For writer-director Paul Haggis, a career in Hollywood has been hard won. Years spent writing for awful sitcoms and seeing pet projects get summarily axed by networks for poor ratings despite good quality eventually led to a rebirth in film. The Oscar nomination he received for penning “Million Dollar Baby” (2004), the underdog tale of a determined female boxer who overcomes pain and loss both inside and outside the ring, marked his resurgence as a potent creative force after his career in television appeared to have stalled. Mining personal troubles for creative material may have helped: exploring his failures in personal relationships despite thinking himself a good guy inspired him to write about the complex and contradictory natures that lie in all of us.
Originally from Ontario, Canada, Haggis was reared on Alfred Hitchcock and Jean-Luc Godard—early inspirations that fueled his fascination with art and storytelling, leading him to study art at H.B. Beal secondary school. Later influenced by Antonioni’s “Blow Up” (1966), he moved to England to become a fashion photographer, but went hopelessly broke instead and returned to Canada to study cinematography at Fanshawe College. While in school, he spent his summers working for his father’s construction company—a job his dad said he was no good at. Meanwhile, Haggis wrote plays, some of which were performed with his sister, Kathy Slevin, at The Gallery Theatre, then owned their father. Haggis later described the plays as “awful,” one of which, the musical comedy “Oh! Canada,” ignited calls for him to leave the country.
With encouragement and financial support from his father, Haggis moved to Los Angeles to start a writing career. Times were tough—he worked odd jobs as a furniture mover and an in-store photographer for a department store while honing his craft at night. He was eventually tapped by Jack Humphrey at CBC to write the pilot for “Hangin’ In,” a sitcom about a social worker who runs an inner-city youth counseling center. Then while taking a writing course, Haggis ran into a writer from “Diff’rent Strokes” (NBC, 1978-1985; ABC 1985-1986) who had just broken up with his writing partner. With a script for the show due the next day, Haggis offered his services gratis. The sitcom writer wanted Haggis to earn something for his work, so in exchange he took an upholstered chair bought at the Salvation Army. The chair remained in Haggis’ office as a reminder of what became the turning point in his career.
Haggis soon became a story editor on “Diff’rent Strokes,” then moved on to write another Norman Lear-produced sitcom, “One Day at a Time” (CBS, 1975-1984). Once that show was canceled, he went from bad to worse, becoming a writer and executive producer on the schoolgirl sitcom, “The Facts of Life” (NBC, 1979-1988), a series he hated. Haggis was fired a year after becoming executive producer for suggesting they make the show funny—a move that earned his gratitude. The knowledge he gained of producing, editing, working with writers and putting together the elements of a show, however, were fruitful later in his career. Meanwhile, he penned episodes of “Who’s the Boss?” (ABC, 1984-1992) and “L.A. Law” (NBC, 1986-1994). Then Haggis was approached by producers Ed Zwick and Mark Herskovitz and asked to join the one-hour drama “thirtysomething” (ABC, 1987-1991) as a writer and supervising producer. Despite numerous critics lambasting it as self-indulgent and the creative forces behind the scenes—including Haggis—fretting about the show’s chances of survival, “thirtysomething” went on to earn several awards after its first season, including an Emmy and Humantis Prize for Haggis.
The success of “thirtysomething” allowed him to develop shows closer to his own artistic sensibilities—dark, complex and ambiguous. He created the political satire, “City” (CBS, 1989-1990), starring Valerie Harper as a city manager at city hall who juggles corruption at work and life at home as a single mom. Though critically acclaimed, the show proved to be too dark for audiences and network canceled the series after thirteen episodes. He moved on to create another critically acclaimed, but ill-fated series, “Due South” (1994-1996), about a Royal Canadian Mountie (Paul Gross) who goes to Chicago to find his father’s murderer and ultimately sticks around to help the Chicago police solve crimes with a grizzled local detective (David Marciano). The series attracted a small, rabid following but ratings once again proved to be a show stopper. It was revived on other networks—TNT and CTV in Canada—after its initial season on CBS, but ultimately failed to attract a wide audience.
Though credited as a co-creator of the hit Saturday night action-drama, “Walker, Texas Ranger” (CBS, 1992-2001), Haggis moved on to what he thought would be greener pastures. Perhaps wanting complete control over a project led him to create “EZ Streets” (CBS, 1996-1997), a compelling and hard-edged drama about a cop and an ex-con living parallel lives on opposite sides of the law in a decaying city. Haggis maintained artistic control over the material—a position he previously never held—but his vision of a show with amoral characters, stark cinematography and Celtic music was doomed to failure. The series was canceled after a ten episode run and ranked of 111th out of 125 in the ratings. Haggis attempted another series, “Family Law” (CBS, 1999-2002), a one-hour legal drama about a Southern Californian firm handling divorce and child custody cases. The show managed to survive its first season, but the ratings bug sickened this show, too, and the sheet was eventually drawn over the corpse.
In 1996, Haggis made his feature debut as both a writer and director with the little-seen period drama, “Red Hot,” which depicted four Russian teenagers who in 1959 try to form the Soviet Union’s first rock-n-roll band. He waited eight years to write another film, but his patience paid off when he adapted F.X. Toole’s collection of prize fighter stories, “Rope Burns,” into the Oscar-winning “Million Dollar Baby.” Though Haggis was passed over for Best Adapted Screenplay, he managed to reinvigorate himself in a new medium. His solid working relationship with director Clint Eastwood led the screen legend to hire him to develop the World War II drama, “Flags of Our Fathers.” Meanwhile, Haggis directed his second feature, “Crash” (2005), a challenging racially charged drama about the interlocking lives of several Los Angelenos. The film was to be adapted for the small screen by the FX cable network, with co-star and producer Don Cheadle likely appearing in and directing several episodes of the gritty race drama. Haggis earned the WGA Award and British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award for Original Screenplay. He also won Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture at the 78th Annual Academy Awards.
While working on “Flags of Our Fathers” (2006), a harrowing and rather biting look at the four men who hoisted the American flag on the barren rocks of Iwo Jima, Eastwood wanted Haggis to work on a companion film, “Letters from Iwo Jima” (2006), that depicted the vicious battle from the Japanese perspective. Haggis, however, was bogged down with work and suggested hiring another writer, first-timer Iris Yamashita, who was represented by the same agency. Haggis developed the story with Yamashita about a brilliant, but doubting general (Ken Watanabe) who leads the defense of the small island with few men and little resources, resulting in one of the most brutal fights in the Pacific theater. Haggis and Yamashita both received nominations for Best Original Screenplay, though it was his writing partner who deservedly received all the press because “Letters” was her first produced work. Meanwhile, Haggis returned to the small screen, creating and producing “The Black Donnellys” (NBC, 2006- ), a crime drama about four brothers (Billy Lush, Jonathan Tucker, Tom Guiry and Michael Stahl-David) from an Irish family coming-of-age while engaged in organized crime in New York’s famed Hell’s Kitchen.