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Yahoo Entertainment has a deep-dive piece explaining the problematic nature of Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan's latest dramatic project and it's a must read. Sheridan is in the process of adapting Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History, a 2010 book by S.C. Gwynne about the former Comanche chief.
The problem? As a white man, Sheridan has been criticized in the past for portraying Native American stories through his non-Native lens in his Yellowstone prequels 1883 and 1923, as well as his 2017 film Wind River.
Now The Empire of the Summer Moon project is giving Sheridan full creative control over a historical account of an important tribe and chief, which his personal background doesn't give him much authority to write about.
Many Native Hollywood voices are speaking up about the controversy. Lakota actress/writer Jana Schmieding, who starred on the Peacock series Rutherford Falls, told Yahoo Entertainment, “I rolled my eyes so hard, they almost popped out of my face.”
“It's laughable that he continues to think that he's the right person for this job,” she continued.
Part of the frustration seems to stem from the fact that Sheridan is now one of the most powerful showrunners in Hollywood, and certainly is in a position to call for the inclusion of Native American voices as equals in the creative process if he so chooses, yet he doesn't seem to be making much of an effort to do that.
This is in stark contrast to how comedy veteran showrunner Michael Schur handled development of Rutherford Falls, a show that also carries Native American themes and values. As he and Ed Helms first started circling ideas for what became Rutherford Falls, they realized the benefits — and need — for a Native American writing partner for authenticity and brought on Diné showrunner Sierra Teller Ornelas to create the show with them as a team.
Together they hired a staff of Native American writers, and made sure to populate other important positions behind and in front of the camera with Native Hollywood voices, such as Jana Schmieding.
In contrast, Schmieding further noted to Yahoo Entertainment that Sheridan “shoots on his own ranch. And he uses his own horses. You know, he's really making a dime off of our stories.”
Schmieding was referencing the fact that, according to the Wall Street Journal, Paramount reportedly pays Sheridan as much as $50,000 a week to shoot on some of the private ranches he owns, as well as around $2,000 per each of his horses used in a production shoot.
That's surely money that could go to needy Native American groups if Paramount so chose to work with local tribes to obtain film permits and production necessities instead of putting more dollars in Sheridan's pocket.
Schmieding noted, “Why are we letting this happen when [Native people] have so little opportunity in the industry still, and the shows that we have had are critically acclaimed but they don’t get the kind of attention that his shows get?”
“They don't get platformed to the same degree,” she elaborated. “We do not make the same amount of money that he makes. It's problematic on so many levels.”
The issue at the heart of Native Hollywood's concerns is cultural appropriation, which is a hot button topic not just in Hollywood but the culture wars more generally.
Taylor Sheridan is infamous for eschewing the traditional writers' room on shows in favor of his own full creative control of scripts. But the message from Native Hollywood seems to be that Sheridan, as a non-Native, shouldn't be the sole voice in the process of creating Empire of the Summer Moon — a show about Native Americans — regardless of how many hit series he's previously produced. Now if only he would listen to feedback.
