Original screenplay: ‘The Hurt Locker’

Original screenplay

‘The Hurt Locker’

Mark Boal

A war reporter turned screenwriter, Mark Boal spent time embedded with American bomb disposal experts in Iraq. From his experience was born his original screenplay for “The Hurt Locker,” a high-stress, vérité-style drama that details a few months in the lives of bomb technicians working the front lines.

“Oh, my God, thank you,” Boal said upon accepting his award. “You honor me and humble me more than you know.”

Boal dedicated his award to U.S. troops currently in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also thanked director Kathryn Bigelow and his father, who passed away a month ago.

Boal’s win comes just days after he and other people associated with the film were named in a lawsuit brought by Master Sgt. Jeffrey S. Sarver, one of the subjects of Boal’s reporting. Sarver has claimed that the character played by Jeremy Renner is based on him.

“As I’ve said before,” the screenwriter told reporters backstage Sunday night, “Jeff is a brave soldier, and the screenplay is a work of fiction, and it’s not based on any one person’s story, and that’s really all I have on it.”