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 installments, becoming the most important member of the crew to be involved in all the 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.

Heyman was born in London. He is the son of John Heyman, producer of films such as The Go-Between and Jesus, and Norma Heyman (née Parnell), an actress and Academy Award-nominated producer of 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. He went to Westminster School and, following graduation, he decided to study abroad. He earned a degree in Art History from Harvard University in the U.S. in 1983.

Heyman got his start 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 space thriller Gravity starring Sandra Bullock. The film grossed more than US$700 million worldwide and was nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture. 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.

In 2013 it was announced that Heyman will produce the upcoming Warner Bros. film adaptation of J.K. Rowling's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which will be released on 18 November 2016. He is also set to produce Fables, based on the comic book series. He was announced as the producer of the fantasy film Queen of the Tearling, starring Emma Watson and based on the book 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.

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