NBC.com

Academy Award winners Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco ("Crash") are the creators and executive producers of NBC's "The Black Donnellys," a gritty new crime-drama series filmed in New York City and loosely based on Moresco's background.

On March 5, 2006, Haggis became the first person in the history of the Academy Awards to write two back-to-back Best Picture Winners, for "Crash" and the previous year's winner, "Million Dollar Baby."

"Crash," a movie Haggis co-wrote, directed and produced, was nominated for six Academy Awards, and on that evening, Haggis took home both Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay Oscars. Just weeks prior, the cast of "Crash" won the Screen Actor's Guild's highest award for Best Ensemble, and Haggis and Bobby Moresco won Writers Guild, BAFTA and Critics Choice Awards for Best Original Screenplay. He was also nominated for the Directors Guild Award, and the film received a number of other honors, including a Golden Globe nomination and the Grand Prize at the Deauville Film Festival. Upon its release in May 2005, "Crash" proved to be one of the very few independent hits of the year with a $6.5 million budget, and to date has taken in over $55 million domestically.

Haggis' career in film began in 2000, after years of success in TV, when he optioned the short story and wrote the script "Million Dollar Baby" on spec. Once Haggis' producing partner got the script to director Clint Eastwood, "Million Dollar Baby" became a reality. In 2004, Eastwood shot Haggis' first draft without any changes, and less than a year after he first read the script, "Million Dollar Baby" was in theaters. The picture went on to gross over $100 million in the U.S. and earned four Academy Awards.

Haggis also wrote the screenplay for Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers," based on the book by James Bradley with Ron Powers, and collaborated with Eastwood on "Red Sun, Black Sand," which Eastwood is currently directing. Additionally, Haggis completed writing services on "Casino Royale," the latest James Bond film, which opened in November 2006.

Currently, Haggis has a wide variety of projects in various stages, including "Against All Enemies" from the book by Richard A. Clarke for Sony Pictures, "Death and Dishonor" with journalist Mark Boal for Warner Bros, and "Honeymoon with Harry" from the book by Bart Baker for New Line.

Haggis has created a variety of shows for television; his favorite being the critically-acclaimed series "EZ Streets." Although the series was short-lived, it still routinely turns up on many critics' Top-Ten lists. The New York Times recently named it one of the most influential TV series of all time, saying, "without 'EZ Streets,' there would be no 'Sopranos.'"

In March of 2003, Razor Magazine made a list of "non-conformists that defy dictates, the iconoclasts that cling to independent thought, the radicals that refuse adherence – that give us pause. They are what legends are made of.." Along with Sam Shepard, Julian Schnabel, Baz Luhrmann, Lance Armstrong, Richard Branson, Robert Shapiro, John Irving and Bill Clinton, Razor named Haggis as one of their "25 Mavericks" of the year.

Haggis is the recipient of many awards, including two Academy Awards, one Writers Guild award, one BAFTA, two Emmys, the Humanitas Prize, TV Critics Association Program of the Year, Viewers for Quality Television Founders, Banff TV, Columbia Mystery Writers, six Geminis, two Houston Worldfest Golds and the Prism Award.

In addition, Haggis also accepted the EMA Award, Ethel Levitt Memorial Award for Humanitarian Service, Hollywood Award for Breakthrough Director and the WGA's prestigious Valentine Davies Award, given to Haggis for "bringing honor and dignity to writers everywhere."

Haggis is co-founder of Artists for Peace and Justice; a member of the Board of Directors of the Hollywood Education and Literacy Project, For the Arts – For Every Child; the Environmental Media Association; and is a founding board member of the Earth Communications Office. He is also a member of the President's Council of the Defenders of Wildlife, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Center for the Advancement of Non-Violence.