No More 'Yellowstone' Shows? Creator Says He Will Quit If Paramount Enacts New Policy
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
“Yellowstone” writer, producer and director Taylor Sheridan said he is willing to quit television if studios mandate writers’ rooms at studios as part of a deal to end the ongoing strike.
The Writers Guild of America voted to go on strike in early May, and the union is negotiating with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers regarding when thousands of writers might return to work.
The writers want better pay and more residual income from streamers. Their union would also like to force television studios to hire a mandatory minimum number of writers.
That proposal would not fly with someone such as Sheridan, who does his own writing in both film and television.
The 53-year-old has written popular modern Western films such as “Hell or High Water,” “Wind River” and the two films in the “Sicario” franchise.
Of course, he is best known for creating and writing every episode of “Yellowstone” and its Paramount spinoffs.
The flagship series is the most popular drama on television, and it is set to end earlier than most fans would like after the second half of Season 5 airs – whenever that might be.
The show has been on hiatus since January amid scheduling conflicts and a media beef between its creator and star, actor Kevin Costner.
But during a recent conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Sheridan signaled the future of his TV career could hinge on what happens with the ongoing writers strike.
While Sheridan supports the writers, he told the outlet he is unwilling to compromise on having the freedom to dictate every word in his scripts.
On the prospect of Paramount giving him a room of writers, he said, “The freedom of the artist to create must be unfettered.”
“If they tell me, ‘You’re going to have to write a check for $540,000 to four people to sit in a room that you never have to meet,’ then that’s between the studio and the guild,” Sheridan said.
“But if I have to check in creatively with others for a story I’ve wholly built in my brain, that would probably be the end of me telling TV stories,” he said.
The TV hitmaker told the outlet he has been stubborn about doing things on his own since the beginning of his career.
“I will tell my stories my way,” he said.
Sheridan has been accused of stretching himself too thin by overseeing shows such as “Mayor of Kingstown,” “Tulsa King,” Yellowstone” and its prequels “1883” and “1923.”
But he said he is focused on writing the final episodes of “Yellowstone.”
Initially, it was reported the show would have a six-episode swan song. However, Sheridan told The Hollywood Reporter it might take him 10 episodes to give the show a proper sendoff, which the studio supports.
“If I think it takes 10 episodes to wrap it up, they’ll give me 10,” he said. “It’ll be as long as it needs to be.”
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