By Bridget Mulroy
Long before The Sopranos became the gold standard for prestige television, there were people behind the camera quietly watching history unfold in real time. Few had a closer vantage point than David “Dave Cat” Catalano, and in an exclusive interview surrounding the premiere of The Sopranos Experience with Dave Cat, the longtime production insider revealed a side of the HBO phenomenon fans have never truly seen before. The full episode is available in the premiere of The Sopranos Experience with Dave Cat on YouTube.
What emerges from the conversation is not just nostalgia, but a vivid, deeply personal account of what it felt like to work inside the machine while The Sopranos transformed from a hit series into a cultural institution.
Finding a Front-Row Seat to Television History
“I knew that the show was a huge hit before I began working on it,” Catalano explained during the interview. “When they killed off Big Pussy at the end of Season 2, it shot The Sopranos into a different stratosphere. When I began working on the show, midway through Season 3, I quickly realized it was the best job I’d ever had.”
Then came the realization that changed everything.
“It was the first time in my life that I’d wake up almost two hours before my alarm would go off because I was so excited to go to work every day,” he said. “That’s when you know you truly have a passion for what you do. I always had a feeling that something magical was going to happen every day.”
That feeling radiates throughout the new YouTube episode, which functions less like a conventional retrospective and more like a private access pass into one of television’s most legendary productions. Built around Catalano’s firsthand memories and an astonishing archive of nearly 1,000 behind-the-scenes photographs taken during Seasons 3 and 4, the premiere opens a world previously reserved for cast, crew, and insiders.
“I remember when Dave Catalano joined our crew he was an eager and wide-eyed PA that had the look of someone who had entered an enchanted world. He was a great PA, perceptive and able to think ahead and willing to work hard and long hours. It wasn’t long before the Assistant Directors were advocating for him to become a full-time member of the staff. He was a great addition to our family. Being a set PA on the Sopranos is like having a seat on the floor of Madison Square Garden behind the Knick bench at a game with the Celtics. Dave has created a video that is imbued with the love and camaraderie that we all had for each other on that job. You can see and feel it in every frame. It was a Sunday Family Dinner every day.” Henry Bronchtein, longtime Sopranos Producer and Director of 4 episodes
A Typical Production Morning at Silvercup Studios
The details are extraordinary. Catalano vividly described the rhythm of a typical production morning at Silvercup Studios in Queens, where actor trailers lined 22nd Street and walkie-talkie chatter began before sunrise.
“Right at 7 a.m., the cast would enter the set. Some would already be nearly hair-and-makeup ready, while others arrived in a typical disheveled state, sipping coffee and yawning,” he recalled. “We would rehearse privately first, then do a ‘marking rehearsal’ for the crew to watch. The crew would pile in from breakfast and take note of the scene. Once that was complete, the actors would return to base camp to get ready while the crew unloaded gear and began lighting and setting up cameras, and off we’d go. That process repeated itself day after day, scene after scene, like a well-oiled machine.”
But some moments cut deeper than routine. For Catalano, no location captured the soul of the series quite like the Soprano family home in North Caldwell, New Jersey.
“The first time I arrived at the Soprano house was probably the first time I was starstruck by a piece of real estate,” he said. “I remembered Tony walking down the driveway to pick up The Star-Ledger in the pilot episode as the camera circles around him during his voice-over.”
Then, laughing, he admitted to recreating the moment himself. “I took the same walk Tony did and pretended to pick up a newspaper, just like he did in the pilot, but I did it at lunch when nobody was watching.”
That blend of reverence and intimacy is exactly what gives The Sopranos Experience with Dave Cat its emotional pull. This is not a polished corporate documentary assembled years later by executives. It is the memory bank of someone who was there every day, someone who still remembers the sounds, the routines, the weather, the personalities, and the electricity surrounding the production.
“A touching tribute to the Soprano days, made with care and admiration. I look back on that time with incredible fondness and gratitude, the people I met there have become life long friends and chosen family.” Kenyon Noble, former Sopranos Production Assistant
Remembering James Gandolfini
Nowhere is that electricity more alive than in Catalano’s stories about James Gandolfini. “He was the best, the absolute best,” Catalano said before sharing one of the most revealing memories from his earliest days on set.
During a lunch break near a basketball hoop outside Stage 4, Gandolfini casually joined a pickup game with production assistants.
“Jim ran over to me and started boxing me out for the rebound, hip-checking me and pushing me with his elbow, so I started pushing back and laughing,” Catalano recalled. “I beat Jim to the rebound, but he grabbed me by the shirt and wrestled the ball away from me, then scored a layup while laughing.”
Then came the moment that stayed with him. “After lunch, he told the story on set about Dave the PA who was beating him up on the basketball court. I didn’t even know he knew my name, most people didn’t, but that was his way of welcoming me to the family.”
Stories like that are what make the new episode feel almost surreal in its authenticity. The memories are not filtered through decades of mythology. They still feel alive.
How New Jersey Shaped the Series
That authenticity extends to the production itself, including difficult moments few fans ever consider. Catalano reflected on filming the now-iconic “Pine Barrens” episode in brutal winter conditions at Bear Mountain State Park.
“Not only was it a tough commute for anyone living in New York City or New Jersey, but the bitter cold was awful, and shooting in the woods made it logistically difficult for the crew to move equipment,” he said. “Not ideal, but it became one of the most popular episodes of all time.”
The interview also reveals how deeply New Jersey itself shaped the DNA of the series.
“David Chase has said many times that the show had to be shot in New Jersey, and that was non-negotiable,” Catalano explained. “New Jersey gets a bad reputation from some people, but it’s a wonderful state for filmmaking. From the mountains to the highways, inner cities, suburbs, beaches, and diversity, there’s nothing like New Jersey.”
Even now, decades later, the connection remains visceral. “Whenever I drive through the Lincoln Tunnel into Jersey, around the helix into Weehawken, I often hum The Sopranos theme song to myself,” he admitted. “It probably sounds weird, but to me it means, ‘Welcome home.’”
Behind the Movie Magic and a New Chapter
Perhaps the most fascinating revelations involve the behind-the-scenes “movie magic” that viewers never knew existed, including Catalano’s own unlikely role in the unforgettable “Pie-O-My” sequence.
“When filming at the racetrack, Henry (Bronchtein) needed someone to carry the horse-head prop around an imaginary track for the actors’ eyeline. I was chosen for the off-screen action,” he said. “I walked in a circle carrying the toy horse, which was appropriately named ‘Dave-O-My,’ while Gandolfini and Joe Pantoliano reacted to my movement.”
For Catalano, moments like that became part of a larger personal journey, one he now sees differently with time and perspective.
“I think I’m reaching a point in my life where I can look back and become more conscious of my legacy,” he reflected. “I’ve always been so focused on pushing my career forward that I never stopped to appreciate the past.”
That changed with The Sopranos Experience. “Now, with the launch of my new company, Iconic Sports Media, I feel there are chapters in my life that deserve closure, and this is one way of doing that for me,” he said. “It’s reflection, gratitude, closure, a chapter of my story that can be shared with friends and family for years to come, a teaching tool, and a celebration.”
“This video made by Dave the Cat Catalano brought back so many memories. I’ve seen many shots or videos of scenes on social media but none like this. Dave’s video had pictures of the crew that so many of us worked with. What was touching was pictures of the crew that have passed on which was most special. For any cast member that sees it will be touched by it. That’s what makes his video so special. I loved it.” Joe Gannascoli “Vito”
For longtime fans of The Sopranos, the result is something extraordinarily rare, an unfiltered invitation into the world of a show that permanently changed television, told by someone who lived it from the inside out. And once the episode begins, it becomes very difficult to look away.
