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 and has had a close partnership with Warner Bros. as a director and producer. Around 2022, he began working through his own production company, Wychwood Media.
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