Do what you want, and don’t listen to others: The Sopranos creator David Chase visits Karlovy Vary

David Chase, creator of the landmark series The Sopranos, visited KVIFF and took part in a public discussion on television production as part of the festival’s industry programme. Although he spent much of his career working in television, he had always wanted to make films. According to Chase, HBO, which broadcast the series about a mafia boss suffering from panic attacks, still does not receive the recognition it deserves for its contribution to television. When the channel launched The Sopranos at the turn of the millennium, Chase said, nothing like it had existed before.

“They tested the series for a long time. They took a big risk. I’d never had a successful programme before. The former head of HBO told me back then that I didn’t have to do things just because I could – that was very wise. The primary aim of television at the time was to sell products and advertising slots. They didn’t want to upset anyone. The rules on what creators were allowed to express were very strict. Once the industry got rid of that, it was brilliant,” explained the creator.

In his pragmatic and distinctive way, Chase spoke candidly about the film industry. One of his colleagues once told him that the film industry is driven by fear and greed – a view Chase shares. He finds it surprising that the industry is still sustainable when, as he puts it, only around six per cent of films in history have been profitable. “The studios want to make films that people have already seen. Films that have made them money before. But nothing good has ever come out of these predictions. Audiences shouldn’t simply get what they think they want; the element of surprise is crucial,” Chase said.

When asked what today’s creators could learn from his success, he replied: “Do what you like, and don’t listen to those at the top. It sounds ridiculous, like something from secondary school. But it’s true. What’s more, you need a bit of luck. People are always telling me how hard I worked on my writing. That’s true, but I was born with a talent for it. I was lucky.”

Chase originally wrote a screenplay about a man who has to place his mother in a care home, as he was going through something similar himself at the time. He wanted to incorporate suspense, danger and humour into the story, and it occurred to him that the protagonist should be a mafia member. When he pitched the idea to his agent, however, the agent told him there were already plenty of mafia films around and that nobody wanted another one. Chase’s big break only came when the television industry wanted to make a TV adaptation of The Godfather. Instead, he offered them his idea, and what had begun as a film became a television series.

The screenwriter also spoke about the reception of the film The Many Saints of Newark. “It was a flop at the cinema, but it did well on streaming platforms. Right from the start, we wanted to make a pulpy gangster film – not what people nowadays call Tony Soprano’s ‘origin story’. The film was, in fact, promoted as a prequel. But we made a mistake. For example, in the series, we refer to Chris’s father several times as an alcoholic and a drug addict. We obviously forgot about that in the film,” he said with a touch of humour.

“When I’m writing, I don’t think too much about the audience. I imagine the things I enjoy. I believe that writing also requires a spark of inspiration,” he said, describing his creative process. He also spoke about the position of television directors, who, in his view, are at the mercy of screenwriters – in contrast to the film industry, where the opposite is true. “Theatre is also about the playwright, but the playwright isn’t present at every performance. TV series directors put in so much work, but then they lose control,” concluded David Chase.