David Yates

The English director of the last four Harry Potter films and all three Fantastic Beasts films.

David Yates, born 8 October 1963, is an English filmmaker best known for directing the final four Harry Potter films and the three films of the prequel series Fantastic Beasts. That work brought him critical and commercial success and the British Academy Britannia Award for Excellence in Directing.

He was born in St Helens and raised in the village of Rainhill, and his parents died when he was young. Watching Steven Spielberg's 1975 film Jaws inspired him to pursue a career in filmmaking, and his mother bought him a Super 8mm camera to shoot films in which his friends and family featured.

Quick Facts

Born

8 October 1963

Birthplace

St Helens, England

Alma mater

University of Essex (BA); National Film and Television School

Occupation

Film director
producer
screenwriter

Years active

1988–present

Spouse

Yvonne Walcott

Relatives

Theo Walcott (nephew)

Facts from the source article.

Background

He graduated from the University of Essex in 1987 with a BA in Government, and his 1988 short When I Was a Girl won Best Short Film at the San Francisco International Film Festival, helping him into the National Film and Television School. His feature debut was the 1998 historical drama The Tichborne Claimant with Stephen Fry.

On television he directed the political thriller State of Play in 2003, winning the Directors Guild of Great Britain award, the documentary drama Sex Traffic and the Emmy-winning film The Girl in the Café.

Yates is a founding member of Directors UK, has a close partnership with Warner Bros. as a director and producer, and around 2022 began working through his own company, Wychwood Media.