Sopranos Creator to Direct His Feature Film Debut for Paramount Pictures

Press release:

CHASE REUNITES WITH VAN ZANDT AND UNVEILS CASTING FOR HIS FEATURE FILM DEBUT AT PARAMOUNT

Movie to Begin Production in January 2011 in New York

HOLLYWOOD, CA (October 15, 2010) - David Chase, the creator and producer of the multiple Emmy® and Golden Globe® winning critically acclaimed series The Sopranos, announced today that legendary musician, and Sopranos star, Steven Van Zandt will produce and supervise the music, as well as serving as an Executive Producer, for the director’s music-driven coming of age story set in 1960’s suburbia.

Chase, who is making his feature film directorial debut, simultaneously announced that actors John Magaro, Jack Huston and Will Brill will star in the movie, to be released by Paramount Vantage. Principal photography is set to begin this January in New York.

Chase, who wrote the original script, will produce alongside Oscar® winning producer Mark Johnson (“Rain Man,” “The Chronicles of Narnia”).

Said Chase, “It’s exciting to be working with Brad Grey again, doing my first feature. I look back with pleasure on our last outing. I am also thrilled to be working with Steven again, especially on this particular subject. It’s not just that we both worship the same songs and bands from the era----it’s that he obviously knows so much. About every aspect. He embodies a particular spirit of a particular kind of rock and roll. He actually is that spirit.”

“Everyone at Paramount is proud that our studio will be the home of David’s first feature,” said Paramount Chairman and CEO Brad Grey. “He is a gifted story-teller and a great friend. His talent, along with Steven’s, promises something uniquely insightful and entertaining. We are all looking forward to a great picture and I am personally looking forward to working with them both again.”

Best known as a member of Bruce Springsteen’s famed E Street Band, and more recently as one of the stars of Chase’s acclaimed HBO series The Sopranos, Van Zandt grew up amidst the Jersey Shore music scene, beginning first as a journeyman guitarist and subsequently becoming a songwriter and producer for fellow Jersey shore act Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. Van Zandt later went on to join Springteen’s E Street Band, eventually serving as the arranger for the classic album Darkness on the Edge of Town, and later production credits on The River, and Born in the U.S.A. Van Zandt has hosted Little Steven’s Underground Garage, a weekly syndicated radio show, since 2002.

Rising stars Magaro, Huston and Brill landed the coveted roles after a nationwide search. Magaro, repped by Abrams Artists Agency and Authentic Talent and Literary Management, most recently appeared in Wes Craven’s “My Soul to Take”. Huston most recently appeared in “Twilight: Eclipse” and is repped by UTA, The Collective, and by Ken McReddie Associates in the UK. Brill, repped by Stewart Talent Agency in New York, makes his feature film debut.

A veteran writer, producer, and director, Chase has been recognized by the WGA, DGA, PGA, Golden Globes®, and received a total of 7 Emmy® Awards in his career.

Paramount Vantage has previously released the Oscar® nominated “Babel” and “There Will Be Blood,” as well as the Oscar® -winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.” The label recently released the Sundance Film Festival award-winning documentary “Waiting for Superman” from Davis Guggenheim and Lesley Chilcott, the Academy Award®-winning director and producer of “An Inconvenient Truth.”


About Paramount Pictures Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. The company's labels include Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Digital Entertainment, Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., Paramount Studio Group, and Worldwide Television Distribution.