | Gregory Dark |
| 1994 | Object of Obsession | Gregory Dark |
| 1994 | Secret Games 3 | Gregory Dark |
| 1999 | The Hi-Line | Ron Judkins |
| 2000 | Memento | Christopher Nolan |
| 2001 | Scotland, PA | Billy Morrissette |
| 2001 | Rustin | Rick Johnson |
| 2002 | Insomnia | Christopher Nolan |
| 2002 | Laurel Canyon | Lisa Cholodenko |
| 2003 | The Italian Job | F. Gary Gray |
| 2005 | Slow Burn | Wayne Beach |
| 2005 | Batman Begins | Christopher Nolan |
| 2006 | The Prestige | Christopher Nolan |
| 2008 | The Dark Knight | Christopher Nolan |
| 2010 | Inception | Christopher Nolan |
| 2011 | Moneyball | Bennett Miller |
| 2012 | The Dark Knight Rises | Christopher Nolan |
Short film
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1995 | The Last Laugh | Robert Harders | |
| 2010 | Pom Wonderful | François Girard | TV short |
TV movies
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1991 | Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire | Richard Schickel | Documentary film |
| 1992 | Sketch Artist | Phedon Papamichael | |
| 1998 | Rhapsody in Bloom | Craig Saavedra | |
| 1998 | Breakfast with Einstein | Craig Shapiro | |
| 2000 | Sharing the Secret | Katt Shea | |
| 2001 | Sanctuary | Katt Shea | |
TV series
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1993 | 883: Nord sud ovest est | Stefano Salvati | TV special |
| 1995 | Frontline | | Episode "High Stakes in Cyberspace" |

### Director

Film
* Transcendence (2014)
Television
| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2016 | Flaked | 4 episodes |
| 2016–2017 | The Tick | 2 episodes (Also executive producer) |
Commercials
| Year | Title | Brand |
| 2018 | Web of Fries II - Franchise Wars | Taco Bell |
| 2019 | Hope on Wheels It Takes a Village | Hyundai |
| 2021 | Fortune Favors The Brave | Crypto.com |

## Awards and nominations

Academy Awards
| Year | Title | Category | Result |
| 2005 | Batman Begins | Best Cinematography | Nominated |
| 2006 | The Prestige | Best Cinematography | Nominated |
| 2008 | The Dark Knight | Best Cinematography | Nominated |
| 2010 | Inception | Best Cinematography | Won |
BAFTA Awards
| Year | Title | Category | Result |
| 2008 | The Dark Knight | Best Cinematography | Nominated |
| 2010 | Inception | Best Cinematography | Nominated |
American Society of Cinematographers
| Year | Title | Category | Result |
| 2005 | Batman Begins | Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography | Nominated |
| 2008 | The Dark Knight | Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography | Nominated |
| 2010 | Inception | Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography | Won |
Other awards
| Year | Title | Award | Result |
| 2000 | Memento | Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography | Nominated |
| 2005 | Batman Begins | British Society of Cinematographers Award for Best Cinematography | Nominated |
| 2006 | The Prestige | British Society of Cinematographers for Best Cinematography | Nominated |
| 2006 | The Prestige | Gold Derby Award for Best Cinematography | Nominated |
| 2008 | The Dark Knight | Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Cinematography | Won |
| 2008 | The Dark Knight | Gold Derby Award for Best Cinematography | Won |
| 2008 | The Dark Knight | Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography | Won |
| 2008 | The Dark Knight | Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography | Won |
| 2008 | The Dark Knight | Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cinematography | Won |
| 2008 | The Dark Knight | British Society of Cinematographers Award for Best Cinematography | Nominated |
| 2008 | The Dark Knight | Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Cinematography | Nominated |
| 2010 | Inception | Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography | Won |
| 2010 | Inception | Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography | Won |
| 2010 | Inception | San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Cinematography | Won |
| 2010 | Inception | Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Cinematography | Won |
| 2010 | Inception | Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cinematography | Won |
| 2010 | Inception | Satellite Award for Best Cinematography | Won |
| 2010 | Inception | Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Cinematography | Nominated |
| 2010 | Inception | Alliance of Women Film Journalists for Best Cinematography | Nominated |
| 2010 | Inception | British Society of Cinematographers Award for Best Cinematography | Nominated |
| 2010 | Inception | Camerimage Golden Frog | Nominated |
| 2010 | Inception | Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography | Nominated |
| 2010 | Inception | Gold Derby Award for Best Cinematography | Nominated |
| 2010 | Inception | Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography | Nominated |
| 2012 | The Dark Knight Rises | Hollywood Film Award for Best Cinematography | Won |