Walter "Wally" Pfister (born July 8, 1961) is an Academy Award-winning American cinematographer and director, who is best known for his work on Christopher Nolan's films, including Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, and Inception. Pfister is also known for his work on director F. Gary Gray's The Italian Job and Bennett Miller's Moneyball. Pfister is currently making his directorial debut on an untitled project through Alcon Entertainment. Born in Chicago and raised in New York City, Pfister’s 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 neighborhood. The boy was fascinated by the crew setting up lights and cameras. Soon afterwards, he began shooting 8 mm home movies and short films.