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. 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 studied art history at Harvard University, where he was an All-American sabreman for the fencing team.

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, 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. 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.

Personal life

Heyman currently lives in Pimlico, London, and is married to interior designer Rose Uniacke (née Batstone). They have one son, Harper Heyman. He is stepfather to four children from her previous marriage.

Filmography

He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

Film

Television

Awards and nominations