"Write your ass off and don't stop. When you think that you are good enough, quit and do something else, because every writers' downfall is his ego." Paul Haggis Writer/Director/Producer, Paul Haggis Productions, Los Angeles; b. London, Ontario, 1953; "L.A. Law," NBC, Creative Consultant, 1986; "thirtysomething," ABC, Supervising Producer/Writer, 1987-88; "City," CBS, Creator/Executive Producer, 1990; "Walker: Texas Ranger," CBS, Co-Creator, 1993; "Due South", CBS, Creator/Executive Producer, 1994-96; "EZ Streets," CBS, Creator/Executive Producer, 1996-97; "Michael Hayes," CBS, Executive Producer/Writer, 1997; Current Position since 1990; m. Deborah Rennard, 1997; Children: Alissa, 19, Lauren, 14 and Katy, 13

It is a dream that we've heard many times before: A boy growing up in a small town has big dreams of making it in show business.

He then packs his stuff into a compact car, waves goodbye to Mom and Dad and heads for Hollywood.

Some make it, some don't, but they can all say that they tried to make their dream come true.

Paul Haggis made it, but did not cause his parents sleepless nights by pulling up stakes and heading west.

Since heading west, Haggis, 44, has created, written, directed and produced critically acclaimed shows like "Due South," "City," and "EZ Streets." He also served as supervising producer on the first season of "thirtysomething" and a creative consultant on "L.A. Law," as well as writing for "The Tracey Ullman Show" and co-creating "Walker: Texas Ranger." He is currently writing and receiving an executive producer credit on "Michael Hayes," starring David Caruso.

"I was born and raised in London, Ontario," says the native Canadian Haggis. "I worked in theater in the winter and construction in the summer until I was 21. That was when my dad kicked me out and sent me to Hollywood to get me out of his hair."

"I was raised on TV," said Haggis. "I loved TV, movies, theater, anything that told a story. Plus growing up in Canada, I saw both British and American television, so I developed a more eclectic taste. I especially loved "Sea Hunt" and my favorite directors were Alfred Hitchcock and Jean-Luc Godard. I thought those two were just great."

Haggis may have needed that push out of the nest, but it forced him to spread his wings and fly on his own. After winning several Emmy awards and the respect of the television community, it is easy to see how he has learned to soar.

With writer, director and producer credits, Haggis may hold more titles than most business cards can accommodate, but he still considers himself a writer at heart.

"The great part about writing for television is that you get 22 hours a season to play with characters," says the fortysomething Haggis from his North Hollywood office. "I love to keep twisting the characters and seeing how far I can push them. Film gives you only 100 minutes to develop your characters and limits what you can do with them."

Haggis has been writing since his early days in Hollywood when he was working his way up in the fickle business of television.

"I worked as a furniture mover for Moishe movers and was also an in-store photographer in a Los Angeles department store for $7 an hour to pay the bills," chuckles Haggis. "I also took courses and kept writing scripts.

"Finally, Norman Lear took a shine to one of my scripts for 'The Facts of Life,'" he recalls. "Soon, I was writing for several of his other shows like 'Diff'rent Strokes,' 'One Day at a Time,' and a bunch of not so successful ones, including one called 'Sweet Surrender' with Dana Delany, who is still a great friend of mine."

Haggis was finally working in television and writing for several sitcoms, but as a writer he wanted to try something different and darker. This was the same man that 'EZ Streets' came from, after all.

"I was writing sitcoms by day, but at night I would meet with some of my writer friends and write these dark thrillers. One night, I said that I had to go home and get to sleep because I had to work in the morning. They asked what I did and when I told them that I was the story editor for 'One Day at a Time' they couldn't believe it."

Haggis may have dealt with his dramatic work at night but it soon found the light of day with the help of two established producers and a twist of fate.

"I was working on 'The Love Boat' at the time and I got a call from Marshall (Herskovitz) and Ed (Zwick) who had just created a new show called "thirtysomething" and asked me to serve as supervising producer and write for the show," he says. "I told them that I had no idea how to do the producer job and that they would be crazy to hire me. They felt that I could do it though, so I took the job."

Either Haggis suffered from an inferiority complex or Zwick and Herskovitz had a sixth sense on choosing supervising producers, because the show became a hit for ABC and won Haggis and the show Emmys for Outstanding Drama Series, Best Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series (Single Episode), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Patricia Wettig's performance and Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series for Shirley Knight's performance.

Now a hot property in town, and he began receiving several lucrative offers to create and produce new shows of his own. He signed with MTM and created a series for Valerie Harper ("The Mary Tyler Moore Show") called "City."

"Taking place in a corrupt city hall, 'City' was a show where all the characters, both good and bad, were corrupt, including the heroine," says Haggis. "It was a very dark series, and ran for 13 weeks on CBS. However, it was the tail end of the '80's and audiences wanted something more upbeat."

Haggis's shows may not command the enormous audiences that shows like "ER" and "Seinfeld" do, but when his show earns a fan, that fan become fanatical . "Due South," a show about a straight laced Canadian mountie who is teamed up with a streetwise Chicago detective, ran on CBS for two seasons to mediocre ratings, but the show inspired a cult-like audience and soon several fan-created internet sites devoted to the show began appearing. The show was dropped by CBS in 1996, but was recently put back into production to be sold as first run syndicated programming.

"'Due South' was hard on my family, due to my being in Canada so often," says Haggis with a hint of sadness in his voice. "When I heard about the show starting up production again , I offered my help, but the new producers said 'No thanks." The success of the new "Due South" is yet to be determined.

While he has spent many a night working on his many shows, Haggis has found the time to be a family man as well. He is the proud father of three girls, Alissa, 19, Lauren, 14 and Katy, 13. He remarried this past June to actress Deborah Rennard, who played Sly Lovegren on "Dallas." Haggis named her to be a co-producer on "EZ Streets" due to her experience as an actress and her knack of telling it like it is.

"No one tells you the truth in this town except the people who truly care about you," says Haggis. "I can always count on Deborah to tell me whether something is working or not."

In 1996, Haggis created what he calls both his greatest accomplishment and his biggest disappointment: "EZ Streets." The show starred Ken Olin ("thirtysomething") as a troubled cop who is looking for the truth in a city where the lines between good and evil are severely blurred. The show was hailed by critics and developed a small, cult-like audience quickly.

Unfortunately, the audience was far too small. CBS pulled it after one episode. They gave it another shot in March of this year by airing a few more episodes, but the numbers were too small.

"EZ Streets" composer Mark Isham was nominated for the Emmy award for outstanding main title theme music and won, making it a small but hollow victory for the show.

"I've recently been seeing CBS promoting their new shows in 'Rolling Stone,' 'Entertainment Weekly, and several other places," says Haggis. 'EZ Streets' got a few on-air promos, but that was about it. But to tell you the truth, I'm just grateful to them for putting it on. I'm still a loyal CBS guy."

Haggis was recently hired to return to his writing roots on CBS's "Michael Hayes," which stars David Caruso as a federal district attorney in New York. The show has some stiff competition in its 9 p.m. Tuesday time slot, going against "Frasier" and "Home Improvement," but Haggis is looking forward to the job, because it will give him more time to spend with his family while still working.

When asked to give advice to any other aspiring writers/producers who may be having trouble leaving the nest, Haggis is adamant about one thing:

"Write your ass off and don't stop. When you think that you are good enough, quit and do something else, because every writers' downfall is his ego."