David Heyman

David Jonathan Heyman (born 26 July 1961) is an English film producer and the founder of Heyday Films. In 1999, he secured the film rights to the Harry Potter film series and went on to produce all eight instalments, becoming one of the most central crew members over the course of the eight films. In 2013, as the producer of Gravity, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture and won a BAFTA Award for Best British Film, his second collaboration with director Alfonso Cuarón after Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Early life
Heyman was born in London. He is the son of John Heyman, producer of the films The Go-Between and Jesus, and Norma Heyman (née Parnell), an actress, and Academy Award-nominated producer of the films Dangerous Liaisons and Mrs Henderson Presents. His paternal grandparents were German Jews who left Nazi Germany and emigrated to England prior to World War II, while his mother's family was English. At age seven, he was a page boy in the wedding of his godmother, Diana Dors, to actor Alan Lake. Heyman went to Westminster School and, following graduation, he decided to study abroad. He earned a degree in Art History from Harvard University in 1983.

Career
Heyman started in the film industry as a production assistant on David Lean's A Passage to India, and in 1986, Heyman became a creative executive at Warner Brothers. In the late '80s, he became vice president of United Artists and subsequently embarked on an independent producing career with his first film, Juice, in 1992, followed by the cult "stoner" film The Stoned Age (1994) and others.

In 1997 Heyman returned to London and founded his own production company, Heyday Films. He has since produced a number of films including the popular Harry Potter film adaptations, beginning with 2001's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and ending with 2011's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. Other notable productions during this time include the 2007 blockbuster I Am Legend and the 2008 films The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Is Anybody There?, and Yes Man.

After finishing work on the Harry Potter films, Heyman reunited with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban director Alfonso Cuarón to produce the 2013 science fiction thriller Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. The film grossed more than US$700 million worldwide and was nominated for ten Academy Awards including Best Picture, winning seven including Best Director for Cuarón. He also produced the 2013 comedy We're the Millers and the 2014 family film Paddington, for which he was nominated for the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film.

Heyman produced the Warner Bros. film adaptation of J. K. Rowling's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which was released in November 2016, as well as its 2018 sequel. He is also set to produce Fables, based on the comic book series. He was announced as the producer of the fantasy film The Queen of the Tearling, starring Emma Watson and based on the novel written by Erika Johansen. Warner Bros. has acquired the film rights and will distribute the film.

Heyman is also currently developing projects with Potter director David Yates and has long been developing a film adaptation of Mark Haddon's 2003 novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time with Potter screenwriter Steve Kloves.

It was announced in 2016 that Heyman is partnering with China's Alibaba to produce a movie about Warrior Cats, feral cats who have a complex social hierarchy and take residence in a forest, originally written by Erin Hunter. The release date for the film is yet to be announced, though it is hinted on the back of an Italian version of Starlight, a book in the second series of Warriors, that it could be released in 2018. This is very doubtful though, due to the fact that there are no trailers, or a cast that has been announced.

Personal life
Heyman lives in Pimlico, London, and is married to interior designer Rose (Batstone) Uniacke. They have one son.