Harry Potter director David Yates is attached to direct an adaptation of Emma Forrest’s Your Voice In My Head, which has been developed by Ruby Films.

The project has been developed by Ruby Films with development funding from the BFI Film Fund. It is based on the memoir by UK writer Emma Forrest that explores breakdown and mania. Forrest has written the screenplay, which Alison Owen will produce.

Warner Bros is part funding the film, set in New York, London and Istanbul.

Yates says he is deliberately making a smaller-scale project in the wake of Harry Potter, having directed four films in the franchise. The final film, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 has made over $1.3bn worldwide.

“It’s about a young woman who self harms and she visits this psychiatrist who helps her to learn to live again,” Yates said. “It’s got very heightened, odd moments in it that are slightly trippy.”

“Emma is a extraordinary talent who is bringing a beautiful, contemporary young female character with razor sharp dialogue to the screen, and David is a wonderful, sympathetic director, clearly capable of getting the finest performances out of young actors as we’ve seen with Potter,” said Alison Owen.

Ruby is also working on a number of other projects including a Stephen Poliakoff drama which is currently shooting and a new series of Case Histories set to shoot spring 2012, both for the BBC.

The UK company comfirmed that it also has a high profile studio-partnered feature film in the pipeline for 2012.