According to the Hollywood Reporter, a Staten Island tollbooth worker in desperate need of a car is rubbing shoulders with Hollywood’s finest after entering a screenwriting competition. Michael Martin totaled his car in an accident and while in physical therapy, sent in his crime thriller spec titled Brooklyn’s Finest, which made it to second place.
Martin was head hunted by Warner Bros–based Thunder Road executive Mary Viola, who was looking for a writer for the New Jack City sequel. The sequel was in development at Warner Premiere, Warners’ direct-to-DVD division. In the hands of Viola, Brooklyn’s Finest became red hot, quickly attracting stars such as Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke and Antoine Fuqua.
The story is a dramatic ensemble with three intertwining story lines involving Brooklyn cops. Martin says that his experience in working for a bus company that got indicted by the Feds because of Mob connections helped him in writing the script.
