The extent to which character Christopher Moltisanti mixes confidential and personal information about the Soprano mob family into the story elements of Cleaver is the focal point throughout its development.

The film starred Jonathan LaPaglia as Michael "the Cleaver" and Daniel Baldwin as mob boss Salvatore ("Sally Boy").

When Christopher Moltisanti proposes the plot to writer J. T. Dolan, he says the film is about a "young wise guy, assassin, gets betrayed by his people.

In the episode "In Camelot" (5x07), their friendship gets complicated when Christopher introduced J. T. to the underground world of high-stakes poker games, inadvertently giving the writer a new outlet for his addictive personality.

In conjunction with the premiere of "Stage 5," HBO aired the seven-minute mockumentary Making Cleaver, detailing the film's production.

Including in-character interviews with Moltisanti, Lupertazzi, Yam, Baldwin, LaPaglia, and special-effects make-up artist Steve Kelly, the behind-the-scenes look is broken up into four segments: "Concept," "Courting Kingsley," "Cast and Crew," and "A 'Family' Production."