Paul Haggis

Paul Edward Haggis was born in London, Ontario, the son of Mary Yvonne (née Metcalf) and Ted Haggis, a World War II veteran and Olympic sprinter in the 1948 Summer Olympics.[3] He was raised as a Catholic, attending Catholic school and facing confrontations with children from Ontario's Protestant majority.[4][5] His family had stopped going to Mass after finding their parish priest driving a Cadillac, and he considered himself an atheist by early adulthood.[4][5] The Gallery Theatre in London was owned by his parents, and Haggis gained experience in the field through work at the theatre.[6]

Haggis attended St. Thomas More Elementary School.[7] He started secondary school at Ridley College in St. Catharines, but began getting into bad behavior by skipping his required Royal Canadian Army Cadets drills, breaking into the prefect's office to erase his demerits, and reading the radical magazine Ramparts. After a year, Haggis's parents transferred him to a more progressive preparatory school in Muskoka Lakes. Haggis was taught by a producer of the CBC Radio One news program As It Happens, who allowed him to sit with him as he edited John Dean's testimony to the Watergate hearings for broadcast.[4]

After being inspired by Alfred Hitchcock and Jean-Luc Godard, Haggis proceeded to study art at H. B. Beal Secondary School.[1] He opened a theater in Toronto to screen films banned by the Ontario Board of Censors such as The Devils and Last Tango in Paris.[4] After viewing Michelangelo Antonioni's 1966 film Blowup in 1974, he traveled to England with the intent of becoming a fashion photographer.[1] Haggis later returned to Canada to pursue studies in cinematography at Fanshawe College.[1] While in London, Ontario, Haggis was converted to the Church of Scientology. In 1975, Haggis moved to Los Angeles, California, to begin a career in writing in the entertainment industry.[1][6]

Haggis began to work as a writer for television programs, including Dingbat and the Creeps, Richie Rich, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, The Love Boat, One Day at a Time, Diff'rent Strokes, and The Facts of Life.[4][6][8] With The Facts of Life, Haggis also gained his first credit as producer.[6] During the 1980s and 1990s, Haggis wrote for television series including thirtysomething, The Tracey Ullman Show, FM, Due South, L.A. Law, and EZ Streets.[6] He helped to create the television series Walker, Texas Ranger; Family Law; and Due South.[6] Haggis served as executive producer of the series Michael Hayes and Family Law.[6] In 1999, he signed a first look deal with Columbia TriStar Television.[9]

Haggis at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival

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".[6] Haggis had read two stories written by Jerry Boyd, a boxing trainer who wrote under the name of F.X. Toole.[6]

Haggis later 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.[6] Eastwood also directed the film, and used the screenplay written by Haggis.[6] Million Dollar Baby received four Academy Awards including the Academy Award for Best Picture.[6]

After Million Dollar Baby, Haggis worked on the 2004 film Crash.[6] 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.[6] Crash was his first experience as director of a major feature film.[6] Highly positive upon release, critical reception of Crash has since polarized, although Roger Ebert called it the best film of 2005.[6]

Crash received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Director, in addition to four other Academy Award nominations.[6] Haggis received two Academy Awards for the film: Best Picture (as its producer), and Best Writing for his work on the screenplay.[6] With Million Dollar Baby and then Crash, Haggis became the first individual to have written Best Picture Oscar-winners in two consecutive years.[10]

Haggis said that he wrote Crash to "bust liberals", arguing that his fellow liberals were not honest with themselves about the nature of race and racism because they believed that most racial problems had already been resolved in American society.[11]

He has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the Writer's Branch since 2005. This allows him to vote on the Academy Awards.[12]

In 2008, Haggis founded production company Hwy61 Films with producer Michael Nozik, and signed a deal to produce films for United Artists.[13] The company is named after the title track of Bob Dylan's 1965 album Highway 61 Revisited.[14]

Haggis lives in Santa Monica, California.[15] He has three daughters from his first marriage to Diana Gettas and one son from his second marriage to Deborah Rennard.[16] His younger sister, Jo Francis, is a film editor; they have worked together on several projects.[16][17]

In 2009, Haggis founded the non-profit organization Artists for Peace and Justice to assist impoverished youth in Haiti.[18][19] In an interview with Dan Rather, Haggis mentioned that he is an atheist.[20]

• List of Canadian directors
• List of film and television directors
• List of film producers
• 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
• Scientology and celebrities
• Scientology controversies

• Wells, Barry. "Paul Haggis wants to inspire London students". Alt London. www.altlondon.org. Archived from the original on October 24, 2007. Retrieved September 13, 2006.
• Forsythe, Coco (January 27, 2008). "Down In The Valley". FutureMovies. www.futuremovies.co.uk.

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Paul Haggis

• Paul Haggis at AllMovie
• Paul Haggis at IMDb
• Paul Haggis at the TCM Movie Database