Paul Haggis Biography

Paul Edward Haggis (born March 10, 1953) is a Canadian screenwriter, producer, and director. He spent his early career producing and directing various American and Canadian television network series. Among his achievements are screenwriter and producer credits for consecutive Best Picture winners, 2004's Million Dollar Baby and 2005's Crash, the latter of which he also directed.

Early life and education

Haggis was born on March 10, 1953, in London, Ontario, the son of Mary Yvonne (née Metcalf) and Edward H. Haggis. He was raised as a Catholic, but considered himself an atheist until joining the Church of Scientology, which he later denounced as a cult. The Gallery Theatre in London, Ontario, was owned by his parents, and Haggis gained experience in the field through work at the theatre. He attended St. Thomas More Elementary School, and after being inspired by Alfred Hitchcock and Jean-Luc Godard, proceeded to study art at H. B. Beal Secondary School. After viewing Michelangelo Antonioni's 1966 film Blowup, he traveled to England with the intent of becoming a fashion photographer. Haggis later went back to Canada to pursue studies in cinematography at Fanshawe College. In 1975, Haggis moved to Los Angeles, California, to begin a career in writing in the entertainment industry.

Career

Haggis began to work as a writer for television programs, including The Love Boat, One Day at a Time, Diff'rent Strokes, and The Facts of Life. With The Facts of Life, Haggis also gained his first credit as producer. During the 1980s and 1990s, Haggis wrote for television series including The Tracey Ullman Show, Due South, L.A. Law, and EZ Streets. He helped to create the television series Walker, Texas Ranger, Family Law, and Due South. Haggis served as executive producer of the series Michael Hayes and Family Law.

He gained recognition in the film industry for his work on the 2004 film Million Dollar Baby, which Allmovie described as a "serious milestone" for the writer/producer, and as "his first high-profile foray into feature film". Haggis had read two stories written by Jerry Boyd, a boxing trainer who wrote under the name of F.X. Toole. Haggis acquired the rights to the stories, and developed them into the screenplay for Million Dollar Baby. Clint Eastwood portrayed the lead character in the film. Eastwood also directed the film, and used the screenplay written by Haggis. Million Dollar Baby received four Academy Awards including the Academy Award for Best Picture.

After Million Dollar Baby, Haggis worked on the 2004 film Crash. Haggis came up with the story for the film on his own, and then wrote and directed the film, which allowed him greater control over his work. Crash was his first experience as director of a major feature film. Critical reception of Crash was positive, and Roger Ebert called it the best film of 2005. It received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Director, in addition to four other Academy Award nominations. Haggis received two Academy Awards for the film: Best Picture (as its producer), and Best Writing for his work on the screenplay. With Million Dollar Baby and then Crash, Haggis became the first individual to have written Best Picture Oscar-winners in two consecutive years.

Personal life

Haggis lives in Santa Monica, California.

After maintaining active membership in the Church of Scientology for 35 years, Haggis left the organization in October 2009. He was motivated to leave Scientology in reaction to statements made by the San Diego branch of the Church of Scientology in support of Proposition 8, the ballot initiative which banned gay marriage in California. Haggis wrote to Thomas Davis, the Church's spokesman, and requested that he denounce these statements; when Davis remained silent, Haggis responded that "Silence is consent, Tommy. I refuse to consent." Haggis went on to list other grievances against Scientology, including its policy of disconnection, and the smearing of its ex-members through the leaking of their personal details. The Observer commented on defections of Haggis and actor Jason Beghe from Scientology, "The decision of Beghe and Haggis to quit Scientology appears to have caused the movement its greatest recent PR difficulties, not least because of its dependence on Hollywood figures as both a source of revenue for its most expensive courses and an advertisement for the religion." In an interview with Movieline Haggis was asked about similarities between his film The Next Three Days and his departure from the Scientology organization; Haggis responded, "I think one's life always parallels art and art parallels life." In February 2011, The New Yorker published a 25,000-word story, "The Apostate", by Lawrence Wright, detailing Haggis's allegations about the Church of Scientology. The article ended by quoting Haggis: "I was in a cult for thirty-four years. Everyone else could see it. I don't know why I couldn't."

Haggis is also the founder of a non-profit organization called Artists for Peace and Justice that encourages peace and social justice and addresses issues of poverty and enfranchisement in communities around the world. The organization's immediate goal is to serve the poorest communities in Haiti with programs in education and healthcare. Haggis is very involved in the Haitian relief effort and often travels to the country himself.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1993	Red Hot	Screenwriter, Director
2004	Million Dollar Baby	Screenwriter, Producer
	Crash	Story, Screenwriter, Composer, Director, Producer
2006	The Last Kiss	Screenwriter
	Flags of Our Fathers	Screenwriter
	Letters from Iwo Jima	Screenwriter, Executive Producer
	Casino Royale	Screenwriter (adaptation)
2007	In the Valley of Elah	Screenwriter (adaptation), Director, Producer
2008	Quantum of Solace	Screenwriter
2009	Terminator Salvation	Writer (rewrite)
2010	The Next Three Days	Screenwriter, Director
2013	The Third Person	Screenwriter, Director

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Return of the Shaggy Dog	Screenwriter
1987"1988	thirtysomething	Supervising producer, Writer, Director
1989"1990	City	Creator
1993"2001	Walker, Texas Ranger	Co-creator
1994"1999	Due South	Creator, Executive Producer, Screenwriter, Unit Director
1996"1997	EZ Streets	Creator, Executive producer
1997	Walker, Texas Ranger: Sons of Thunder	Creator, Director
2005	Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial By Fire	Director
2007	The Black Donnellys	Creator

Video Games

Year	Game	Role	Notes
2011	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3	Co-writer

Awards and nominations

Haggis has been nominated for dozens of awards.

Year	Award	Work	Category	Result
1985	Humanitas Prize	CBS Storybreak: "Zucchini"	Children's Animation Category	Nominated
1988	Emmy Award	thirtysomething	Outstanding Drama Series	Won
			Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series	Won
	Humanitas Prize	thirtysomething	60 Minute Category	Won
1989	Writers Guild of America Award	thirtysomething	Episodic Drama	Nominated
1995	Gemini Award	Due South	Best Dramatic Series	Won
		Due South: Pilot (#1.0)	Best TV Movie	Won
		Due South	Best Writing in a Dramatic Series	Won
		Due South: Pilot (#1.0)	Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series	Nominated
1996	Gemini Award	Due South	Canada's Choice Award	Won
		Due South	Best Dramatic Series	Won
		Due South: "Hawk and a Handsaw"	Best Writing in a Dramatic Series	Won
		Due South: "The Gift of the Wheelman"	Best Writing in a Dramatic Series	Won
1997	Viewers for Quality Television Award	EZ Streets	Founder's Award	Won
2001	Writers Guild of America Award	Contributions to industry	Valentine Davies Award	Won
2005	Academy Award	Million Dollar Baby	Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay	Nominated
	Writers Guild of America Award	Million Dollar Baby	Best Adapted Screenplay	Nominated
	American Screenwriters Association	Million Dollar Baby	Discover Screenwriting Award	Won
	Black Movie Award	Crash	Outstanding Motion Picture	Won
	Deauville American Film Festival	Crash	Grand Special Prize	Won
	European Film Award	Crash	Screen International Award	Nominated
	Hollywood Film Festival	Directing work	Breakthrough Directing	Won
	Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award	Crash	Best Screenplay	Won
	Online Film Critics Society Award	Million Dollar Baby	Best Screenplay, Adapted	Nominated
	San Francisco International Film Festival	Screenwriting work	Kanbar Award	Won
	Satellite Award	Million Dollar Baby	Best Screenplay, Adapted	Won
		Crash	Outstanding Screenplay, Original	Nominated
	Southeastern Film Critics Association Award	Crash	Best Screenplay, Original	Won
	USC Scripter Award	Million Dollar Baby	USC Scripter Award	Won
	Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Award	Crash	Best Screenplay - Original	Won
2006	Academy Award	Crash	Best Motion Picture of the Year	Won
			Best Writing, Original Screenplay	Won
			Best Achievement in Directing	Nominated
	Golden Globe Award	Crash	Best Screenplay - Motion Picture	Nominated
	Writers Guild of America Award	Crash	Best Original Screenplay	Won
	Directors Guild of America Award	Crash	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures	Nominated
	BAFTA Award	Crash	Best Screenplay - Original	Won
			David Lean Award for Direction	Nominated
	Austin Film Critics Award	Crash	Best Director	Won
	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award	Crash	Best Writer	Won
		Crash	Best Director	Nominated
	Chicago Film Critics Association Award	Crash	Best Screenplay	Won
	David di Donatello	Crash	Best Foreign Film	Won
	Edgar Award	Crash	Best Motion Picture Screenplay	Nominated
	Humanitas Prize	Crash	Feature Film Category	Won
	Independent Spirit Award	Crash	Best First Feature	Won
	London Critics Circle Film Award	Crash	Screenwriter of the Year	Won
		Crash	Director of the Year	Nominated
	Online Film Critics Society Award	Crash	Best Breakthrough Filmmaker	Won
		Crash	Best Screenplay, Original	Nominated
	Producers Guild of America Award	Crash	Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award	Nominated
	Robert Award	Crash	Best American Film	Nominated
	Satellite Award	Flags of Our Fathers	Best Screenplay, Adapted	Nominated
2007	Academy Award	Letters from Iwo Jima	Best Writing, Original Screenplay	Nominated
	BAFTA Award	Casino Royale	Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film	Nominated
			Best Screenplay - Adapted	Nominated
	Saturn Award	Casino Royale	Best Writing	Nominated
	Edgar Award	Casino Royale	Best Motion Picture Screenplay	Nominated
	Venice Film Festival	In the Valley of Elah	SIGNIS Award	Won
		In the Valley of Elah	Golden Lion	Nominated
2008	David di Donatello	In the Valley of Elah	Best Foreign Film	Nominated

See also

• List of Canadian directors
• List of film and television directors
• List of film producers
• List of British and Commonwealth Academy Award winners and nominees
• List of Big Five Academy Award winners and nominees
• List of people who have won multiple Academy Awards in a single year
• List of people from Santa Monica, California
• List of people from London, Ontario
• List of former Scientologists
• Scientology controversies

Further reading