Besides being the favorite show of dads and grandads all over the country, “Yellowstone” is also making bank for its creator, Taylor Sheridan, and it’s doing so in ways you may not expect.
It’s a given that a hit show is going to do well for the showrunner. We’re now in its fifth and final season and that’s not counting any of its many spin-offs, including two prequel shows (“1883” starring Sam Elliott, Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill, and “1923” starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren) that are released now and at least three others that are in the works: “Bass Reeves” starring David Oyelowo as the title character, the first Black US Marshal, “1944” and “6666.”
That’s a whole lot of shows to have your name on as creator, but Sheridan is also making some money on the side by renting out his own ranch property, horses, and livestock to Paramount Studios. The Wall Street Journal did some digging and found that Sheridan was making cash hand over fist (and good for him) by renting his ranch space for $50,000 a week and even renting the productions his cattle at $25 a head.
That’s right, he’s renting out cows.
Cowboy camps and livestock and horses, oh my!
It’s mainly the spin-offs that Sheridan is renting out his property to, using his ranches as “cowboy camps” where the actors of his spin-off shows learn how to ride horses and get a firsthand feel for what life on a ranch is actually like. These camps reportedly cost the studio well over $200,000, including $2,000 a head for the use of his horses.
The Wall Street Journal says these expenses might be causing a little bit of friction between the network and Sheridan, but honestly, good for Sheridan. This is an expense they’d have no matter what and if the creator of one of the most popular original shows on television can be the one to provide them, even if it’s at a premium price, then so be it.
If there is some grumbling going on between the moneymen, that hasn’t bled into the actual productions. Rumored conflicts between Sheridan and “Yellowstone” star Kevin Costner might be the real reason the main show is ending this season, not because the creator is earning some extra scratch on the side. Still, Paramount hasn’t slowed down greenlighting these spin-off shows. It feels like there’s a new one announced every 6 weeks and the studio wouldn’t do that if the shows weren’t successful.
The second half of “Yellowstone” season 5 will air later this year, a sequel series is in the works, possibly starring Matthew McConaughey, and season 2 of “1923” with Ford and Mirren is expected to air sometime in 2024.