Execs Sound Off on 'Yellowstone' Creator's Outrageous Demands for Hit Show: 'Are You Kidding Me?'
Paramount executives have reportedly expressed outrage over Taylor Sheridan’s financial demands for his hit Western “Yellowstone” as the TV series prepares to air its final episodes.
The show, which is currently in its midseason break, will conclude later this year after it was announced that star Kevin Costner would be hanging up his spurs.
It is not known if Costner’s departure is due to any issues with Sheridan.
Costner and Sheridan, who directs, writes and sometimes acts in the show, reportedly had a falling out over the show’s schedule.
But a number of studio executives have also expressed displeasure with Sheridan, according to The Wall Street Journal.
According to the report, Sheridan is paid tens of thousands of dollars weekly for services such as a so-called “cowboy camp” to train actors.
He is also paid for the use of some of his properties as filming locations.
According to the Journal, Sheridan bought a 266,000-acre ranch in Texas for over $341 million last year.
Filming at his ranches has cost up to $50,000 per week, while Sheridan also rents his own cattle to “Yellowstone” at $25 a head.
Additionally, the Journal reported that Sheridan bills Paramount for a wrangler he employs to look after his personal horses.
Sheridan has also used his own farrier to fit horses at the expense of production company 101 Studios — which has left the company’s executives peeved.
David Glasser, who runs the studio, reportedly complained about Sheridan’s insistence on flying his preferred farrier from Texas to Montana for filming.
“Are you kidding me? We can’t find a local person?” Glasser wrote in an email to employees.
The fees have reportedly been in addition to what Sheridan is paid to write and direct “Yellowstone.”
It is unclear if the cost to produce the show is in any way related to the decision to bring it to an end. According to the Journal, the fifth and final season of “Yellowstone” significantly exceeded its budget of $12 million per episode.
Sheridan declined to comment to the Journal.
Season 5 premiered with a record 12.1 million total viewers, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
A new spinoff series starring Matthew McConaughey is currently in the works.
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