‘ The Sopranos ’ Oral History, Part IV : When you spend six seasons making a show about an organized crime family that rings true, you’ll inevitably bump up against that criminal element, even if you are tapping history to create fictional storylines. If the mob feels you are celebrating their lawlessness, that is bad. If they believe you are ridiculing them and you piss them off, that might be as bad. Or worse. DEADLINE : The Sopranos was filled with movie mob lore, especially around The Godfather . Mario Puzo always said it was fiction. But there is Christopher Moltisanti, trying to impress director Jon Favreau on a movie set by sharing mob stories breaking down how the Tommy Dorsey contract clash with Frank Sinatra informed the famous scene with the horse head in the bed of the Hollywood mogul. Did you borrow much from actual mob events in writing The Sopranos ? DAVID CHASE : The whole plot about Vito’s homosexuality was based on true stuff that … [Read more...] about ‘The Sopranos’ At 20 Part IV: Real Mobsters, Great Gandolfini & The Most Debated Ending In TV History
The backrooms
The Washington Post To Distribute Tom Hanks-Narrated Short ‘How To Rig An Election’
The Washington Post Opinions section will distribute the animated short How to Rig An Election : The Racist History of the 1876 Presidential Contest , which recently premiered at the SXSW Festival in Austin. Tom Hanks narrates the project, which was written and produced by Jeffery Robinson, founder of the Who We Are Project and former ACLU deputy legal director. It’s directed by Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler and was animated by Reginald William Butler The project is the story of the 1876 presidential election between Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Republican Samuel Tilden, which was ultimately decided in a backroom deal that effectively ended Reconstruction in the South. Hanks and Robinson will publish an op-ed accompanying the film when it launches on April 3 in the Post’s Opinion section . They also will appear on Washington Post Live for an interview on April 6, moderated by Post Opinions’ Kate Woodsome. Register here . The 1876 election turned … [Read more...] about The Washington Post To Distribute Tom Hanks-Narrated Short ‘How To Rig An Election’