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We're trendsetters. Yellowstone

2:58

feels like a

3:00

step backward. Dr.

3:02

Sheridan Taylor Ghibler

3:04

collected three things.

3:06

Guns, knives, and

3:08

fountain pens. The

3:10

cardiologist and his

3:12

wife Susan raised

3:14

their three children

3:16

in Fort Worth,

3:18

Texas, on a

3:20

hearty diet of

3:22

Monty Python and

3:24

Clint Eastwood. Susan

3:26

had grown up

3:28

on her grandparents'

3:30

ranch in rural

3:32

Texas. and she

3:34

wanted her kids

3:36

to experience firsthand

3:38

the peaceful freedom

3:40

of nature. So

3:42

in 1978, they

3:44

purchased the family

3:46

ranch, packed up

3:48

their knives, guns,

3:50

and fountain pens,

3:52

and moved 85

3:54

miles south of

3:56

Fort Worth to

3:58

Cranville's Gap. The

4:01

gap in Cranville's gap

4:03

refers to the space

4:05

between two mountains separating

4:07

Bask and Hamilton counties.

4:09

That gap housed 400

4:11

Texans and four stores,

4:13

hardware, grocery, feed, and

4:15

a fill-in station. A

4:17

far cry from the

4:19

385,000 folks in Fort

4:21

Worth. The neighborhood's five-man

4:23

football team was shored

4:25

a couple guys. Everyone

4:27

in Cranville's Gap rode

4:29

horses, and it suddenly

4:31

became apparent to their

4:33

son, Taylor Sheridan, that

4:36

he'd be expected to

4:38

saddle up as well.

4:40

Miles from home, he

4:42

dreamed of cantering right

4:44

out of Cranville straight

4:46

back to civilization. When

4:48

that wasn't an option,

4:50

the eight-year-old begrudgingly rode

4:52

around the ranch. Waco-based

4:54

television channels. But sometimes

4:56

those channels would play

4:58

Old Westerns. To pass

5:00

the time in the

5:02

oppressive heat, Sheridan would

5:04

either watch Westerns or

5:06

make up new ones

5:08

in his head. The

5:10

characters would shoot rifles,

5:12

race horses, when in

5:14

reality, his most exciting

5:16

day on the range

5:18

was when the propane

5:20

man came to fill

5:22

up the tank. At

5:24

14, Sheridan got his

5:26

first job. on a

5:28

farm a few miles

5:30

outside the gap. Herding

5:32

cattle, mending fences, and

5:34

clearing brush would earn

5:36

him a cool 400

5:38

bucks a month and

5:40

a bunk. And inadvertently,

5:42

the reluctant ranch hand

5:44

became a cowboy. Sheridan

5:46

decided he was going

5:48

to become an NFL

5:50

player. But one too

5:52

many high school games.

5:54

ended in the ER.

5:56

Broken bones spelled broken

5:58

dreams, but he still

6:00

needed to complete his

6:02

extracurriculars. So one day

6:04

Sheridan's drama teacher invited

6:06

him to partake in

6:08

the school play. He

6:10

was a high schooler

6:12

all banged up from

6:14

football, looking like a

6:16

little bit of a

6:18

tough guy, and she

6:21

had the perfect role

6:23

in mind. He had

6:25

nothing else to do,

6:27

so he thought, why

6:29

not? Sheridan played

6:31

the second in command T-bird

6:33

Kiniki Murdoch in Pascal High

6:36

School's rendition of Greece. Kiniki

6:38

is surly, he's cool, but

6:40

inside he's a softie. And

6:43

Sheridan shone. Soon he started

6:45

looking for other roles. He

6:48

auditioned for P-off at the

6:50

Stage West Theater in Fort

6:52

Worth, and he got it.

6:55

He had to miss a

6:57

school dance. but the sophomore

7:00

got paid to act. Realizing

7:02

he wouldn't be the next

7:04

Joe Montana. Sheridan had to

7:07

pick a new future, and

7:09

he decided he was going

7:11

to become sheriff of Cranville's

7:14

Gap. He was accepted to

7:16

Texas State University to study

7:19

political science. But it wasn't

7:21

the right fit. So he

7:23

tried history, hoping it would

7:26

be easier. But that didn't

7:28

feel right either. Sheridan said

7:31

he ended up double majoring

7:33

in girls and beer, and

7:35

those he passed with flying

7:38

colors. But he'd stopped going

7:40

to classes altogether, and eventually,

7:43

as Sheridan put it, Texas

7:45

State asked him to leave

7:47

and return the sweatshirts. It

7:50

was 1990, and Sheridan was

7:52

totally adrift. Then his parents

7:54

separated. Then his mom over

7:57

leveraged the... in the divorce

7:59

and lost what had become

8:02

her son's favorite place in

8:04

the world. Sheridan didn't know

8:06

what to do. He turned

8:09

to his parents, but they

8:11

said, we can't help you,

8:14

we're broke. You're on your

8:16

own, kid. They had been

8:18

a tightly bonded family, the

8:21

epoxy being that 214 acre

8:23

ranch. Now everything had come

8:26

apart. Without school Sheridan started

8:28

mowing lawns, building fences, painting

8:30

houses for $3 an hour.

8:33

After work, he'd catch up

8:35

on the latest Westerns. Dances

8:38

with wolves had just come

8:40

out. An epic Western about

8:42

a civil war lieutenant stationed

8:45

at a remote outpost, who

8:47

befriends a nearby indigenous tribe

8:49

and falls in love with

8:52

one of the women. before

8:54

the U.S. Army arrives and

8:57

accuses the lieutenant of being

8:59

a traitor. The film, directed,

9:01

produced, and starring Kevin Costner,

9:04

won seven Academy Awards, including

9:06

best director for Costner. As

9:09

a child Sheridan and his

9:11

friends would find Native American

9:13

artifacts all around Cranville's gap.

9:16

The archaeologists who would frequent

9:18

the gap, coupled with town

9:21

lore, had... peaked his interest

9:23

in indigenous history over the

9:25

years. And it made him

9:28

think, what if he made

9:30

his own Dances with Wolf

9:32

style movie? But he was

9:35

a college dropout, so he

9:37

reigned in that dream. One

9:40

day Sheridan was at the

9:42

mall in Austin. When a

9:44

woman approached him, she was

9:47

a talent scout, and she

9:49

asked if he was interested

9:52

in modeling. Sheridan said he

9:54

had some experience as an

9:56

actor. She said she scouted

9:59

those... The woman gave Sheridan

10:01

a script, asked him to

10:04

take it home and read

10:06

it. If he was interested

10:08

in auditioning, she'd arrange a

10:11

plane ticket to Chicago. The

10:13

ticket from Fort Worth to

10:15

Chicago was $200. To drive

10:18

from Fort Worth to Chicago

10:20

would cost $70 in gas.

10:23

So Sheridan cashed in the

10:25

ticket, pocketed $130 bucks, and

10:27

hit the road. It

10:30

was the first time since

10:32

he was a child that

10:34

Sheridan had ever been outside

10:36

the borders of Texas. He

10:38

arrived in Illinois, parked his

10:41

truck, stepped on to a

10:43

commercial set, landed the part,

10:45

and got paid more money

10:47

than he thought he'd ever

10:49

see in his life. Soon

10:51

he was signing a contract

10:53

for more commercial work. Then

10:55

a soap opera. Then he

10:57

found himself back in Texas,

10:59

on a Dallas-based television show.

11:01

Being on set was fun,

11:03

but it was the storytelling

11:05

that fascinated him. He watched

11:07

all these Harvard and USC

11:09

grads write the scripts week

11:11

after week, and it only

11:13

solidified his belief that he

11:15

wasn't qualified to tell stories.

11:17

So, he would act. And

11:19

if he wanted to make

11:21

a career of it, there

11:23

was only one place to

11:25

go. Los Angeles. And

11:45

we'll be right back.

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14:03

said Texas felt like it

14:06

was borderline ready to declare

14:08

war on California at any

14:10

given moment. And now, he

14:13

was thinking of moving there.

14:15

He'd never met anyone who'd

14:17

done it. He'd never heard

14:19

of anyone who'd done it.

14:22

And it wasn't anything he'd

14:24

ever considered doing himself. It

14:26

was less like moving and

14:28

more like defecting. But at

14:31

age 25, Sheridan packed up

14:33

his truck for a second

14:35

time. And with his pup

14:38

riding shotgun, this rodeo cowboy

14:40

headed to the land of

14:42

Rodeo Drive. With the money

14:44

he'd saved, Sheridan enrolled in

14:47

acting classes, an investment into

14:49

his new career. But it

14:51

would be a while before

14:53

he'd land apart, and he

14:56

had nowhere to live. so

14:58

he and his dog slept

15:00

in his car. When that

15:03

got too hard, he had

15:05

friends who lived on a

15:07

reservation north of LA, who

15:09

let him pitch a tent.

15:12

He started auditioning, and he

15:14

landed a few parts, an

15:16

episode of Walker, Texas Ranger

15:19

in 1995, an episode of

15:21

Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman in

15:23

1997, Counter- Guy in an

15:25

episode of Party of Five

15:28

in 1999. But it's fair

15:30

to say his acting credits

15:32

were sparse. Five years passed.

15:34

To make ends meet, Sheridan

15:37

didn't go the typical route

15:39

of waiting tables. He led

15:41

trail rides. After a long

15:44

day of auditioning, he'd head

15:46

to the foothills of California

15:48

and lead groups of tourists

15:50

on half-brocourses around the hills.

15:53

He said it didn't feel

15:55

like a job, because it

15:57

was a blast. but also

16:00

because it didn't pay very

16:02

well, if any. it just

16:04

made him miss home. Another

16:06

five years passed. So Sheridan

16:09

took a job teaching acting.

16:11

The irony of supplementing one's

16:13

floundering acting career by teaching

16:15

acting was not lost on

16:18

him. But one day, in

16:20

class, he met a woman

16:22

named Nicole and the two

16:25

started dating. In

16:31

2005 Sheridan landed five episodes

16:34

of Veronica Mars, his longest

16:36

run yet. In 2008, he

16:38

landed 21 episodes as Deputy

16:41

Chief David Hale on Sons

16:43

of Anarchy. That was huge,

16:45

until they killed off his

16:48

character. He did an episode

16:50

of NYPD Blue, CSI, CSI

16:52

New York. But he turned

16:54

40. Then he and Nicole

16:57

found out they were going

16:59

to have a baby. Sheridan

17:01

had spent the better part

17:04

of two decades trying to

17:06

make acting happen. Twenty years

17:08

in the wilderness. He said

17:11

he was a fair actor,

17:13

but that was all he

17:15

was ever going to be.

17:17

He said he'd never seen

17:20

anyone bang their head against

17:22

the wall for 20 years

17:24

and then make it. He'd

17:27

seen it take eight years,

17:29

maybe ten years, but he'd

17:31

never seen twenty. A leading

17:34

man felt so far out

17:36

of the question. He'd have

17:38

to make peace with being

17:40

tenth on the call sheet

17:43

for the rest of his

17:45

life. But it wasn't just

17:47

about him anymore. They were

17:50

expecting a son, and he

17:52

thought... He didn't want to

17:54

look that sun in the

17:57

eye and tell him dad

17:59

couldn't make it to his

18:01

baseball game because he had

18:04

an audition for a Windex

18:06

commercial. Plus, Sheridan didn't want

18:08

to raise a child in

18:10

LA. Like his mom, he

18:13

wanted his kids to experience

18:15

firsthand the peaceful freedom of

18:17

nature. Sheridan said, the interesting

18:20

thing about Hollywood is if

18:22

you listen, it tells you

18:24

exactly what you need to

18:27

hear. He wasn't supposed to

18:29

be acting. So one day

18:31

he told one of his

18:33

acting students he was thinking

18:36

of giving it all up.

18:38

and moving out to Wyoming.

18:40

When that student said, what

18:43

if you wrote a pilot

18:45

script? Sheridan didn't study English.

18:47

He didn't study anything. Surely

18:50

there was some barrier to

18:52

entry for writers, but there

18:54

wasn't. He just needed a

18:57

computer and a script writing

18:59

software program. So his wife

19:01

Nicole maxed out their credit

19:03

card purchasing final draft. They

19:06

sold everything they owned, including

19:08

two horses. They did keep

19:10

the horse trailer. It was

19:13

cheaper than renting a storage

19:15

unit for their things. They

19:17

condensed their lives, including new

19:20

baby, into a one-bedroom apartment

19:22

with no air conditioning. Sheridan

19:24

quit acting for good. and

19:26

he started writing. Nicole just

19:29

hoped they could come up

19:31

with enough money to cover

19:33

rent and food. Sometimes one

19:36

or the other was sacrificed.

19:38

Sheridan said he had no

19:40

idea how to write a

19:43

script, but he'd spent the

19:45

last 20 years reading bad

19:47

ones, which he said was

19:49

a masterclass in how not

19:52

to do it. So if

19:54

he consciously did what everyone

19:56

else wasn't doing, maybe, just

19:59

maybe... he had a shot.

20:01

Sheridan committed himself to

20:03

that script writing software

20:06

every day, until he

20:08

had in front of him a

20:10

final draft. For a pilot

20:12

script called Mayor of Kingston.

20:15

The feeling of completing

20:17

the script was euphoric. He

20:19

said he should have been

20:21

doing this years ago. So

20:23

Sheridan started pitching Mayor

20:26

of Kingston. He

20:28

got some offers from major

20:30

networks, which was incredible

20:32

for a first-time TV

20:35

writer. But you see, those

20:37

offers came with conditions, notes,

20:39

changes. And he didn't want

20:41

conditions, notes, changes. Some

20:44

wanted to hire a table's

20:46

worth of experienced writers to

20:48

rework the script. That was

20:51

a hard no from Sheridan.

20:53

Faced with the very real

20:55

prospect of not making rent

20:57

that month, he took his script

21:00

and slid it into a drawer.

21:02

He couldn't live with himself

21:04

if his work was feedbacked

21:07

into oblivion. Maybe in

21:09

10 years he could make it

21:11

the way he wanted to. For now,

21:13

he'd get started on another script.

21:15

This time, a movie. In

21:22

2013 Sheridan moved to Wyoming,

21:25

and there he started writing

21:27

at a quote, furious pace.

21:29

It would be called

21:31

Sicario, a western slash

21:34

thriller about the US

21:36

government's covert war on

21:38

Mexican drug cartels. The

21:40

Atlantic later wrote

21:43

that, by conventional

21:45

storytelling logic, Sicario

21:47

shouldn't work, calling it

21:49

unwieldy. Even Sheridan admitted it's

21:52

hard to know who to

21:54

root for. But there was

21:56

something about it. And

21:58

with $800 left... to his

22:00

name. He went around

22:02

pitching his movie to

22:04

production studios, and by

22:06

the skin of his

22:08

teeth, the first-time screenwriter

22:10

sold his movie to

22:12

Lionsgate. Emily Blunt, Josh

22:15

Brolin, and Benizzio del

22:17

Toro were cast as

22:19

the leads, and the

22:21

film was given a

22:23

budget of $30 million.

22:25

There was just one

22:27

point. The director wasn't

22:29

happy with the ending

22:31

as it was written.

22:33

He asked Taylor Sheridan

22:35

to rewrite it. Sheridan

22:37

refused. With Blunt, Roland,

22:39

and Benizzio on the

22:41

line, the studio took

22:43

matters into its own

22:45

hands, and the ending

22:47

was rewritten by committee.

22:49

Sheridan was furious. It

22:51

was exactly what he'd

22:53

feared. But his screenwriting

22:55

debut would bring in

22:57

$80 million at the

22:59

box office. The 800

23:01

in Sheridan's bank account

23:03

grew exponentially. Sicario earned

23:05

Sheridan a nomination for

23:07

Best Original Screenplay from

23:09

the Writers Guild of

23:11

America. It was granted

23:13

three stars by Roger

23:15

Ebert. and 92% on

23:17

Rotten Tomatoes. Writing that

23:20

certified fresh high, Sheridan

23:22

got to work on

23:24

another movie. Hell or

23:26

High Water told the

23:28

story of two brothers

23:30

who plan a series

23:32

of heists against the

23:34

bank that's about to

23:36

foreclose on their West

23:38

Texas Family Ranch. The

23:40

film would star Chris

23:42

Pine, Jeff Bridges, and

23:44

Gil Birmingham. Hell or

23:46

High Water was nominated

23:48

for four Academy Awards.

23:50

including Best original screenplay

23:52

for Sheridan. He attended

23:54

the 89th annual Oscars

23:56

with all the biggest

23:58

names in Hollywood, the

24:00

very actors he'd aspired

24:02

to be not seven

24:04

years earlier. Come 2017

24:06

he'd written his third

24:08

film and made his

24:10

directorial debut for Wind

24:12

River about a wildlife

24:14

officer who teams up

24:16

with an FBI agent

24:18

to solve the murder

24:20

of a young woman

24:22

on a reservation in

24:24

Wyoming. Sheridan won a

24:27

Best Director Award at

24:29

the Cannes Film Festival,

24:31

and suddenly he found

24:33

himself doing interviews on

24:35

a yacht in the

24:37

Mediterranean, sipping rosé. He

24:39

wasn't in Texas anymore,

24:41

and he didn't like

24:43

it. Sheridan flew back

24:45

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24:47

his family a ranch.

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at MintMobile.com. Sheridan

27:02

started penning his next

27:04

western. He said, when

27:06

you write, it's always

27:08

something autobiographical in nature,

27:10

and this one would

27:12

be based on his

27:14

favorite place, the Cranville's

27:16

Gap Family Ranch. This

27:19

story would follow the

27:21

Duttons. A wealthy family

27:23

led by patriarch John

27:25

Dutton, an owners of

27:27

the largest ranch in

27:29

Montana, called the Yellowstone.

27:31

John Dutton is an

27:33

old-school rancher from a

27:35

long line of old-school

27:37

ranchers and fierce steward

27:39

of the Dutton family

27:41

legacy. Centuries' old alliances

27:43

with government and law

27:45

enforcement wheeled Dutton immense

27:47

power over Montana. But

27:50

with the yellow stone

27:52

under constant threat at

27:54

the hands of its

27:56

neighbors, land developers, progressive

27:58

politicians, and a newly

28:00

appointed Native American... looking

28:02

to reclaim his people's

28:04

land, Dutton's power is

28:06

tested. Sheridan would pitch

28:08

it as the godfather

28:10

in Montana. What started

28:12

as a movie soon

28:14

became a series. So

28:16

Sheridan approached all the

28:18

major networks. But almost

28:21

everyone in Hollywood rejected

28:23

him. They told him

28:25

nobody was doing Westerns

28:27

anymore, that the genre

28:29

was effectively dead. But

28:31

Sheridan grew up with

28:33

timeless Westerns, and he

28:35

said, the second Hollywood

28:37

orders a DNR on

28:39

a genre, it's probably

28:41

because they'd made a

28:43

bunch of bad movies

28:45

about it. So he

28:47

persisted. Sheridan pitched the

28:49

show to HBO, and

28:52

one executive, a man

28:54

by the name of

28:56

Michael Lombardo, loved it.

28:58

He thought, in a

29:00

sea of urban scripts,

29:02

Yellowstone was refreshing. Clearly

29:04

Sheridan actually knew a

29:06

thing or two about

29:08

life on a ranch.

29:10

And with that, Lombardo

29:12

pushed Yellowstone into development.

29:14

But the rest of

29:16

the HBO team... wasn't

29:18

so sure. Executives agreed

29:20

Yellowstone's John Dutton had

29:23

to be a big

29:25

star. So Sheridan dipped

29:27

back into some of

29:29

his favorite Westerns growing

29:31

up, like Dances with

29:33

Wolves. He wanted Kevin

29:35

Costner. HBO wanted Robert

29:37

Redford. They told Sheridan

29:39

if he could get

29:41

Robert Redford. they'd green

29:43

light the pilot. So

29:45

Sheridan drove to the

29:47

Sundance Film Festival where

29:49

Redford was set to

29:51

appear, spent an entire

29:54

day with him and

29:56

by the next morning

29:58

he'd convinced him to

30:00

play the Yellowstone patriarch.

30:02

An excited Sheridan called

30:04

the senior vice president

30:06

at HBO in charge

30:08

of production and said,

30:10

I got him. And

30:12

as Sheridan tells the

30:14

story, the VP said,

30:16

got who? Sheridan said,

30:18

Robert Redford. You said,

30:20

if I got Robert

30:22

Redford, you'd green light

30:25

the show. And the

30:27

VP said, no, no.

30:29

We meant a Robert

30:31

Redford type. Sheridan was

30:33

stunned. There was no

30:35

closer a Robert Redford

30:37

type than Robert Redford

30:39

himself, but HBO still

30:41

wouldn't green light the

30:43

show. So Sheridan scheduled

30:45

a meeting with the

30:47

executives. They all sat

30:49

down at a high-end

30:51

Hollywood restaurant and Sheridan

30:53

asked them point blank.

30:56

why they didn't want

30:58

to make Yellowstone. The

31:00

executives offered a litany

31:02

of concerns, including that

31:04

John Dutton's daughter Beth

31:06

Dutton was too abrasive.

31:08

They said women wouldn't

31:10

like her. Sheridan needed

31:12

to tone her down.

31:14

John Dutton's only daughter

31:16

is a high-powered financier

31:18

with no filter. operating

31:20

within the traditional rancher's

31:22

creed, where land ownership

31:24

and power reign supreme,

31:27

but foregoing the traditional

31:29

manners one might expect

31:31

of a well-to-do southern

31:33

bell. The funny thing

31:35

was, telling Beth Dutton

31:37

to tone it down

31:39

was precisely the type

31:41

of feedback that would

31:43

spur her on. But

31:45

surely HBO's issues couldn't

31:47

have all hinged on

31:49

Beth. When it was

31:51

then the Sheridan learned,

31:53

the real reason his

31:55

show was stalled. As

31:58

he told the story

32:00

to the... Hollywood reporter

32:02

years later. That same

32:04

VP said, the truth

32:06

was, Yellowstone just felt

32:08

so middle America. They

32:10

were HBO. They were

32:12

avant-garde trendsetters. A show

32:14

about cowboys felt like

32:16

a step backward. Nobody

32:18

would want to watch

32:20

Yellowstone. Then he added

32:22

that, to be honest,

32:24

He didn't think anyone

32:26

should even be living

32:29

out there in rural

32:31

Montana. It should just

32:33

be a park or

32:35

something. It wasn't about

32:37

the actors. It wasn't

32:39

about the characters. It

32:41

was about Sheridan's very

32:43

identity, his homeland, his

32:45

people. But what happened

32:47

to that one enthusiastic

32:49

executive who'd pushed the

32:51

script into development in

32:53

the first place? Well,

32:55

a regime change at

32:57

HBO meant Michael Lombardo

33:00

was out. As is

33:02

common with development deals,

33:04

HBO retained rights to

33:06

the script. The fear

33:08

being, what if they

33:10

passed and Sheridan took

33:12

the show over to

33:14

Showtime, where it became

33:16

a smash hit. Bad

33:18

for business. The show

33:20

had lost its champion.

33:22

Sheridan couldn't take on

33:24

HBO alone. And just

33:26

like that. Yellowstone was

33:28

escorted to the train

33:31

station. But just then,

33:33

the phone rang. It

33:35

was Michael Lombardo. Lombardo

33:37

knew the network would

33:39

hold Yellowstone hostage, and

33:41

he still believed in

33:43

it. So as part

33:45

of his exit from

33:47

HBO, he negotiated that

33:49

Sheridan get his script

33:51

back. Yellowstone was resuscitated.

33:59

She Sheridan was back to

34:01

square one, pitching his show

34:03

to networks. He went to

34:05

TBS, but they rejected Yellowstone.

34:07

He went to TNT, but

34:09

they rejected Yellowstone. One person

34:12

liked it. An executive at

34:14

the Weinstein Company, who agreed

34:16

to help get the script

34:18

in front of the right

34:20

suitors. But even he was

34:22

met with a series of,

34:24

polite and not so polite

34:26

passes. Then the pair was

34:28

invited to a meeting in

34:30

Los Angeles with Viacom, who

34:33

was launching a cable channel,

34:35

the Paramount network. At this

34:37

point Sheridan was done with

34:39

LA. The city had spit

34:41

him out as an actor,

34:43

and now it was spinning

34:45

him out as a writer.

34:47

He was sick of dealing

34:49

with executives, of being asked

34:51

to change his ideas, of

34:54

trying to force people to

34:56

see that he had a

34:58

hit on his hands. If

35:00

he was going to fly

35:02

back to Los Angeles and

35:04

endure yet another one of

35:06

these meetings, this time, he

35:08

was going to cut to

35:10

the chase. Beth Dutton Style.

35:12

Paramount was in need of

35:15

original shows to compete with

35:17

networks like HBO and Showtime.

35:19

At that point, they were

35:21

known for Spike TV. and

35:23

they needed to rebrand, expand

35:25

their image and hold their

35:27

own programmatically. They needed to

35:29

take a big swing, but

35:31

they were nervous stepping up

35:33

to the plate. The script

35:36

for Yellowstone had crossed every

35:38

desk in Hollywood, including their

35:40

own, and now they had

35:42

a contemptuous cowboy staring at

35:44

them from across the table.

35:46

This would have been the

35:48

time for the screenwriter to

35:50

stand up and deliver his

35:52

best pitch. Instead, here's what

35:54

Sheridan said. Yellowstone is is

35:57

going to cost $90 to

35:59

$100 million. You're going to

36:01

be writing a check for

36:03

horses alone that's $50,000 to

36:05

$85,000 a week. There will

36:07

be no writer's room. I

36:09

will write and direct every

36:11

episode of the show. There

36:13

will be no notes from

36:15

studio executives. No one will

36:18

so much as see an

36:20

outline. You'll have no part

36:22

in this show, except for

36:24

footing the bill. The

36:26

Atlantic later wrote, it

36:29

was less a pitch,

36:31

more a warning. But

36:33

the executives looked at

36:35

the man in front

36:38

of them and said,

36:40

we want to make

36:42

this. No development, no

36:44

nothing. Go shoot it.

36:47

But they got to

36:49

work. Sheridan's first choice,

36:51

Kevin Costner, was cast

36:53

as John Dutton. Kelly

36:56

Riley, as tough as

36:58

nails, Beth Dutton. Colehauser,

37:00

as Rip Wheeler, Yellowstone

37:02

lead ranch hand slash

37:05

fixer. Luke Grimes and

37:07

Wes Bentley, as the

37:09

sons and Yellowstone successors,

37:11

Casey and Jamie Dutton.

37:14

and Gil Birmingham, whom

37:16

Sheridan had worked with

37:18

on hell or high

37:20

water as Chief Thomas

37:23

Rainwater. Sheridan had only

37:25

ever done movies. He

37:27

didn't know anything about

37:29

writing for TV. But

37:31

he didn't really care

37:34

to learn. He would

37:36

shoot Yellowstone like a

37:38

70-hour movie, sliced into

37:40

one-hour increments. He wasn't

37:43

kidding about that horse

37:45

budget. Not to mention

37:47

the sets. They'd shoot

37:49

out a multi-million dollar

37:52

ranch out in Montana.

37:54

Sheridan said he refused

37:56

to amend a script

37:58

to accommodate budget. There

38:01

were more than a

38:03

couple times Paramount covered

38:05

their eyes, but they

38:07

never told them to

38:10

stop. And on June

38:12

20th 2018, the Paramount

38:14

network premiered its first

38:16

ever scripted series. The

38:19

Wildly Expensive Show was

38:21

slow to find an

38:23

audience. Paramount was getting

38:25

nervous. Unsurprisingly, the series

38:28

roped audiences across the

38:30

heartland. It was the

38:32

coasts they couldn't wrangle.

38:34

Come its second season,

38:37

Yellowstone was still doing

38:39

okay. Not great. So

38:41

the network was forced

38:43

to make a decision.

38:46

Cancer it, or move

38:48

it to prime time.

38:50

HBO had turned Sundays

38:52

into a showcase of

38:55

high-quality drama. In 2019,

38:57

their Sunday lineup included

38:59

Game of Thrones, True

39:01

Detective, Veep, and Succession

39:04

to name a few.

39:06

So Paramount covered its

39:08

eyes yet again and

39:10

moved Yellowstone to Sunday

39:13

nights. And the season

39:15

3 premiere drew 7.6

39:17

million viewers. Then the

39:19

season 4 premiere drew

39:22

12.7 million viewers. Then

39:24

the season 4 premiere

39:26

drew 12.7 million viewers.

39:28

making it the most

39:31

watched premiere since the

39:33

Walking Dead in 2017.

39:35

In 2020, Yellowstone became

39:37

the highest rated cable

39:40

TV show. In 2021,

39:42

Sheridan launched a prequel

39:44

spinoff to Yellowstone called

39:46

1883, starring Tim McGraw

39:49

and Faith Hill. The

39:51

following year he launched

39:53

a second prequel spin-off

39:55

called 1923. Starring Harrison

39:58

Ford and Helen Mirren.

40:00

In 2022, Yellowstone became

40:02

the most watched scripted

40:04

series on television. In

40:07

2024, the season 5

40:09

premiere brought in 16

40:11

million viewers. Taylor Sheridan

40:13

remains the sole writer

40:16

for the series. Unheard

40:18

of in scripted television,

40:20

when a network show

40:22

might have a dozen

40:25

writers around the table.

40:27

And the showrunner rejected

40:29

at Hollywood Auditions, who

40:31

spent 20 years in

40:34

the wilderness, whose TV

40:36

show was rejected by

40:38

every major network in

40:40

Los Angeles, told it

40:42

was too middle America

40:45

that no one was

40:47

interested in watching a

40:49

series about cowboys, and

40:51

who turned 40 with

40:54

$800 in the bank,

40:56

bought the ranch on

40:58

which Yellowstone is filmed.

41:00

for $320 million. He

41:03

was 40 years old

41:05

and it didn't look

41:07

good. Then he decides

41:09

to pivot. Instead of

41:12

acting, he wanted to

41:14

try writing. But he

41:16

had never studied English,

41:18

he had never graduated,

41:21

he didn't have the

41:23

degrees other writers had,

41:25

he had never studied

41:27

screen writing, he had

41:30

never written anything in

41:32

his life, and he

41:34

had no idea how

41:36

to write a script.

41:39

But he had one

41:41

thing going for him.

41:43

He had sure read

41:45

enough bad scripts. So

41:48

he bought some script

41:50

writing software and started

41:52

writing and that was

41:54

the moment Because here's

41:57

the thing. You don't

41:59

need to have all

42:01

your ducks in a

42:03

row to start something.

42:06

There is never going

42:08

to be a perfect

42:10

time. If you wait

42:12

for everything to fall

42:15

into place before you

42:17

try, it can hold

42:19

you back. Meanwhile, your

42:21

life passes by. The

42:24

key is to just

42:26

do it. Start typing,

42:28

start auditioning, start knocking

42:30

on doors. or start

42:33

your pivot, whatever it

42:35

is, start. Once Taylor

42:37

made the decision to

42:39

write, against all odds,

42:42

his life changed, because

42:44

he was tired of

42:46

waiting, because waiting is

42:48

wasted time. The only

42:51

right time is right

42:53

now. There was a

42:55

point, not that long

42:57

ago. when Taylor Sheridan

43:00

was down to his

43:02

last 800 bucks. He

43:04

recently signed a $200

43:06

million deal to produce

43:09

more shows. The Yellowstone

43:11

Season 5 premiere was

43:13

the most watched TV

43:15

show of 2022. Today,

43:18

Paramount spends about half

43:20

a billion dollars a

43:22

year on Sheridan's shows.

43:24

Esquire calls Taylor Sheridan,

43:27

our generation's greatest Western

43:29

storyteller. Maybe your right

43:31

moment is right now.

43:33

Never ever give up.

43:36

People couldn't understand how

43:38

a cable channel no

43:40

one could even find,

43:42

suddenly had the biggest

43:45

show on television. Because

43:47

Yellowstone is about cowboys.

43:49

Because Yellowstone is about

43:51

cowboys. Right? Taylor Sheridan.

44:06

The Rejection Podcast is an

44:09

apostrophe podcast production and is

44:11

recorded in our air stream

44:13

mobile recording studio. This series

44:15

is written by me, Sydney

44:17

O'Reilly, production and research by

44:20

Allison Pinches, director Callie O'Reilly,

44:22

engineer Jeff Devine. Our theme

44:24

music is by Casey Pick,

44:26

Jeremiah Pick, and James Eaton.

44:29

Tunes provided by APM Music

44:31

and we're proudly powered by

44:33

ACAST. If you enjoyed this

44:35

episode, we've also done shows

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on Mad Men and The

44:40

Sopranos. At nearly 50 years

44:42

old, facing countless rejections, Sopranos

44:44

creator David Chase nearly shelved

44:46

his script. Mad Men was

44:48

turned down by HBO, FX,

44:51

and Showtime. Both are considered

44:53

among the best television shows

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on socials at Apostrophe Pod.

44:59

This series is executive produced

45:02

and co-hosted by Terry O'Reilly.

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It's good to be back.

45:06

We'll see you next time.

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