Taylor Sheridan, promoting his book “How Not to Die in Prison,” used a recent podcast appearance to fire back at studio and network executives—saying they know “nothing” about storytelling, pushing for character synopses before audiences even meet the characte
Taylor Sheridan has a talent for turning an industry fight into a scene.
On “The Bill Simmons Podcast. ” the “Yellowstone” creator—out promoting his new book “How Not to Die in Prison. ” co-written with Tom Nelson—took aim at the people who. in his telling. now hold the steering wheel on modern TV drama. He wasn’t speaking like someone trying to win approval. He was speaking like someone tired of asking for it.
Sheridan framed his entire approach as an intentional refusal. When he started writing. he said. he “wanted] to simply not do what everyone else was doing.” In his view. too many shows chase shortcuts because they “couldn’t figure out their story.” He insisted that the fundamentals matter: “With a movie. you’re supposed to show me what’s happening. The camera is supposed to move the story.” He also argued dialogue should do more than deliver plot mechanics—saying it should reveal “how the people in this world feel about what’s happening” and what they “hope to do. ” “wish they hadn’t done. ” or “had done.”.
That philosophy landed right in the middle of the criticism he says he expects for “Landman. ” the Paramount+ drama starring Demi Moore. Sheridan said Moore was told up front that she would be largely “an extra in Season 1. ” before moving into a “central role in Season 2.” He described how he expects that will be received by critics who. in his words. will arrive with a script already written in their minds.
“The critics are going to come after me. ” Sheridan said. listing what he believes they’ll accuse him of—“I’m underutilizing [Moore]. can’t write for women. all this nonsense.” Then. he laid out the scenario he thinks follows: “Then I’m going to kill your husband and you’re going to have to run the oil company.”.
He didn’t try to soften it. “The critics and me — I don’t care what they think. ” he said. adding that it “annoys the shit out of them that I don’t care.” Sheridan then acknowledged that he sometimes fights on purpose: “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. Fuck ’em, honestly.”.
Sheridan broadened the blame beyond TV dramas. He pointed to Marvel as an example of what he believes is wrong with Hollywood storytelling, saying its films lean on characters delivering “information dumps that you have to follow to get to the action rather than actually moving plot with action.”
But his harshest remarks were reserved for the studio and network executives who oversee the work. Sheridan, who lives outside Fort Worth, Texas, and also keeps a place in Wyoming, said those executives know “nothing” about story.
He contrasted today’s production culture with a past era. “It didn’t used to be this way when Steve McQueen was a movie star at Paramount and Bobby Evans ran the studio because writers were turned loose. ” Sheridan said. “Directors were turned completely loose.” In that telling, the old system meant fewer constraints: “There weren’t endless rewrites. There weren’t meetings with executives about tone and mood and all this nonsense.”.
Now, he described a pipeline that ends with decision-makers who don’t write. He said studio executives and network executives are “marketing executives. for the most part. ” or at least come from backgrounds he implies don’t equip them for storytelling. In his account. many studied law. then moved through the industry via jobs like being an intern at CAA or WME and later through “attrition. ” eventually becoming heads of development.
But Sheridan said that path doesn’t produce storytellers—only people who fear audiences won’t “get it.” “Well, what do you know about developing story? You know nothing,” he said. “So they get terrified, panicked that the audience won’t get it because they actually have no storytellers.”
He also said the executives now want details in advance—character synopses “before we meet the character.” Sheridan added that this isn’t just advisory; it shapes production itself: “Our business. at this point. is truly 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.”.
Sheridan said he refused that dynamic when he signed his deal with Paramount, insisting it isn’t a shared vote. “This is not a democracy. There’s no committee,” he said. “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.”
He said his goal isn’t trophies—even with two series landing on the Emmy ballot this year: the freshman drama “The Madison” and the sophomore season of “Landman.” “You’re not going to win no Emmys with me, but I’m not trying to win Emmys,” Sheridan said. “That’s not my goal.”
Instead, he described the mission in plain, emotional terms: “My goal is to sit somebody on their couch and move them, make them think, make them laugh, scare the shit out of them, excite them.”
It also came with a personal line he drew in the sand about where he wants to work. Sheridan said that, amid ongoing struggles in Los Angeles productions, he has “no interest in ever returning to the City of Angels.”
“The only way you’re getting me back to Los Angeles is if it secedes from the union and I’m drafted into the Army to take it back. It’s the only way,” he said. “I love New York,” Sheridan added, calling it “way, way stronger” than whatever political wind is blowing. He finished with his own harsh metaphor: “Whereas L.A. is built on sand.”.
In one podcast appearance, Sheridan managed to stitch together everything he wants to be true about his work—storytelling that moves, characters that earn their moments, and a direct refusal to be steered by executives he believes can’t truly see the craft they’re trying to control.
Taylor Sheridan Yellowstone The Bill Simmons Podcast How Not to Die in Prison Tom Nelson Landman Demi Moore The Madison Paramount+ studio executives Emmy ballot Marvel information dumps Fort Worth Wyoming Los Angeles