Schiessler grew up in Baden-Baden. In 1979 he moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and later started to study film at the Simon Fraser University. After his graduation as a Cinematographer, he started to work on documentary films and advertisement spots. In the late 1980s, he started to work for Canadian television productions. In 1997 he moved to Los Angeles, where he worked on the production of movies like Dreamgirls, Hancock and Battleship. He often works with the Directors Bill Condon and Peter Berg. He is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers.
