During his June 28 appearance on 'The Bill Simmons' podcast, Taylor Sheridan shared his goals as a show creator and his opinions on studio executives and television critics
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NEED TO KNOW
- Taylor Sheridan opened up about his goals in building his television empire and his perspective on studio executives and critics
- “You’re not going to win no Emmys with me, but I’m not trying to win Emmys,” Sheridan said while on the June 28 episode of The Bill Simmons podcast
- The Yellowstone universe creator went on to explain that studio executives know “nothing” about storytelling and that he isn’t interested in the opinions of television critics
Taylor Sheridan shares the reality of being a show creator in Hollywood.
The highly acclaimed showrunner, 56, spoke candidly about his goals when building his television empire and his perspective on studio executives and critics during his June 28 conversation on The Bill Simmons Podcast.
While two of his series, The Madison and Landman, are on the Emmy ballot this year, Sheridan admitted he doesn't create with the intention of winning awards, but rather to captivate viewers with heartfelt stories.
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“You're not going to win no Emmys with me, but I'm not trying to win Emmys,” he told host Bill Simmons. “That's not my goal. My goal is to sit somebody on their couch and move them, make them think, make them laugh, scare the s— out of them, excite them. That's what I want to do, because that's what I want from a show.”
“I knew when I started writing [I wanted] to simply not do what everyone else was doing,” he continued. “What everyone else was doing was taking shortcuts, essentially breaking all the very basic fundamental rules of storytelling, because they couldn't figure out their story.”
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Sheridan went on to say that today's studio executives know “nothing” about storytelling. This is because, he explained, network executives are now made up of people who came into the industry because they “hated” their jobs prior and, “through attrition,” found “themselves the heads of development.”
“Well, what do you know about developing story? You know nothing,” Sheridan said of these executives. “So they get terrified, panicked that the audience won't get it because they actually have no storytellers.”
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He explained that Hollywood is now “governed” by these executives because “they're the ones that are going to determine whether or not your script is going to go into production.” “They're going to try to control every element of that,” he added.
When signing his deal with Paramount, Sheridan said he refused to follow this script. “This is not a democracy. There's no committee,” he continued. “You're going to pay me, and you're going to give me a bunch of money, and I'm going to deliver you these shows.”
Since his 2021 deal with the network, Sheridan has become a top creator at the studio with the Yellowstone universe and shows like Landman, Lioness and Tulsa King. “I'm pretty common, and I'm going to tell stories that common people are going to understand,” he said. “That's most of America.”
Elsewhere in the episode, Sheridan confessed to not caring about the opinions of television critics. When he used Demi Moore as somewhat of an extra in the first season of Landman, Sheridan said he knew critics would have a lot to say.
“The critics are going to come after me. I'm underutilizing [Moore], can't write for women, all this nonsense. Then I'm going to kill your husband and you're going to have to run the oil company,” he said. “The critics and me… I don't care what they think, and it annoys the shit out of them that I don't care.”
“I'll be the first to tell you that there are things that I do that rage bait them a bit, and this is one of them,” Sheridan continued. “F— ‘em, honestly.”
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