In Taylor Sheridan’s telling, the West was won the hard way, through violence, corrup­tion, and craven ambition. These themes percolate through the first three films he wrote (*Sicario, Hell or High Water*, and *Wind River*), which he calls the Modern American Frontier trilogy. Those obsessions take various forms in the different demimondes—some not located in the actual West—he explores in his shows: Rust Belt prison towns (*Mayor of Kingstown*), covert spy units (*Special Ops: Lioness*), organized crime (*Tulsa King*), oil fields (*Landman*), and even the intimate world of a grieving, displaced family (*The Madison*).

His shows derive much of their authority and authenticity from the fact that Sheridan came honestly to these themes, which makes him an effective brand ambassador for the world he has created. His story is one part Horatio Alger, one part Horace Greeley’s “Go West, young man.” He learned to shoot and ride on his family’s ranch near Waco, Texas. After dropping out of college at Texas State University, he met a talent scout and decided to pursue acting. Sheridan struggled in Los Angeles, living out of his car for a time, and was down to his last $800 when he sold his first script. From there, he went on to write and then direct movies before returning to television with an epic in mind: *Yellowstone*. In part because he refused to compromise during development at HBO, the series was orphaned until finding a home at Paramount Network, the cable channel of last resort, which aired the first episode in June 2018. By 2022, Sheridan had put the renamed Paramount+ streaming service on the map and was rewarded with a $200 million contract.

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How Taylor Sheridan Won the West (Unpaywalled)