‘Sopranos’ helper claim denied
Published 10:01 pm Wednesday, December 19, 2007
TRENTON, N.J. — A federal jury on Wednesday ruled against a man who says he helped “The Sopranos” creator David Chase develop ideas for the hit HBO mob drama.
The jury dismissed the claims of Robert Baer, ruling the aspiring writer and former prosecutor was not owed anything for help he provided while Chase wrote an early draft of the pilot.
Chase’s lawyers hugged after hearing the verdict, which came after less than two hours of deliberations on the trial’s fifth day.
Baer claimed he arranged meetings with police and prosecutors during a three-day tour of New Jersey mob sites in 1995 and engaged in subsequent conversations — sparking ideas for what became the hit HBO mob drama that ended in June.
Both men testified that Baer turned down compensation from Chase three times. But Baer claimed Chase agreed to “take care of him” if the show was a hit. Baer said no monetary figure was ever discussed. Chase never offered him a writing job on the show.
Chase’s attorneys contended it was not the industry practice to pay advisers for help during the writing of a pilot.
Chase said Baer himself was not an expert in the Mafia, and that Baer introduced the Emmy-winning writer-producer to people with knowledge. When Chase rewrote “The Sopranos” pilot after it was rejected by Fox and other networks, he turned to “a true Mafia expert,” Dan Castleman, his defense maintained.
Castleman, chief of the Manhattan district attorney’s investigations division, testified that he provided free consulting services to Chase, over several dozen phone calls, as Chase worked on rewriting the pilot.
Castleman didn’t enter into a contract as a technical adviser with HBO until after the pilot was written.
