I'm going to share the weird William Friedkin story that's been stuck in my head almost my whole life. Some folks know this, I guess. But it always blows people's minds. When William Friedkin made the French Connection, he worked closely with the real life cops- Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso (renamed as Popeye Doyle and Cloudy Russo for the movie). But he also worked with the NYPD, who had a division to consult on the growing film/tv industry.