David Yates

David Yates (born 8 October 1963) is an English filmmaker, who has directed feature films, short films, and television productions. He is best known for directing the final four films in the Harry Potter series and the three films of its prequel series, Fantastic Beasts. His work on the Harry Potter series brought him critical and commercial success along with accolades, such as the British Academy Britannia Award for Excellence in Directing. Yates directed various short films and became a television director early in his career. His credits include the six-part political thriller State of Play (2003), for which he won the Directors Guild of Great Britain Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement, the adult two-part documentary drama Sex Traffic (2004) and the Emmy Award-winning television film The Girl in the Café (2005). Yates is a founding member of Directors UK. He has had a close partnership with Warner Bros. as a director and producer. Early life David was born on 8 October 1963 in St Helens, Lancashire, England. His parents died when he was young. Raised in the village of Rainhill, Yates was inspired to pursue a career in filmmaking after watching Steven Spielberg's 1975 movie Jaws. Yates's mother bought him a Super 8mm camera. He used this to shoot various films in which his friends and family featured. One such film, The Ghost Ship, was shot on board the vessel where his uncle worked as a cook. He attended Grange Park High School, St Helens College and then the University of Essex. Yates said that he "used to skive off college all the time" and never expected to join university before being surprised by his A-Level exam results. While at the University of Essex, Yates formed the Film and Video Production Society. He graduated with a BA in Government in 1987.