Mark Boal Biography

Mark Boal (born 1973) is an American journalist, screenwriter and film producer. Before he became a prominent figure of cinema, Boal worked as a journalist for such publications like Rolling Stone, The Village Voice and Playboy. Boal's 2004 article "Death and Dishonor" led to the film In the Valley of Elah, which Boal also co-wrote. In 2009, he wrote and produced The Hurt Locker, for which he won both the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and the Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2012, he wrote and produced the controversial Zero Dark Thirty, teaming again with Kathryn Bigelow, about the track and capture of Osama bin Laden. The film earned him two other Academy Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture and a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay.

As of 2013, Boal has won two Academy Awards (four nominations), a BAFTA Award, two Writers Guild of America Awards, a Producers Guild of America Award and four Golden Globe Award nominations. He has also won several critics awards.

Early life and education

Mark Boal was born in 1973 in New York City, the son of Lillian Michel (née Firestone) and William Stetson Boal, Jr., a producer of educational films. His half-brother is author Christopher Stetson Boal. Boal attended Bronx High School of Science and was on the high school's Speech and Debate Team. He earned his undergraduate degree in Philosophy from Oberlin College in 1995.

Career

Boal has worked as a freelance journalist and screenwriter. He has contributed articles to such magazines as The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, and Playboy.

Boal's 2004 article "Death and Dishonor", about the 2003 murder of veteran Richard T. Davis after his return to the United States, was published in Playboy magazine. It inspired writer/director Paul Haggis, who adapted it for his fictional screenplay for the film In the Valley of Elah, which he also directed. Boal and Haggis have writing credit for the story.

As a journalist, Boal was embedded with troops and bomb squads in 2004 during the Iraq War. He wrote an article about one of the bomb experts, Sergeant Jeffrey S. Sarver, in an article entitled "The Man in the Bomb Suit", published in September 2005 in Playboy magazine.

Boal went on to write an original screenplay titled The Hurt Locker about a fictional set of characters and events based on his interviews and observations in Iraq. He was also a producer for the 2009 film adaptation set in Iraq, about a U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) bomb squad. The film was directed by Kathryn Bigelow, his business partner and co-producer.

In March 2010 (five days before the Academy Awards ceremony), Master Sergeant Jeffrey S. Sarver announced he was suing the producers of The Hurt Locker because screenwriter Mark Boal allegedly based the main character and "virtually all of the situations" in the film on events involving him. Sarver also claimed to have coined the phrase "the hurt locker".

The producers' spokesperson has reiterated the screenplay is fictional. In addition, citations for the phrase "the hurt locker", date back to 1966 during the years of the Vietnam War. The phrase has been used among military members for decades. In the December 8, 2011 issue of The Hollywood Reporter, it was announced that Master Sergeant Sarver's lawsuit was thrown out by the court, and a federal judge ordered him to pay more than $180,000 in attorney fees.

He wrote an essay in Rolling Stone about the Maywand District killings.

Boal wrote the film Zero Dark Thirty, which was released in December 2012. The film opened to much critical acclaim, but was also criticized for its scenes of torture (allegedly assuming a pro-torture stance). He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. He lost to Quentin Tarantino who was nominated for Django Unchained.

Filmography

• Zero Dark Thirty (2012), screenplay, producer
• The Hurt Locker (2009), screenplay, producer
• In the Valley of Elah (2007), screenplay by Paul Haggis; based on story by Mark Boal and Haggis

Awards

• The Hurt Locker (2009) - Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay)
• The Hurt Locker (2009) - Academy Award for Best Picture
• The Hurt Locker (2009) - BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay
• The Hurt Locker (2009) - Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay
• The Hurt Locker (2009) - Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Original Screenplay
• The Hurt Locker (2009) - Nantucket International Film Festival - "The Showtime Tony Cox Award" for Screenwriting
• The Hurt Locker (2009) - Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay
• The Hurt Locker (2009) - Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Top 10 Film-American Film Institute Awards
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Screenplay, Original
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Picture
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Austin Film Critics Association for Best Film
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Picture
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Original Screenplay
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - 2nd place-Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Film
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - National Board of Review Award for Best Film
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - 3rd place-National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - New York Film Critics Online Award for Best Picture
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - New York Film Critics OnlineAward for Best Screenplay
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - 2nd place-Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Runner-up Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Original Screenplay
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Runner-up Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Film
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Runner-up Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Original Screenplay
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Runner-up Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Film
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Runner-up Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Film
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Nominated "? AACTA International Award for Best Film
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Nominated "? AACTA International Award for Best Screenplay
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Nominated "? Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay)
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Nominated "? Academy Award for Best Picture
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Nominated "? BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Nominated "? BAFTA Award for Best Film
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Nominated "? Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Picture
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Nominated "? Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Original Screenplay
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Nominated "? Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Nominated "? Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture " Drama
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Nominated "? Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Screenplay
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Nominated "? Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Picture
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Nominated "? London Film Critics' Circle for Screenwriter of the Year
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Nominated "? Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Original Screenplay
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Nominated "? Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Picture
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Nominated "? Producers Guild of America Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Nominated "? Satellite Award for Best Film
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Nominated "? St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Picture