Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

Synopsis

At the end of the first film, the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald was captured
by MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America), with the help of Newt Scamander. But, making good on his threat, Grindelwald escaped custody and has set about
gathering followers, most unsuspecting of his true agenda: to raise pure-blood wizards up to rule over
all non-magical beings.
In an effort to thwart Grindelwald’s plans, Albus Dumbledore enlists his former student
Newt Scamander, who agrees to help, unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. Lines are drawn as love
and loyalty are tested, even among the truest friends and family, in an increasingly divided wizarding
world.

Biography

David Yates is an English filmmaker who helmed the last four HARRY POTTER films and the
FANTASTIC BEASTS films.
In 2016, he directed the action adventure THE LEGEND OF TARZAN, starring Alexander Skarsgård,
Margot Robbie, Samuel L. Jackson and Christoph Waltz.
Yates won his first BAFTA 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 Award nomination and won the Directors Guild of
Great Britain (DGGB) Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement.
His other television work includes the gritty two-part drama SEX TRAFFIC, which won a number of
international awards, including eight BAFTA and four RTS Awards, both including Best Drama, as
well as the Jury Prize for Best Miniseries at the Reims International Television Festival.
Yates 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 CAFE, a love story starring
Bill Nighy and Kelly Macdonald.
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 award-winning
short film WHEN I WAS A GIRL, which he also wrote.