The name of David Yates is familiar to many modern viewers through films about the wizard Harry Potter. It was his participation in this famous franchise that made him famous, allowing him to shoot box office films. Moreover, it became known that David Yates will work on new paintings by the writer Joan Rowling. This article will tell about the biography of the sought-after director and his creative path.
Early childhood and education
The future world famous director was born in Lancashire, United Kingdom. His parents died when he was a child, so the young David Yates, whose films in the future will be known throughout the world, was forced to move to the village of Rainhill. As the director himself recalls, his interest in cinema arose in his early childhood. Shortly before his death, his mother gave him an amateur video camera, on which he shot his first films. They usually captured the friends and close relatives of the teenager. Already in his school years, he definitely decided that he would become a director, inspired by Steven Spielberg's film "Jaws".
After graduating from high school, David Yates goes to college, where he studies sociology and English literature. And then he enters the University of Essex, receiving education already in the desired specialty. While studying here in 1988, he makes his first short film, When I was a Girl, which touches on military subjects. The short was shown at several major festivals and even won the Grand Prix in San Francisco. The sudden success allows him to become a student of the National School of Film and Television, where he was immediately noticed by employees of the British television company BBC.
Career start and first job
With the support of the BBC, in 1991 a new short film, Lemons and Oranges, was released, which is considered his first serious professional work. In the years 1994-1995, David Yates shot several episodes of the series “Purely English Murder”, but they did not bring him success or new proposals. Most of the time he was creating his own short films. His first feature film, The Candidate for the Tichborn Legacy, was not released until 1998.
In 2000, he returned to television, where he filmed the series "Roads that we choose" (2001). He was subsequently awarded the prestigious BAFTA Award for his work on this project. A year later, his short film “Somali Runaways” repeats his success, receiving a grand prize in the category “Best Short Film”. Having achieved such success, the director forced to draw attention to himself, and the producers began to attract him to larger projects.
The path to fame
The first major work of the director was the mini-series "The Big Game". David Yates, whose photo is presented in our article, attracted many British celebrities to this project. The main roles were played by John Simm, James McAvoy, Kelly MacDonald, Bill Niley. The series received good reviews from film critics, received several major awards, and also fell in love with viewers. Hollywood producers for some time even discussed the possible release of a feature film shot based on his motives. The director’s next project was the film “Here are the Guests, ” starring the famous Hugh Laurie. Yeats also worked on Sex Traffick (2004) and Cafe Girl (2005), which were warmly received by the public.
Harry Potter Films
David Yates, whose filmography includes more than 35 works, owes the success of the Harry Potter films. In 2005, after a series of successful projects, he was included in the list of possible candidates applying for a director’s chair in the future fifth franchise film. Thanks to the recommendations of eminent actors with whom Yates worked in the past, he was able to get this job. The film "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" was released on the big screens in 2007. Spectators and critics praised the work of the director, but some of them were unhappy with the large number of cut scenes from the book.
The high box office grossing of the film (about $ 1 billion worldwide) allowed the director to continue working on the next film adaptations of the books. In 2009, the sixth part of the Half-Blood Prince franchise was released, which even received an Oscar nomination. The next novel, Deathly Hallows, was decided to be divided into two parts. Each of them was entrusted to shoot David Yates. Thus, he became the only director who filmed more than two franchise books. Films were released in 2010 and 2011, collecting a huge box office.
Modern period
The immense popularity of Harry Potter films allowed Yeats to take on high-budget projects. However, after completing work on the final installment of Deathly Hallows, he returned to television, where he shot a pilot episode of the Tirana series. It was well received by the audience, so the creators extended it for several seasons, which were produced by David Yates. "Karate Kid 2" was also supposed to be the next work of the director, but he rejected the offer of the film studio.
In 2015, it was announced that the director will work on the film "Tarzan. Legend", which starred Alexander Skarsgard and Margot Robbie.
