The excuse “I’m busy” apparently doesn’t work with Norman Jewison.

“I did this because Norman asked and it’s impossible to say no to Norman,” Hollywood screenwriter Paul Haggis told Playback Daily during a break as he gave a master class in Toronto at the Canadian Film Centre.

Haggis, who’s at work on an ensemble drama script called Third Person and a couple other projects in development, half-jokingly said he tried to get out of the CFC duty by telling Jewison, who founded the centre in 1988, that he was busy.

“I tried to find a way out. But he [Jewison] pointed out I live in New York City now, and not Los Angeles, and I’m an hour’s plane ride from Toronto,” Haggis said.

He also recalled meeting CFC graduates in the past, and being impressed with their skills and determination as budding filmmakers.

Then Haggis saw the honour in just being asked to be chair of film programs at Jewison’s advanced training centre.

“You always worry that you go out on a project and won’t have time, but luckily as a writer I have a day or two off,” he added, finding time in his schedule to now do one master class a year at the CFC.

And while he hasn’t been asked to open doors in Los Angeles and New York City for the CFC and its graduates, Haggis said he will, where possible.

“They’ve been clear that this is curriculum-based. But I will help these guys any time,” he insisted.

Haggis, who was raised in London, Ontario before going to Hollywood as young man, argued the Canadian industry still faces an uphill struggle to find an audience for homegrown movies in a small market, relative to the giant U.S. market to the south.

But he added great filmmakers can spring up anytime, whether it be an Atom Egoyan working out of Canada, or a James Cameron who, like Haggis, went south in search of new opportunities.