Boiler Room is a 2000 American crime drama film written and directed by Ben Younger and starring Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Nia Long, Ben Affleck, Nicky Katt, Scott Caan, Tom Everett Scott, Ron Rifkin, and Jamie Kennedy. The film was conceived when screenwriter Ben Younger interviewed for a job at brokerage firm Sterling Foster. Younger said, "I walked in and immediately realized, 'This is my movie.' I mean, you see these kids and know something is going on." The film was nominated for several awards including a Black Reel Award, a British Independent Film Award, and two Independent Spirit Awards. It won the Special Jury Prize at the 2000 Deauville Film Festival. Plot In 1999, Seth Davis, a 19-year-old Queens College dropout, runs an unlicensed casino in his home near the campus, catering to college students. Although he earns a successful living, he is a disappointment to his father, Marty, a New York City federal judge. One night, his cousin Adam stops by the casino to play blackjack, bringing a rich associate named Greg Weinstein along with him. Greg recruits Seth to join J. T. Marlin, a brokerage firm based somewhere off the Long Island Expressway, promising him that he has the opportunity to get rich. Arriving at J. T. Marlin, Seth attends a group interview and learns from Jim Young, one of the co-founders of the firm, what is expected of his work and also how he can become a millionaire, which he assures to the new applicants will happen within three years of their first day of employment at J. T. Marlin. The firm's techniques of selling are through cold calling investors to sell stock, and Seth joins as a stockbroker trainee, having to close 40 accounts and pass a Series 7 Exam to begin working independently. The brokers love to quote insider trader Gordon Gekko from Wall Street, seeing him as a role model. He is soon making a good living, as well as winning his father's approval and embarking on a romance with Abbie Halpert, a secretary and Greg's ex-girlfriend. Gradually, he learns that J. T. Marlin is a chop shop brokerage firm that runs a "pump and dump", using its brokers to create artificial demand in the stock of expired or fake companies, and speculative penny stocks. When the firm is done pumping the stock, the firm founders sell and trade for legitimate stocks for