Spring Break
'Seven-Minute Sopranos' Video Turns Grad Into Internet Sensation
Nicholas Carra
Issue date: 5/6/07 Section: News
For most, YouTube is a diverse collection of meaningless but humorous videos: a squirrel waterskiing, a dog talking or even a two-year-old swearing. But for one recent UConn graduate, YouTube proved more practical as a gateway to a career in Hollywood.
Paul Gulyas, who graduated from UConn last May and childhood friend Joe Sabia, who grew up in Milford and graduated from Boston College, fused a passion for the TV show "The Soprano's" with artistic creativity to create "7-Minute Sopranos," according to an interview with both Gulyas and Sabia.
As its title suggests, the YouTube clip compresses the plot of David Chase's popular HBO series to a mere seven minutes. Viewers are bombarded with the show's crucial scenes accompanied by humorous narration.
As the video gained viewers, Gulyas received a flattering e-mail from executive producer Matthew Weiner the second night following its YouTube premiere. The clip's increasing notoriety prompted Virginia Heffernan from the New York Times to e-mail Gulyas, resulting in a half-page article advertising the Sopranos recap in the weekend section of the paper.
But the success of the clip did not end there. The article, while noting the creativity of the piece, did present the question: "What will Mr. Chase think, then, of the video Cliffs Notes to his Iliad?"
According to the article, Chase's reaction mixed laughter with a nostalgic remembrance of how far the series had come.
"I was very excited to see that David Chase watched it while on the set of the series finale and laughed the whole way through," Gulyas said.
Chase's approval spread to the show's cast as well. On a trip to Las Vegas two weeks ago, Gulyas' uncles found themselves sharing a roulette table with Robert Iler, who plays the role of A.J. Soprano. When asked if he had seen the clip himself, Iler emphatically replied that the entire cast has religiously watched the video in amusement since it was first posted on YouTube.
Paul Gulyas, who graduated from UConn last May and childhood friend Joe Sabia, who grew up in Milford and graduated from Boston College, fused a passion for the TV show "The Soprano's" with artistic creativity to create "7-Minute Sopranos," according to an interview with both Gulyas and Sabia.
As its title suggests, the YouTube clip compresses the plot of David Chase's popular HBO series to a mere seven minutes. Viewers are bombarded with the show's crucial scenes accompanied by humorous narration.
As the video gained viewers, Gulyas received a flattering e-mail from executive producer Matthew Weiner the second night following its YouTube premiere. The clip's increasing notoriety prompted Virginia Heffernan from the New York Times to e-mail Gulyas, resulting in a half-page article advertising the Sopranos recap in the weekend section of the paper.
But the success of the clip did not end there. The article, while noting the creativity of the piece, did present the question: "What will Mr. Chase think, then, of the video Cliffs Notes to his Iliad?"
According to the article, Chase's reaction mixed laughter with a nostalgic remembrance of how far the series had come.
"I was very excited to see that David Chase watched it while on the set of the series finale and laughed the whole way through," Gulyas said.
Chase's approval spread to the show's cast as well. On a trip to Las Vegas two weeks ago, Gulyas' uncles found themselves sharing a roulette table with Robert Iler, who plays the role of A.J. Soprano. When asked if he had seen the clip himself, Iler emphatically replied that the entire cast has religiously watched the video in amusement since it was first posted on YouTube.
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