How the David Chase Trial Began...

[Brian Damage]

December 17, 2007 -- TRENTON, NJ - The civil lawsuit against "Sopranos" creator David Chase is as much about services rendered as it is about dreams unfulfilled.

Testimony delivered Friday in the trial being heard in Trenton federal court painted a picture of plaintiff Robert Baer - whose lawsuit against Chase includes Baer's claim that it was his idea to produce a TV series about the north Jersey mob - as a man who dreamed since childhood about someday working in movies or TV shows.

He dreamed of writing them, producing them, or maybe even owning his own studio with a boyhood pal who shared his dream.

Out of the many thousands who have had that dream, comparatively few have ever realized it. But it came true for Baer's childhood friend, Joseph Urbanczyk. He became a Hollywood cinematographer shooting dozens of movies and TV shows, while Baer pursued a successful law career in the north Jersey community where they grew up.

But Baer's dream never died. And in 1995, when Urbanczyk was working as a cameraman and director of photography on a series of new "Rockford Files" TV movies, he urged his friend in New Jersey to bang out a "Rockford" script as fast as he could, because Urbanczyk had heard the producer had run short and was seeking new ones.

That producer was David Chase.

In the witness box on Friday, Urbanczyk, 51, told the court about his and Baer's boyhood dreams, how he had brought Chase together with Baer, and how the producer and the lawyer struck up an acquaintance, despite Chase having rejected Baer's "Rockford" script.

According to Urbanczyk and others who testified on behalf of Baer, the relationship led to talk about a possible TV show about the New Jersey mafia. They told how Baer introduced Chase to figures in Elizabeth, NJ, who shared their knowledge about organized crime in the area with the TV producer, who took notes at several meetings in 1995.

Urbanczyk testified that Baer told him Chase offered Baer money for his help.

But Baer refused, Urbanczyk said, preferring to wait and see if the show would ever be made and then make arrangements for money and/or a paid producer's or consultant's role on the show.

Urbanczyk also told the court of Baer's "shock" and "disbelief" when the lawyer learned two years later from sources other than Chase that a "Sopranos" pilot was indeed being shot at locations around north Jersey without Baer's involvement.

With Baer and Chase seated at opposing tables, Urbanczyk delivered his testimony on the trial's second day. He was one of two witnesses (the other was John Agoglia, a former NBC executive who was called by Baer's attorney, Harley Breite, to testify on the use of consultants on TV shows) whose testimony turned the trial into a television tutorial.

At one point, Judge Joel A. Pisano cautioned against testimony that attempted to assess Baer's emotional state without hard evidence.

"This is not a screenplay," Judge Pisano said. "We have evidence rules."

The trial resumes this morning.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12172007...gan_933510.htm