'Sopranos' creator David Chase returns to HBO with miniseries on early Hollywood

David Chase, whose series “The Sopranos” helped shape HBO’s reputation for high-impact dramas, is bringing another project to the network: a period miniseries about the birth and growth of Hollywood.

“A Ribbon of Dreams” will tell the story of two men with disparate backgrounds who get their start in motion pictures working for director D.W. Griffith. The men — one a college-educated mechanical engineer and the other a cowboy with a violent past — ultimately work with the likes of John Ford, Bette Davis and Billy Wilder as they rise through the nascent film industry.

Chase will write and executive-produce the miniseries and direct the initial episodes, HBO announced today. Paramount Pictures Chief Executive Brad Grey, who served as executive producer of “The Sopranos” with Chase, will also executive-produce “A Ribbon of Dreams.”

“It gives me pleasure to think of working, together with Brad, with HBO, again,” Chase said in a statement. “These are all people who, obviously, occupy a special place in my heart.”

The miniseries takes its name from Orson Welles’ description of a film as “a ribbon of dreams.” Starting in 1913, the series will trace Hollywood’s evolution from the purveyor of silent westerns to the powerhouse global industry of today.

“For seven years, David Chase dazzled and entertained the world with ‘The Sopranos,' ” said Richard Plepler, co-president of HBO. “He’s a remarkable talent, and we’re very excited to be working with both David and Brad again.”

— Matea Gold

Photo: David Chase with the cast and producers of "The Sopranos" at the 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[JohnRJ08]

This is going to be really good. I wonder if Chase is taking a page from Harold Robbins' novel, "The Carpetbaggers". That book and the subsequent movie had Alan Ladd playing Max Sand, a cowboy actor with a dark past. ("Nevada Smith" starring Steve McQueen, was a prequel to that film). Some people say that the Sand character was based upon William Boyd, the actor who played Hopalong Cassidy, but there are other candidates as well.