Yellowstone's Taylor Sheridan Doesn't Hold Back His Opinion on WGA's Demands

The creator of the Yellowstone Universe, Kevin Costner ’s arch-nemesis, and the man with the God complex (as some media call him), Taylor Sheridan doesn’t care what anyone thinks when he has something to say. Whether his blunt honesty is natural or intentional as part of his image, it’s one of the reasons we value the man.

The Writer’s Guild has been on strike for a month and a half at this point, and it doesn’t seem to be ending any time soon. The protest is seriously affecting the movie and TV series industry as numerous massive projects are stalled, including Sheridan’s Yellowstone prequel 1923, and it's everyone’s concern and loss now.

Hollywood’s most influential and popular public personas have already expressed their support to the WGA strike’s cause, and even some people from far beyond the industry — like the 44th President of the US Barack Obama — did, as well. But the fact is, not everyone’s content with all the various demands of the Guild.

Taylor Sheridan, for one, stands with the WGA in principle; still, he can’t help but worry about how some of the Guild’s new demands will affect his working process.

“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. 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,” explained Sheridan.

For the Yellowstone creator, the stories exist in his head, and he needs his team to fully adopt his vision of them. It’s clear that Sheridan’s approach works as his shows are total record-breakers, and standing in the way of his creativity could barely result in anything productive. Sheridan sees this kind of problem in advance.

“I’m really interested in the dirty of the relationships in literally every scene. But when you hire a room that may not be motivated by those same qualities — and a writer always wants to take ownership of something they’re writing — and I give this directive and they’re not feeling it, then they’re going to come up with their own qualities. So for me, writers' rooms, they haven’t worked,” claims the Yellowstone boss.

We can’t really blame him for his frustration, either. The man knows that it’s his vision and approach that work and make millions upon millions with every show he releases — and imagining someone messing up his work for no good reason must be a tough pill to swallow. But we’re sure Sheridan will be able to find a model that suits everyone.

The man has one too many Western stories yet to tell to give up.

Source: Deadline