Cleaver (The Sopranos) alternately as ""Saw" meets "the Godfather II"", ""the Ring" meets "The Godfather"", and "a story about a young man who goes to pieces and then manages to pull himself together again". Several characters are credited for their involvement in the project. The screenplay was written by J. T. Dolan based on a story by Christopher Moltisanti, directed by Morgan Yam and produced by Carmine Lupertazzi, Jr. and Moltisanti. The film starred Jonathan LaPaglia as Michael "the Cleaver" and Daniel Baldwin as mob boss Salvatore ("Sally Boy"). Also starring as Sally-boy's key advisors are George Pogatsia as Frankie and Lenny Ligotti
The Sopranos producers) and his second for writing the 1980 television film "Off the Minnesota Strip". By 1996, he was a coveted showrunner. The story of "The Sopranos" was initially conceived as a feature film about "a mobster in therapy having problems with his mother." Chase got some input from his manager Lloyd Braun and decided to adapt it into a television series. He signed a development deal in 1995 with production company Brillstein-Grey and wrote the original pilot script. He drew heavily from his personal life and his experiences growing up in New Jersey, and has stated that he tried to