‘I will tell my stories my way’: Taylor Sheridan, authorship and the role of the writer–producer in the streaming television era

Despite the success of the show Yellowstone (2018–24) and its spin-offs, creator Taylor Sheridan is a controversial figure in the industry due to his unconventional approach to TV series production. By rarely employing writers’ rooms and taking on the daily activities of showrunning on multiple series simultaneously, he has bypassed traditional chains of command with regard to drama production. In an interview that came out weeks into the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, Sheridan asserted his status as the sole voice on his productions and refused to play by any industry rules that affect his authority. As he tells his stories in his own way, Sheridan provides a key case study of the role of the branded showrunner in today’s contentious television landscape.