We know what it takes to make wine, but what does it take to make a real man? Our latest project hopes to answer that question. It’s a prospective TV series called The Padrones, concerns a Sicilian-American family who move back to the U.S. after some time away in their native homeland of Italy, who are seeking success in the California wine business. The two camps share something in common — Francis Ford Coppola makes wine in California and has found a level of success we hope to emulate in our (HBO / premium cable) TV series. We’ve envisioned our fictional Sicilian family not so much alike as the Corleones or the Sopranos, but more like Family Ties or perhaps the Osbournes (in the humor department). Imagine the Corleone family without the guns, the hits, the bloodshed, and the organized crime (and more innocent family matters making up the drama) and you’re getting close to how we’ve envisioned our TV family.

Francis Ford Coppola Makes Highly-Rated Wines in California

As Don Vito Corleone was fond of saying, “A man who spends no time with his family can never be a real man.” Family patriarch Joey Padrone seconds that emotion, let’s just say.

Paying Homage to Classic Cinema

Joey is a lover of classic cinema, and he chooses to pay homage to the film classics by producing a wine with the appellation, “Cinema Classico”. He loves to watch classic movies in his den and raise a glass of his own wine and toast the classic films, alongside his second wife Connie, whom he has affectionately nicknamed, “Con-Baby”. By the way, “Padrone” means “father” or “boss” in Italian. Joey’s the boss, but he realizes he cannot rule his own modest wine empire without the love and loyalty of his family, so that everyone feels part of the success. In fact, each Padrone family member plays a part in the winemaking process, whether back in Sicily, or in their newly-adopted home of Toluca Lake, California. 

Living Life the Sicilian Way — in Southern California

So, the Padrone family has made the move back to America following two decades away (following 9/11 they moved back to less tumultuous environs — save Mt. Etna’s multiple eruptions which in part pushed them back to the USA), and find the current state of America a social minefield. Can they import their Sicilian way of life into Southern California? Will it get through customs? Can the two worlds co-exist anymore? Maybe it worked in the New York City of the Twentieth Century, but family values have slipped a bit in modern America. “What a shame,” thinks Joey Padrone, along with any of us who appreciate core family values.

Family Devotion — Not a Completely Extinct Concept

And, a big part of what we want to convey with The Padrones is the true grit, the chutzpah, the persistence, and the cajones of Joey Padrone. He is very Don Corleone-like, in that he is brave, (mostly) fearless, devoted to his family, and prefers his revels at home, as opposed to out in the bars or on the streets. He also becomes a bit wrathful when wrong (or any perceived wrong) is brought upon any of his family members. He’s also very like one of his film heroes, Francis Ford Coppola — he thinks big and loves the vinification of his grapes into delectable wines.

We also think our viewers will find it quite touching the way each of The Padrones care and watch out for one another. It will be a refreshing change of pace after too many terrible news stories about crimes involving American families and how dissolute and divided against themselves they can be. 

So, stay tuned…The Padrones is more than a TV series idea whose time has come…we think this lovable winemaking family will be the next celebrated (good-natured) American TV Family!

The Original PaDrones by Golden Flower Network