A STORY written by an ex-boxer from Musselburgh could rival legendary Scottish film Trainspotting in popularity, says the man helping pitch it as a hit Hollywood movie.

Alex Brown, 53, who owns Ideal Flooring Solutions on Musselburgh High Street and the Tranent-based Bronx Boxing Gym, has already had his book Hit Me chosen to be promoted to Hollywood executives by American-based company Movie Pitcher.

He is now in the throes of having a ‘treatment’ carried out on his story about Barnabas Wild, an outgoing, happy character who has been lucky in everything he has done.

A treatment conveys the main points, incidents and characters into about two to four pages which he could then use to pitch to a film maker or turn the book into a screenplay.

He is being helped with this by freelance writer Stephen Cairns, of Ethos Writing, who works with his wife Ana Petrusevski, also a writer, on creative projects.

East Lothian Courier:

If a producer wants to publish the rights to make a movie, Mr Brown could receive $50,000 just for the idea and $700,000 for a script. He said: “I feel once the treatment is finished, the screen play or script follows. When this is ready there are many avenues we can take on getting the script picked up to become a movie.”

Mr Cairns said: “We love this very unique concept Alex has come up with and also his amazing imagination, energy and humour. Some of his own real-life experiences are written into the film, which gives it such a gritty, funny and personal feel.

“Possible outcomes, we hope, are [it becoming] the next big Scottish film, rivaling Trainspotting in popularity.

“We want to see Alex attending the film premiere in Cannes, wearing his kilt and posing for pictures on the red carpet. We all work well together so the sky is the limit.”

With a lifelong interest in movies, Mr Brown, a keen charity marathon runner, owned three video hire shops in the 1980s.

He named the main character in his book after a clergyman who served for 30 years at the former Tranent Methodist Church, which was transformed into the Bronx gym. His name appears on a memorial stone which is still a feature in the building.

Known as Barny to his many friends, he is liked by everyone in the community but his luck runs out when attends a routine hospital appointment. After tests, the doctor breaks the chilling news that Barny has a progressive terminal illness. He tries to end his life but fails, then asks a gangster to put a hit out on him.

But Barny gets a call from the doctor’s office to say the results of his tests had been mixed up with another patient and there was nothing wrong with him. It dawns on him he must get to the gangster and have him take the hit off before it’s too late.