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David Yates

David Yates is an award-winning director, who has been primarily best known for his television work.

Yates won his first BAFTA TV Award for his work on the BBC miniseries The Way We Live Now, a period drama starring Matthew Macfadyen and Miranda Otto. In 2003, he directed the drama series State of Play, for which he received a BAFTA TV Award nomination and won the Directors Guild of Great Britain (DGGB) Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement. The project also won the Broadcasting Press Guild Award, the Royal Television Society (RTS) Award, and Banff Television Festival's Rockie Award for Best Series.

The following year, Yates directed the gritty two-part drama Sex Traffic, for which he won another BAFTA TV Award and earned his second DGGB Award nomination. The unflinching look at sex trafficking also won a number of international awards, including eight BAFTA TV and four RTS Awards, both including Best Drama, as well as the Jury Prize for Best Miniseries at the Reims International Television Festival, and a Golden Nymph at the Monte Carlo Television Festival.

Yates more recently earned an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special for his work on the 2005 HBO movie The Girl in the Café, a love story starring Bill Nighy and Kelly Macdonald. His other television credits include the telefilm The Young Visitors, starring Jim Broadbent and Hugh Laurie, and the miniseries The Sins, starring Pete Postlethwaite and Geraldine James.

Yates grew up in St. Helens, Merseyside, and studied Politics at the University of Essex and at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. He began his directing career with the short film When I Was a Girl, which he also wrote. The film brought him the prize for Best European Short Film at the Cork International Film Festival in Ireland and a Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco Film Festival. It also assured his entrance into the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, England.

His graduation film, Good Looks, won a Silver Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival. In 1998, Yates made his feature film directorial debut with The Tichborne Claimant, starring Stephen Fry and John Gielgud. His most recent short film, 2002's Rank, was nominated for a BAFTA Award.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2008.

David Yates Facts

OccupationDirector
BirthplaceSt. Helens, Merseyside, England, United Kingdom

Selected Filmography

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
The Legend of Tarzan
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Harry Potter: The Complete 8-Film Collection
Bonus Content: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II
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