Taylor Sheridan makes a lot of television shows. Here’s how he does it
Taylor Sheridan’s name appears in the credits of four television shows this year, including “Landman,” “The Madison,” “Marshals” and “Dutton Ranch.”
Only a couple of the shows are written by Sheridan, like “Landman” and “The Madison.” For “Marshals” and “Dutton Ranch,” he serves as executive producer, as both shows are based on characters he created for “Yellowstone.”
Sheridan discussed his surplus of projects on a recent episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” after the host asked him how he’s able to churn out this many shows.
Here’s what Sheridan said.
Taylor Sheridan on his creative team
Sheridan said he’s been working with the same crew since his 2017 film “Wind River.”
The crew followed him to “Yellowstone” and they haven’t looked back as he’s built his television empire. To that end, Sheridan said that he promotes from within.
Production assistants are now assistant directors, and camera operators are now directors.
“Everyone understands the way we do it, and it’s so friggin’ efficient,” Sheridan said.
One of the key examples of this is Ben Richardson, who was the cinematographer on “Wind River.”
He went on to direct episodes of “Yellowstone,” “Mayor of Kingstown,” “1883,” “Tulsa King” and nearly all of “1923.” Richardson is also helming the Sheridan-written action film “F.A.S.T.,” which releases in theaters next year.
Another way that Sheridan pumps projects out is by avoiding typical industry practices.
Some studios will have meetings upon meetings about things like tone or what props the productions plans to use. Sheridan said they avoid these types of things and have streamlined the whole process to where his shows need only four weeks of prep before shooting, not the usual 12 weeks.
“Because I’m like, ‘I need your permission to use which Bic lighter I’m going to use in this [expletive] scene’?” Sheridan said. “How about I just make the decision, and how about we use the same Bic lighter in all these [expletive] shows and I don’t ever have to pick a Bic lighter again. How about that?”
