MuggleNet Report: 60 Minutes with David Heyman

by · June 12, 2016

David Heyman, award-winning producer of Paddington, Gravity, and of course, the Harry Potter series, recently participated in the China Exchange’s Prudential Series. Speaking for just 60 minutes, including audience questions, the talk covered Heyman’s career, his thoughts on the film industry, and bringing the wizarding world from page to screen.

MuggleNet was in attendance to bring you the highlights.

After introductions from Sir David Tang, the China Exchanges’ Chairman, and summary of how much the Potter series has made – cuing some considerable face-pulling from Heyman – Tang quickly navigates the Q&A to talk of Potter and how Heyman came to secure the rights.

There are always two tales to every story, and Heyman’s doesn’t quite tally with Nisha Parti’s memories, but timescales aside, Heyman talks openly of how quickly he fell for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Characters and themes are Heyman’s driving forces for making a film, and Harry Potter has these by the bucket load. The book’s message of friendship and loyalty touched him, as did the feelings of loneliness.

After finishing the book in the same evening, Heyman promptly looked into obtaining the rights. While still unpublished, there was some activity surrounding Philosopher Stone’s. HeyDay certainly wasn’t the first or only company to read the novel, but other companies had chosen not to pursue it. Even so, there was still the lengthy process of convincing Warner Bros. to develop it, with whom Heyman had a “first look” deal, and pitching the film to Jo herself.

He fondly recalls taking Jo to lunch the day the day after she had won an award and was a little worse for wears; he admits a fish restaurant may not have been the best place to take her! Over the course of the meal, Heyman sought to find matching cultural touch points, any tangible connection, that would connect them and bring her on board. Clearly, he succeeded!

In the grand scheme of things, the rights didn’t cost a huge amount of money – it will still just one novel by a debut author and as yet unpublished in the USA. But once secured, they set about casting.

The story of discovering Daniel Radcliffe for Harry feels like the stuff of movie legends these days, but hearing it directlu from Heyman makes it seems every more unbelievable.

After months of auditions in the UK, US, and Australia, Heyman was really starting to panic; they were weeks from shooting and still didn’t have their lead. And then one evening at the theater, Heyman spotted a child a few rows in front of him, with dark hair and bright blue eyes. Before he could process the discovery of the perfect Potter, Heyman heard his name being called and looked up to see the boy’s father was an old acquaintance. Unfortunately, in the post-show rush, Heyman didn’t get the chance to speak with Daniel but promptly called his father at 9 a.m. the following morning to ask for a meeting. Rather perfectly, Chris Columbus already had his eyes on Radcliffe, having seen him in the television film David Copperfield.

Given Heyman’s successes, he is a humble and self-deprecating man and quite critical of his own work. He is also very hesitant to call out favorites. The Potter series has been, and still is, a huge part of Heyman’s life. During the making of the films, he fell in love, got married, and became a father. Each of these moments is attached to a different film from the series, and as such, each film has its own individual meaning.

He is, however, incredibly generous of his praise for other people, especially the films’ directors.

He talks of how each director brought his own thing to the film series and his own understandings of what was important. He specifically recalls being rather nervous when Mike Newell, director of Goblet of Fire, said he wished to “make a Bollywood movie,” but when they broke it down, he understood Newell’s desire to create a spectacle.

Of all the directors, he speaks most enthusiastically of Alfonso Cuarón, with whom he went on to create Gravity.

He is just a master. He made [Potter] a little darker, more contemporary.

Looking forward to the future, Heyman obviously holds back on any discussions of Fantastic Beasts, but he does speak generously to the first audience question, on issues of secrecy and publicity.

Overall, he appears incredibly excited for the project and pleased to be back in the wizarding world.

Speaking of which, will he be attending Cursed Child?

[I] haven’t seen it but going to. The team is great – I’m currently working with Jack Thorne. And everything Jo touches is [magic].

For more MuggleNet coverage from this Prudential Series event, check out MuggleNet Live’s Twitter account.

The Prudential Series curates accomplished speakers to discuss their extraordinary lives and achievements and has featured the likes of Jude Law and Joseph Fiennes. To book tickets for future talks and discover more about the work of the China Exchange, visit their website.