An Award Chase Can't Refuse

David Chase, creator of Home Box Office's The Sopranos, will receive the Banff Television Festival's "2003 Award of Excellence."

Chase -- who is also a writer, director and executive producer of HBO's critically acclaimed mob hit -- will receive the award June 9 at the annual Banff Rockie Awards Show as part of the 24th Banff Television Festival.

"The continuing series is a great television form, and its finest practitioners define an era," Banff Television Foundation president and CEO Pat Ferns said at a special luncheon in New York Tuesday.

"We have entered the age of The Sopranos thanks to the brilliance and genius of its creator, David Chase," Ferns added.