Taylor SheridanThe writers and co-creators of “Yellowstone” have sharp criticisms of Marvel movies and the executives overseeing modern studio productions. Sheridan expressed his dissatisfaction with contemporary filmmaking practices and contrasted them with an earlier era of Hollywood storytelling.Tyler Sheridan explains his approach to screenwriting and what he believes is the difference between quality storytelling and the shortcuts he sees prevalent in today’s entertainment landscape. His comments were specifically aimed at the storytelling approach taken by Marvel Studios, the company behind the major film franchise.
Taylor Sheridan’s Essential Storytelling Philosophy
Sheridan describes his approach to screenwriting at the beginning of his career. “All others do is take shortcuts. Essentially, breaking all the most basic rules of storytelling. Because they can’t figure out their story,” he said Sunday on the Bill Simmons Podcast. Instead of following industry trends, Sheridan is focusing on things that others aren’t trying in their work.He outlines the core principles he believes should guide filmmaking. “With a movie, you should be showing me what’s going on. The camera should be driving the story. The dialogue should be telling me how people in the world feel about what’s going on, or what they wish they had done, or what they wish they hadn’t done or had done. So, if you stick to that basic rule from the beginning, never let the characters tell me what the camera can show me,” Sheridan explains.
Sheridan believes that many modern executives lack experience in storytelling and interfere too much in the creative process. Image source (Instagram)
Taylor Sheridan criticizes Marvel storytelling
The conversation turned to how major studios execute their films, and Sheridan pulled no punches in his assessment. “All these Marvel movies do this, it’s disgusting. They just provide information dumps that you have to follow to get into the action, rather than actually using the action to drive the plot,” he said of the approach taken by the superhero studio behind franchises such as “Captain America,” “The Avengers” and “Spider-Man.”Sheridan said it’s a change from how the film industry has worked in past decades. “That wasn’t the case when Steve McQueen was a movie star at Paramount, and Bobby Evans was running the studio, because writers became more free. Directors became completely free,” Sheridan reflects on the early studio system.
The impact of executive involvement on creative work
Sheridan describes the differences in creative decision-making he mentioned in the early years. “There’s no endless rewrites. There’s no meetings with executives about tone and mood and all that crap,” he said, contrasting past practices with current studio operations, where multiple layers of approvals and revisions occur.
The author believes that many superhero movies rely on lengthy information dumps instead of letting action and visual effects drive the plot. Image source (Instagram)
Taylor Sheridan’s assessment of the modern studio executive
Sheridan was sharply critical of the background and qualifications of contemporary studio leadership. “Studio execs and network execs—mostly marketing execs. Or they studied law or whatever. Then they come to a talent agency or get a job in the mailroom of another big agency, and they hate it. So they end up interning at some network. And then, through attrition, they find themselves as development executives. So, how much do you know about development stories? You don’t know anything,” he said.In Sheridan’s assessment, a lack of storytelling expertise leads to decisions driven by fear rather than artistic vision. “So they’re scared, they’re panicking, they’re worried that the audience won’t understand because they don’t actually have a storyteller,” he concludes, noting that executives’ insecurity about narrative understanding leads to the information-intensive approach he criticizes.Sheridan’s comments reflect broader concerns in the creative community about how major studios balance commercial considerations with storytelling integrity in contemporary blockbuster production.
