From left to right, Bryan Martin, actor Ethan Hawke, Lea Sym-Feyjoo,
director Antoine Fuqua, and Tyrell Brown. Photo courtesy of Phil Caruso.

July 2, 2008 - Antoine Fuqua, director of Training Day and Shooter, distributed HD cameras to four young people from the Van Dyke housing projects in Brooklyn on the set of his current production Brooklyn’s Finest. The Van Dyke Youth Film Project, a mentorship program designed to inspire kids to make films, is a joint initiative between Fuqua and producer John Langley.

The presentation took place on Monday, June 16 at the Van Dyke Community Center in Brooklyn during a break from the production. Fuqua grew up in the projects in Pittsburgh and wanted to give something back to kids growing up in a similar situation.

The youths were chosen from a pool of fifty who submitted essays on why they wanted to make films and tell stories. The four selected – Tyrell Brown, Bryan Martin, Lea-Sym Feyjoo, and Marcus Underwood - range in age from 16 to 19 and will be mentored by Fuqua and the crew of Brooklyn’s Finest over the next three months as they write, shoot, and edit their own films.

Also participating in the program is the film’s screenwriter, Michael Martin, a former transit worker. Martin will help mentor the kids on the scriptwriting component of their projects.

Brooklyn’s Finest stars Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Wesley Snipes, Ethan Hawke, and Michael Kenneth Williams.