Academy Awarding winning director, writer, Paul Haggis joins us at the Park Hyatt in Toronto, Canada to chat about the making of his latest thriller “The Next Three Days”(2010). Haggis is very charming, over 6 feet tall, with an easy manner, twinkling blue eyes and a ready smile. I had met Paul Haggis a few years earlier at the TIFF Talent Lab. He spoke of the challenges of making his first movie Crash and how it very nearly got derailed part way through production as funds dried up. He found himself facing a 24 hour deadline to find the money. Obviously he succeeded.  Paul got his start as a screenwriter writing for TV. Paul Haggis and Michael Nozik his friend and producing partner recently formed their own production company Hwy 61 and “The Next Three Days” is the first feature.

The talented and celebrated Canadian Paul Haggis impressed the world by becoming the first screenwriter to win back-to-back Best Film Oscars for Million Dollar Baby (2004), which Clint Eastwood directed and Crash (2004), which he directed himself. Crash won 2 Oscars for Best Picture and Best Original Screen Play. He quickly followed these successes with a number of notable screenplays including “Flags of Our Fathers” (2006), “Casino Royale” (2006), “Letters from Iwo Jima” (2006), “In the Valley of Elah” (2007), and “Quantum of Solace” (2008). In the same time period he also conceived of and wrote the TV series The Black Donnellys (2007), which the New York Times considers one of the most influential series “of all time”. Haggis confesses that the strain of the work took a toll on his health in the middle of all this. He has received 32 other film awards, 27 other awards nominations working with and earning the respect of the best in the film industry.

Paul Haggis made Razor Magazine’s list of 25 mavericks of our time “nonconformists that defy dictates, iconoclasts that cling to independent thought, radicals that refuse adherence, that give us pause.”  Rolling Stone chose him as breakthrough filmmaker of the year (2005).

Paul Haggis provides some memorable insights into the making of “The Next Three Days” as he discusses the secrets of making such a fast paced, action packed thriller with stars Russell Crowe, Liam Neeson, Elizabeth Banks and young Ty Simpkins.

Myetvmedia would like to thank Maple Pictures, the Canadian distributor of the film and Paul Haggis for the opportunity to have this interview with one of our most talented Canadian filmmakers.

Moira Romano

Podcast Editing: Mat Kolodziejski