Mark Boal facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mark Boal
Boal in 2012
Born	(1973-01-23) January 23, 1973 (age 52) New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	Oberlin College (1995)
Occupation	Journalist, screenwriter, film producer
Relatives	Christopher Stetson Boal (half-brother)

Mark Boal (born January 23, 1973) is an American journalist, screenwriter, and film producer. He is best known for writing and producing movies based on real-life events. His most famous films include The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty.

Boal started his career as a journalist, writing for magazines like Rolling Stone and The Village Voice. He later used his experiences as a reporter to create powerful movie scripts.

For his work on The Hurt Locker, Boal won two Academy Awards, one for Best Original Screenplay and another for Best Picture. He has also won a BAFTA Award and two Writers Guild of America Awards.

Early Life and Education

Mark Boal was born in New York City. His father, William Stetson Boal, Jr., produced educational films. Boal went to the Bronx High School of Science, where he was a member of the Speech and Debate Team. In 1995, he graduated from Oberlin College with a degree in Philosophy.

Career in Writing and Film

After college, Boal worked as a freelance journalist. He wrote articles for several well-known magazines, often focusing on serious topics.

From Journalist to Screenwriter

One of Boal's articles, "Death and Dishonor," was about the 2003 murder of a military veteran named Richard T. Davis. This article inspired the movie In the Valley of Elah. Boal helped write the story for the film, which was his first major step into Hollywood.

In 2004, Boal traveled to Iraq during the war. He was an "embedded journalist," which means he lived and worked alongside soldiers to report on their experiences. He spent time with bomb squads, learning about their dangerous job. This led him to write an article called "The Man in the Bomb Suit."

The Hurt Locker

Boal used his experiences in Iraq to write the screenplay for The Hurt Locker. The movie tells a fictional story about a U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team. These are the soldiers who disarm bombs. Boal also produced the film, which was directed by Kathryn Bigelow. The movie was a huge success and won many awards.

After the movie came out, a soldier named Master Sergeant Jeffrey S. Sarver said the main character was based on him. However, a judge later dismissed the case. The filmmakers stated that the movie's story was fictional.

Zero Dark Thirty and Other Projects

Boal and Bigelow worked together again on the 2012 film Zero Dark Thirty. The movie is about the long search for Osama bin Laden. The film was praised by critics and earned Boal more Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.

Some people criticized the film. They felt it suggested that harsh interrogation methods helped find bin Laden. Others thought its portrayal of Pakistan was not accurate.

In 2017, Boal and Bigelow released Detroit, a film about the 1967 riots in that city. He also co-wrote the 2019 action movie Triple Frontier.

Boal has also worked on television shows and video games. He helped write the story for the popular game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and Recognition

Mark Boal has received many of the film industry's highest honors for his writing and producing.

For The Hurt Locker, he won two Academy Awards: one for Best Picture and another for Best Original Screenplay. He also won a BAFTA Award and a Writers Guild of America Award for the film's screenplay.

His next major film, Zero Dark Thirty, also earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. The movie won numerous awards from critics' groups across the country, including Best Film from the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Board of Review.

See also

In Spanish: Mark Boal para niños