The question of “who made Tony Soprano?” is answered in Director Alan Taylor’s mobster drama, The Many Saints of Newark.
In a prequel feature to the award-winning television series, The Sopranos, Taylor’s film steps back in time to when a young Anthony Soprano is growing up in one of the most tumultuous eras in Newark, N.J., history, and is shaped by the uncle he idolizes, Dickie Moltisanti, from impressionable teen who struggles with his humanity, into the all-powerful mob boss he will someday become.
On October 16, after the DGA membership screening in New York, Taylor discussed the making of The Many Saints of Newark during a Q&A moderated by Director Greg Mottola (Confess, Fletch).
During the conversation, Taylor voiced the opinion that his prequel may finally settle the controversy over the way the episodic series ended. “David Chase is adamant that he doesn't want to say what happened and the way he describes it is that every possibility in Tony’s life is in that room and then you turn the TV off. But I'm convinced that Tony gets shot in the back of the head and I directed this movie with that idea in mind. There are scenes in the movie that I find very emotional because of that. The younger Tony, played by William Ludwig, has one my favorite scenes when Dickie is leaving the room and he turns and says, ‘I saw a guy get shot in the back of the head and I don't want that to happen to me.’ It is the perfect opportunity for the perfect parenting moment and Dickie just says, ‘Yeah, whatever…’ and you realize that you he's never going to be there for Tony. But Tony is somehow, in my mind anyway, sensing what's going to come.”
Taylor’s other directorial credits include the feature films Terminator Genisys, Thor: The Dark World, Palookaville and Kill the Poor; the movies for television 1% and The Wonderful Maladys; episodes of the television series Boardwalk Empire, Deadwood, The Sopranos, and Sex and the City; and the pilot for The Playboy Club. He was nominated for DGA Awards for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series for episodes of Game of Thrones and Mad Men. He won the 2007 award in that category for his Mad Men pilot episode, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.”
Taylor has been a DGA member since 1992.
You can listen to Taylor's Q&A by clicking the podcast episode embedded below. You can find more DGA podcast episodes here.