Every writer has written a spec. It's the first thing you write, and it basically stands as a means of, 'Here's an example of how I tell stories.' It's almost like a business card. Taylor Sheridan More Quotes by Taylor Sheridan More Quotes From Taylor Sheridan In the late '90s, I spent a lot of time on reservations, and there was a level of poverty and injustice that I had not witnessed before. I was shocked by it. This is federally controlled land, and there was an insidious mix of apathy and exploitation. Taylor Sheridan injustice poverty late time In 2005, I visited my home state of Texas, spending time on a ranch outside the town of Post. Then spending some time on a large ranch outside Archer City. I was taken by just how few young people I saw anywhere. Taylor Sheridan city home time people I like to describe 'Yellowstone' is 'The Great Gatsby' on the largest ranch in Montana. Then it's really a study of the changing of the West. Taylor Sheridan describe great like study If you want to get an email to Robert Redford, you send it to his assistant, and she prints it out. And then he will write you a letter, which is incredibly rare and incredibly classy. Unfortunately, I can't be that removed from technology. Taylor Sheridan classy will you technology I work very hard to line up stereotypes and then smash them with a hammer. Taylor Sheridan stereotypes up hard work Bad people sometimes do good things, and good people do really bad things or do something the audience disagrees with. Taylor Sheridan good bad-people sometimes people You can really examine the suffering and consequences that happen when there's a loss in a family. Taylor Sheridan you family suffering loss I let characters be human and flawed and relatable. Taylor Sheridan characters human flawed Think about 'GoodFellas': It could be a textbook on how not to write a screenplay. It leans on voice-over at the beginning, then abandons it for a while, then the character just talks right into the camera at the end. That structure is so unusual that you don't have any sense of what's going to happen next. Taylor Sheridan camera beginning you character I've made up little mantras for myself, catchphrases from a screenwriting book that doesn't exist. One is 'Write the movie you'd pay to go see.' Another is 'Never let a character tell me something that the camera can show me.' Taylor Sheridan myself me you character Plot is just not my gift. I'm fascinated with complex characters, and that doesn't mix well with complex plots. And by the way, when the plot is simple, you can move one piece around and make it feel fresh. 'Hell or High Water''s a good example: I don't tell you why the brothers are robbing the bank. Taylor Sheridan gift good you simple You know that saying, 'You broke it, you bought it'? With horses, if you don't make sure it's a good fit... they tend to break you. Taylor Sheridan saying good know you I didn't know if I could make a good movie. But I knew I could make a respectful one. Taylor Sheridan good know if-i-could good-movie My job is not to give you all the answers. My job is to ask the questions. Taylor Sheridan questions job you answers I think film cannot only teleport you to places you don't know, but it can help you see people you thought were one way and in fact are another. They can allow us to examine ourselves. Taylor Sheridan think you people way I watched a lot of old movies. Clint Eastwood movies, a lot of John Wayne films, a lot of movies that celebrated the region of where I lived. Taylor Sheridan lived old movies where How can you tell your kid, 'You can be anything you want to be,' if you're not trying to do the same? Taylor Sheridan your you want trying I was going to be the head wrangler at a ranch in Wyoming, and the reason I didn't take the job is because I couldn't have my family there - the family had to stay in town. I just wasn't willing to do that. Taylor Sheridan stay job family reason Sometimes audiences want to see what we're doing to their world. It's our obligation sometimes to reflect it. Taylor Sheridan doing see sometimes world I've been fortunate to work with partners like Weinstein and John and Art Linson in developing 'Yellowstone' and am grateful that it has found a home in the Paramount Network. The show is both timely and timeless. Taylor Sheridan grateful work home art
