Peter Deming, (born December 13, 1957) is a Lebanese-born American cinematographer. He is known for long working relationships with the directors David Lynch, Sam Raimi and Wes Craven, and won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography for Lynch's Mulholland Drive (2001).
Career Deming was educated at the University of Wisconsin and the American Film Institute, and began working as a cinematographer in the 1980s. His early features included Sam Raimi's Evil Dead II (1987) and Robert Townsend's Hollywood Shuffle (1987), and he went on to shoot comedies including My Cousin Vinny (1992) and Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997).
Deming first worked with David Lynch in 1992, photographing six episodes of the short-lived comedy series On the Air, which Lynch created with Mark Frost. Lynch subsequently engaged him for the feature Lost Highway (1997), then Mulholland Drive (2001), and finally the 2017 television continuation Twin Peaks, for which Deming received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. Deming has said that Lynch was precise about shot lists but left lighting decisions to him, with the instruction "dark should be darker".
He also photographed several films for Wes Craven, among them Scream 2 (1997), Scream 3 (2000) and Scream 4 (2011), and returned to Raimi for Drag Me to Hell (2009) and Oz the Great and Powerful (2013). Later credits include The Menu (2022) and the television series The Residence (2025).
After Lynch's death in 2025, Deming discussed their working relationship in a joint interview with the cinematographer Frederick Elmes.
Filmography
Feature film Year Title Director1987 Evil Dead II Sam Raimi Hollywood Shuffle Robert Townsend1988 It Takes Two David Beaird Scarecrows William Wesley The Carrier Nathan J. White From Hollywood to Deadwood Rex Pickett Purple People Eater Linda Shayne 1989 Martians Go Home David Odell1990 Why Me? Gene Quintano House Party Reginald Hudlin Book of Love Robert Shaye1991 Drop Dead Fred Ate de Jong Scorchers David Beaird 1992 My Cousin Vinny Jonathan Lynn1993 Loaded Weapon 1 Gene Quintano Son in Law Steve Rash 1994 S.F.W. Jefery Levy 1996 Joe's Apartment John Payson1997 Lost Highway David Lynch Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery Jay Roach Scream 2Wes Craven1999 Music of the Heart Mystery, Alaska Jay Roach 2000 Scream 3 Wes Craven2001 Mulholland Drive David Lynch From Hell Hughes brothers2002 Coney Island Baby Amy Hobby Austin Powers in Goldmember Jay Roach People I Know Daniel Algrant2004 Twisted Philip Kaufman I Heart Huckabees David O. Russell2005 The Jacket John Maybury Rumor Has It Rob Reiner2007 Lucky You Curtis Hanson Married Life Ira Sachs 2008 The Love Guru Marco Schnabel 2009 Drag Me to Hell Sam Raimi 2010 Last Night Massy Tadjedin 2011 Scream 4 Wes Craven The Cabin in the Woods Drew Goddard 2013 Oz the Great and Powerful Sam Raimi 2016 Now You See Me 2 Jon M. Chu2020 Capone Josh Trank The New Mutants Josh Boone2022 The Menu Mark Mylod Shotgun Wedding Jason Moore 2026 The Whisper Man James Ashcroft
Acting roles Year Title Role Notes 1997 Scream 2 Popcorn boy 2000 Scream 3 Man Eating Popcorn on Studio Tour Uncredited
Television Year Title Director Notes 1992 On the Air Lesli Linka GlatterJack FiskJonathan SangerBetty Thomas 6 episodes 1993 Key West David BeairdChuck BowmanJames Frawley 3 episodes 2008 Cashmere Mafia Peyton Reed Episode "Pilot" 2016 The Toycracker: A Mini-Musical Spectacular Andreas NilssonHenry SedlerPaul Nguyen TV short;With Robert Yeoman 2017 Twin Peaks David Lynch Season 3 2026 Spider-Noir Alethea Jones Episodes "Betrayal" and "Nightmare on a Gurney"
Miniseries Year Title Director Notes 1993 Hotel Room David LynchJames Signorelli 2020 The Good Lord Bird 2023 The Continental: From the World of John Wick Albert Hughes Episode "Night 3: Theatre of Pain" 2025 The Residence Jaffar Mahmood 4 episodes
TV movies Year Title Director Notes1994 Cosmic Slop Reginald HudlinWarrington HudlinKevin Rodney Sullivan Last Days of Russell Reginald Hudlin With Brett King 2000 If These Walls Could Talk 2 Anne Heche Segment "2000"
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Title Result 1990Independent Spirit AwardsBest Cinematography House Party 2001Mulholland Drive New York Film Critics Circle Best Cinematographer Chicago Film Critics Association Best Cinematography 2017 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Cinematography Twin Peaks
References
External links Peter Deming at Movies.com