Alex Gibney

Right? You never give the subject control. Not anymore. Right. Gone. Poof. And I think that to some extent you think to yourself, well, okay, like I've made commercials before. Like when I make a commercial for a client, I don't expect to have editorial control. Because it's a commercial. Yeah. But that's the problem. It's like there's this netherworld at the moment where the celebrity –

and the channel, wants the viewer to believe that it's a documentary. Yeah. When it is, in fact, a commercial.

and the channel, wants the viewer to believe that it's a documentary. Yeah. When it is, in fact, a commercial.

and the channel, wants the viewer to believe that it's a documentary. Yeah. When it is, in fact, a commercial.

And look, HBO... has been pretty fearless over the years in terms of their willingness to do tough stuff. But it just felt to me like, I love the show, but do I want to do, like, a special on The Sopranos? It didn't feel that interesting to me. But then when I sat down with David and met him, he was a fascinating character. But also I realized, whoa.

And look, HBO... has been pretty fearless over the years in terms of their willingness to do tough stuff. But it just felt to me like, I love the show, but do I want to do, like, a special on The Sopranos? It didn't feel that interesting to me. But then when I sat down with David and met him, he was a fascinating character. But also I realized, whoa.

And look, HBO... has been pretty fearless over the years in terms of their willingness to do tough stuff. But it just felt to me like, I love the show, but do I want to do, like, a special on The Sopranos? It didn't feel that interesting to me. But then when I sat down with David and met him, he was a fascinating character. But also I realized, whoa.

He went through back then what I and many others are going through right now. The battle. The battle. Meaning, how do you get something personal and important on when everything about the system is conspiring to keep it off?

He went through back then what I and many others are going through right now. The battle. The battle. Meaning, how do you get something personal and important on when everything about the system is conspiring to keep it off?

He went through back then what I and many others are going through right now. The battle. The battle. Meaning, how do you get something personal and important on when everything about the system is conspiring to keep it off?

Okay, so David was just getting tired of doing the TV thing. I mean, he had had a relatively successful career. He was a showrunner at Northern Exposure, which is a very successful show. And he had done some other ones in the past. But he had always wanted to make movies. That's really what he wanted to do. And this was like his last go-round. He had some money put away.

Okay, so David was just getting tired of doing the TV thing. I mean, he had had a relatively successful career. He was a showrunner at Northern Exposure, which is a very successful show. And he had done some other ones in the past. But he had always wanted to make movies. That's really what he wanted to do. And this was like his last go-round. He had some money put away.

Okay, so David was just getting tired of doing the TV thing. I mean, he had had a relatively successful career. He was a showrunner at Northern Exposure, which is a very successful show. And he had done some other ones in the past. But he had always wanted to make movies. That's really what he wanted to do. And this was like his last go-round. He had some money put away.

He was just going to write spec scripts and see if he could get a movie made. So it was like the last roundup.

He was just going to write spec scripts and see if he could get a movie made. So it was like the last roundup.

He was just going to write spec scripts and see if he could get a movie made. So it was like the last roundup.

Was the bad guy already a mobster?

Was the bad guy already a mobster?

Was the bad guy already a mobster?

And so he writes this script, and he decides to make the protagonist a mobster, Tony Soprano, who's got a problem with his mother. And in fact, his mother wants to kill him. And he writes the script, and it's really good. And everybody agrees it's really good. And he starts to take it around. But at the time, TV was dominated by the three, possibly four networks.