Location Managers Guild International to Honor Director David Yates with Eva Monley Award
David Yates, director of the last four Harry Potter films and the Fantastic Beasts movies, is set to receive the Eva Monley Award by the Location Managers Guild International (LMGI), a professional organization that supports location managers and scouts. The virtual ceremony will be held on October 23 at 2:00 p.m. PDT.
In the entertainment industry, a location professional’s primary responsibilities include seeking out and setting up an appropriate place to film any given television series or movie. Usually, that involves finding the perfect location that fits into the director’s vision for the scene and then coordinating the logistics to shoot in that environment, such as securing permits. For context, many of the real-life filming locations from the Harry Potter movies that we can currently visit in the United Kingdom were likely featured due to the work of a location professional. If you’re ever on a tour of Potter shooting sites, be sure to quietly thank a location professional somewhere for leading you to what is likely to be a beautiful setting.
On October 23, the LMGI will hold its eighth annual LMGI Awards, where it will honor Yates with the Eva Monley Award for demonstrating “above and beyond” support of location professionals and for making “full use of his location professionals’ work.”

David Yates, director of the last four “Harry Potter” movies, will be honored with the Eva Monley Award by the Locational Managers Guild International.
Overall, the last few months have been very good for Yates. In August, it was announced that he will be directing a new film at Sony Pictures, and just last week, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore dominated the news cycle with its new title, updated release date, and synopsis.
The LMGI Awards will be held on Saturday, October 23 at 2:00 p.m. PDT. Be sure to register to stream the ceremony.
Which Potter filming locations have you visited? Have you ever been somewhere where you thought it would have been a perfect site for a scene from Potter? Let us know in the comments, and tag us on Instagram with any photos of Potter filming locations.