‘For me, writer’s rooms, they haven’t worked’: ‘Yellowstone’ creator Taylor Sheridan reacts to WGA staffing demands

Taylor Sheridan tells it like it is, and why shouldn’t he? Being a stoic cowboy is his whole vibe. When the Yellowstone, 1883, and 1923 creator was asked how he feels about the current WGA Writers Strike — Sheridan didn’t hold back.

The actor, writer, and producer explained that although he stands with the WGA’s new financial asks, he isn’t as keen on the creative hurtles that those larger demands may pose to his process. per Deadline:

“If they tell me, ‘You’re going to have to write a check for $540,000 to four people to sit in a room that you never have to meet,’ then that’s between the studio and the guild. But if I have to check in creatively with others for a story I’ve wholly built in my brain, that would probably be the end of me telling TV stories.”

We’re sort of with Sheridan on this one. Creativity exists on a spectrum. Everyone works differently, everyone creates differently. Clearly whatever Taylor Sheridan is doing to tell the stories he’s telling works, and works well. So why mess with a good thing?This is a man who has dominated television and film with his intensely human, often violent, tales of Western intrigue — and folks around the globe can’t enough of the stories Sheridan is bringing to life.

What we end up seeing on-screen is driven by character instead of exposition, and in today’s world that’s a REALLY good thing. To throw a bunch of new writers at Taylor Sheridan’s feet and tell him he has to use them might be a massive misstep.

“I’m really interested in the dirty of the relationships in literally every scene. But when you hire a room that may not be motivated by those same qualities — and a writer always wants to take ownership of something they’re writing — and I give this directive and they’re not feeling it, then they’re going to come up with their own qualities. So for me, writers rooms, they haven’t worked.”

Look, the WGA is going to do what it’s going to do. The guild needs to make this strike mean something. More than that, a strike is the right thing to do. Hollywood’s writing community was starting to get walked on, so this definitely needed to happen.

Unfortunately, it means that some of our favorite shows and upcoming movies have been put on hold until this all ends. Until then, try your best to stand with the Writer Guild of America. The faster this ends, the faster we can get back to binging our favorites.