Prolific creator Taylor Sheridan has a ton of projects out, and more on the way. He’s responsible for the juggernaut Paramount series “Yellowstone,” as well as its spin-off/prequels “1883” and “1923,” plus “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” coming soon. Outside of that franchise, he’s got “Mayor of Kingstown,” “Tulsa King,” and “Special Ops: Lioness.” He’s able to make a phone call to Harrison Ford (Jacob Dutton) and Helen Mirren (Cara Dutton) to cast them in “1923,” and can pull names like Nicole Kidman and Sylvester Stallone. It feels like his shows are responsible for most of Paramount+’s original library, and while that may not be completely true, it’s not far off.
When “1883” was in development, Sheridan got a call that Paramount had a new streaming service on the way, and since “Yellowstone” was streaming over at Peacock due to a previous deal, the studio wanted “1883” for its own new service, Paramount+, according to a story in The Hollywood Reporter. That left Sheridan with an “impossible” schedule to get the project done. But Sheridan, embracing the can-do spirit of many of his characters, created a plan and a proposal for the studio to make it work.
‘We need this show’
“1883” was no small project, telling the story of the ancestors of the Duttons of “Yellowstone” fame as they traveled across the country, settling in Montana at the Yellowstone ranch. Stars Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, LaMonica Garrett, Sam Elliott, and newcomer Isabel May were cast, and the schedule was apparently going to be bonkers. According to THR, Sheridan was told in April 2021 that everything was about to change quickly with the new streaming service. In his words:
“They say: ‘We’re changing everything! We’re launching this on our streaming service.’ And the first thing I said was: ‘You guys have a streaming service?’ They said, ‘Yeah, and we need this show.'”
Sheridan relayed the studio’s expectations: They needed his new series by the end of that year. He called the feat “impossible,” given the fact that “1883” wouldn’t be an easy production, and he was still set to direct two episodes of “Mayor of Kingstown.” “With this schedule, I’m in production on episode six on the day episode six is supposed to air,” he told THR. “How are we going to do that? Let’s pretend like we do this for a living.”
How he made it work
Considering how much Sheridan is able to get done in general, it’s not that surprising that he made this “impossible” timeline work. (Someone really has to ask him if he’s mastered the art of cloning himself.) But it wasn’t easy. Here’s the plan he laid out for Paramount:
“We’re going to shoot six-day weeks, sometimes seven. I’m going to bring on two other directors, but I’m still going to direct on every episode. I’ll bring in everyone myself. I’ll use as much local crew as I can, but I need the very best. I need an editorial team who’ll work 24 hours a day. You’ve got to get a VFX house and lock ’em down because every shot is an effects shot [to erase modern details]. And I don’t want to have one budget meeting, because you are now paying the ‘oh s***’ rate.”
Not a lot of people in Hollywood can demand the “oh s***” rate without being laughed at, but Sheridan’s work has been pretty consistently successful. (That said, the idea of locking an editorial team in to work like that is maybe something that should have been thought through — especially with the way some effects artists are being treated these days.)
While the second season of “1923” is currently on hold indefinitely due to the AMPTP refusing to engage in good faith with the writers and actors on strike, the studios are forcing fans to wait to see more of the Dutton family. But if you’re jonesing for a new Sheridan show, “Special Ops: Lioness” is scheduled to premiere on July 23, 2023 on Paramount+.