David Heyman
{{Short description|British film producer (born 1961)}}
{{other uses}}
{{distinguish|David Hayman|David Heymann (architect)|David Hyman}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox person
|name = David Heyman
|image = Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Japan Premiere Red Carpet- David Heyman (35622208766).jpg
|caption = Heyman in 2016
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1961|7|26}}
|birth_place = London, England
|occupation = Producer
Founder of Heyday Films
|education = Westminster School
|alma_mater = Harvard University
|spouse = Rose Uniacke
|employer = Heyday Films
|children = Harper Heyman
|notable_works = Harry Potter
|birth_name = David Jonathan Heyman
|parents = John Heyman
Norma Heyman
}}
David Jonathan Heyman (born 26 July 1961) is a British film producer and the founder of Heyday Films. Heyman is best known as the producer of all eight installments of the Harry Potter film series, which are based on a series of popular fantasy novels of the same name by author J. K. Rowling. He then produced all three installments of its spin-off prequel series, Fantastic Beasts. His work makes him the second-most commercially successful producer of all time.
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 Pownall), an actress, and Oscar-nominated producer of the films Dangerous Liaisons and Mrs Henderson Presents.{{cite news|first=Geoffrey|last=MacNab|title=David Heyman: Man behind the magic |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/david-heyman-man-behind-the-magic-2305637.html |work=The Independent |date=2011-07-02 |access-date=2012-10-29 |location=London}}{{cite web|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20075997,00.html|title=If You Missed the Book, Try the Movies; John Heyman Is Filming the Bible – Vol. 13 No. 10|date=10 March 1980|access-date=19 March 2012|archive-date=15 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915011532/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20075997,00.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0382278/bio|title=Norma Heyman|website=IMDb}} 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.{{Cite web|url=https://jewishjournal.com/culture/arts/65859/|title=Producer David Heyman and the lives of outsiders, from 'Potter' to 'Pajamas'|last=Pfefferman|first=Naomi|date=11 September 2008|website=Jewish Journal|access-date=18 January 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://jewishjournal.com/culture/arts/94181/|title="Harry Potter" Producer David Heyman's Jewish Connection|last=Pfefferman|first=Naomi|date=14 July 2011|website=Jewish Journal|access-date=18 January 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/esmagazine/pulling-power-meet-david-heyman-the-super-producer-behind-gravity-9047145.html|title=Pulling power: meet David Heyman, the super-producer behind Gravity|last=Curtis|first=Nick|date=10 January 2014|website=Evening Standard|access-date=18 January 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2017/film/news/john-heyman-dead-dies-producer-1202460783/|title=John Heyman, Distinguished Financier and Producer, Dies at 84|last=Dagan|first=Carmel|date=9 June 2017|website=Variety|access-date=18 January 2019}} At age seven, he was a page boy in the wedding of his godmother, Diana Dors, to actor Alan Lake.{{cite web|publisher=Getty Images|title=Diana Dors Arrives For Her Wedding|date=23 November 1968|url=https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/actress-diana-dors-in-white-lace-cape-over-white-dress-with-news-photo/830284020}} Heyman went to Westminster School and, following graduation, he decided to study abroad. He studied art history at Harvard University,{{cite web | url=https://jewishjournal.com/culture/arts/65859/ | title=Producer David Heyman and the lives of outsiders, from 'Potter' to 'Pajamas' | date=11 September 2008 }}{{cite web| title='Gravity' film producer David Heyman on venturing into the unknown| last=Berglof| first=Annie Maccoby| url=https://www.ft.com/content/1ca52ad4-9af6-11e3-946b-00144feab7de| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221211231229/https://www.ft.com/content/1ca52ad4-9af6-11e3-946b-00144feab7de| archive-date=11 December 2022| url-access=subscription| url-status=live| publisher=Financial Times| date=February 28, 2014| access-date=April 1, 2022}} where he was an All-American sabreman for the fencing team.{{Cite web |title=Swordsmen Foil Cornell, 17-10; Women Fencers Succumb, 10-6 {{!}} Sports {{!}} The Harvard Crimson |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1982/2/16/swordsmen-foil-cornell-17-10-women-fencers/ |access-date=2022-12-13 |website=www.thecrimson.com}}
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 Bros., and he was assistant to Mark Canton. In 1987, he became vice president of United Artists, which joined a series of changes as original production VPs had quit,{{Cite news |date=1987-11-25 |title=David Heyman To United Artists As Production Veep; Draizin Exists |page=29 |work=Variety}} 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 Harry Potter film adaptations. 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 $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.{{cite news|title=Harry Potter producer talks about upcoming Fantastic Beasts spinoff|url=http://insidemovies.ew.com/2013/10/02/harry-potter-fantastic-beasts-david-heyman/|access-date=4 March 2014|newspaper=Entertainment Weekly|date=2 October 2013}}{{cite news|title=New J.K. Rowling Movie Gets Release Date|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/new-jk-rowling-movie-fantastic-703759/|access-date=13 May 2014|newspaper=The Hollywood Reporter|date=13 May 2014}}
In 2020, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood with Quentin Tarantino, and both of them were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. In addition, Heyman was also nominated for the same award for Marriage Story with Noah Baumbach.
In 2023, he produced Barbie, which became the highest-grossing Warner Bros. film, surpassing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, which he also produced. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture for Barbie.
In March 2025, Amazon MGM Studios announced that Heyman and Amy Pascal would oversee the Bond film franchise moving forward and produce future installments in the series through their Pascal Pictures and Heyday Films banners, respectively.{{cite web|title=Amazon's James Bond Franchise Officially Sets Amy Pascal, David Heyman as Producers of New Film|website=Variety|first=Alex|last=Ritman|date=25 March 2025|access-date=25 March 2025|url=https://variety.com/2025/film/news/james-bond-amazon-amy-pascal-david-heyman-producers-1236347697/}}
Personal life
Heyman currently lives in Pimlico, London, and is married to interior designer Rose Uniacke (née Batstone). They have one son, Harper Heyman.[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/david-heyman-man-behind-the-magic-2305637.html "David Heyman: Man behind the magic"]. The Independent. Retrieved 16 January 2014{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/02/17/t-magazine/17well-rose.html | work=The New York Times | title=Grand Simplicity | date=15 February 2013}}{{Cite web|last=Withers |first=Jane |title=Meet the Interior Designer Beloved by the Beckhams and Jo Malone |publisher=Vogue|date=21 February 2017 |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/interior-designer-rosie-uniacke-house-london }} He is stepfather to four children from her previous marriage.
Filmography
He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.
=Film=
;As an actor
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! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes | |||
| 1970 | Bloomfield | Eldad | |
| 1998 | Cookin' | Pinot NOir | Short film |
| 1999 | Ravenous | Mr. Janus | |
| 2000 | Whipped | Suit | |
| 2006 | Heartless | Ted | Short film |
| 2007 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Healer in Portrait | Uncredited |
| 2011 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 | Dining Wizard in Painting | Uncredited |
;Thanks
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| align="center"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role | ||
| 2004 | My Summer of Love | Special thanks |
=Television=
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:100%;" | |||
| align="center"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Credit ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes | |||
| 1994 | Blind Justice | Television film | |
| 2005 | Threshold | Executive producer | |
| 2010 | Awkward Situations for Men | Executive producer | Television film |
| 2011 | Page Eight | Television film | |
| 2013 | The Thirteenth Tale | Television film | |
| rowspan=2| 2014 | Turks & Caicos | Executive producer | Television film |
| Salting the Battlefield | Executive producer | Television film | |
| 2018 | The Long Song | Executive producer | |
| rowspan=2| 2019 | The InBetween | Executive producer | |
| The Capture | Executive producer | ||
| 2020 | The Adventures of Paddington | Executive producer | |
| 2021 | Clickbait | Executive producer | |
| 2024 | Apples Never Fall | Executive producer |
Awards and nominations
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|382268}}
- [http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2008/9/19/tlc-talks-to-david-heyman-on-hbp-move-deathly-hallows-scripts-and-more/ Interview with David Heyman about The Boy In The Striped Pajamas and Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20120223141929/http://thecia.com.au/reviews/b/images/boy-in-the-striped-pyjamas-production-notes.doc Boy in the Striped Pajamas Interview & Biographies]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20140304145829/http://www.filmjournal.com/filmjournal/content_display/news-and-features/features/movies/e3i405cd9674fbdfea5c6964ee9c41b8129 Film Journal International: David Heyman Interview]
- [http://www.mugglenet.com/app/news/show/3569 Interview with David Heyman about the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and his projects after the Harry Potter films end] ([http://traffic.libsyn.com/mugglecast/mc2010_06_09.mp3 Direct audio link to the interview]{{Dead link|date=January 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }})
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for David Heyman
|list =
{{David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heyman, David}}
Category:British film production company founders
Category:Businesspeople from the City of Westminster
Category:English people of German-Jewish descent
Category:Film producers from London
Category:Golden Globe Award–winning producers
Category:Harvard University alumni