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David Heyman is a British film producer who has worked on many films. He is the main producer of all the Harry Potter films, Fantastic Beasts films, and the Harry Potter television series.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Heyman was born in London, England in 1961. He went to school in the United States, earning a degree in Art History from Harvard University in 1983.
Career[]
David Heyman first worked in the film industry as a production assistant, before producing his first film, Juice, in 1992, followed by the cult "stoner" film The Stoned Age (1994).
Heyman enjoyed some success as an executive in America before returning to London to found his own production company, Heyday Films, in 1997. In 1997, his secretary Nisha Parti read the first book Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and told him that it would be a good candidate for a film adaptation. He read the book and immediately acquired the rights.[1] He has since produced a number of notable films, the best known of which are the Harry Potter film adaptations, beginning with the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 2001, and ending with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. He later produced Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016), Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018), and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022). In 2005, Heyman was the executive producer of the CBS television series Threshold. He has also produced the 2007 blockbuster I Am Legend with Will Smith, the Holocaust drama The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas starring David Thewlis, Yes Man starring Jim Carrey, and produced the John Crowley movie Is Anybody There? starring Michael Caine.
Heyman is the son of John Heyman, producer of films such as The Go-Between and Jesus, and Norma Heyman, producer of Dangerous Liaisons and Mrs Henderson Presents. Heyman is married to an interior designer, Rose Uniacke.
He is attached as an executive producer on the upcoming Harry Potter television series.[2]
Notable awards and nominations[]
Awards[]
Nominations[]
- Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film in 2005 for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- BAFTA Children's Award for Best Feature Film in 2005 for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film in 2002 for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
- BAFTA Children's Award for Best Feature Film in 2001 for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Behind the scenes[]
- In 2012, Heyman stated regarding the visual effects of the earlier Harry Potter films: "I look at some of the first film [made in 2001] and want to cringe." He also was shocked by some of the early-marketing efforts, including Harry Potter-themed toilet paper, but was impressed when Warner Bros. reined it in.[3]
- Heyman made cameo appearances in portraits in the films, as Cottismore Croyne in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, as one of the Healers in a portrait in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix[4] and a Dining Family Wizard in Painting in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.