Erik Messerschmidt

After relocating to Los Angeles, Messerschmidt served as a gaffer on TV series like Bones, Everybody Hates Chris, and Mad Men. He also gained experience as a director of photography while shooting commercials, short films, and documentaries.

Messerschmidt had a working relationship with cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth, who recommended him to David Fincher. Fincher hired him as a gaffer on Gone Girl and, later, as director of photography for most episodes of Mindhunter.^[4][5][6]

With Mindhunter, Messerschmidt explained that the color palette, "has a desaturated green-yellow look... [it] helps give the show its period feel". He stated the effect is achieved through production design, costumes and filming locations—not necessarily through lighting used on set.^[7][8]

In 2024, he shot an advertisement for the virtual reality game Batman: Arkham Shadow.^[9]

He is set to serve as the cinematographer of The Batman: Part II (2027) for director Matt Reeves,^[10] replacing Greig Fraser.

Messerschmidt was born in Portland, Maine, and grew up in Cape Elizabeth.^[11][12]

He studied film production at Emerson College in Boston, where he was a classmate of filmmaker Jeremiah Zagar and served as co-director of photography on Zagar's award-winning indie documentary In a Dream (2008).^[13]

In May 2020, he married Naiara Eizaguirre-Paulos.^[14][15]

In January 2025, Messerschmidt's home in Altadena, California was destroyed by the Eaton Fire. He was in Spain with Eizaguirre-Paulos and their newborn daughter at the time.^[16]