Has Taylor Sheridan Revived the Western Genre?

Between 1940 and 1960, masters of the Western film genre such as John Ford (“The Searchers”), Howard Hawks (“Rio Bravo”), and John Sturges (“The Magnificent Seven”) were household names in America. In the ’60s and ’70s, when Hollywood diminished its strict industry standards for on-screen propriety, iconoclast Sam Peckinpah (“The Wild Bunch”) and Italian director Sergio Leone (“The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”) kept America’s beloved — albeit waning — genre alive with “revisionist Westerns,” which were darker and all around less romantic than their predecessors’ films.

Throughout the remainder of the 20th century and into the early 2000s, actor-turned-director Clint Eastwood (“Unforgiven”) was one of the only notable directors still producing Western works regularly. It appeared the genre, once ubiquitous, was heading the way of the buffalo.

America saw a sparse miscellany of “neo-Western” hits throughout the early 21st century, including “No Country for Old Men” and “Don’t Come Knocking,” which placed the Old West’s ideals in contemporary America. However, as sci-fi and superheroes dominated the box office, no single director or studio was synonymous with the Wild West — modern or otherwise.

And then, like a stranger cantering into a ghost town, Taylor Sheridan arrived on the scene.

Lone Star Spirit on Screen

Sheridan first gained fame on the big screen; his screenplay for the 2016 Western thriller “Hell or High Water” was nominated for an Oscar. But he truly struck gold on the small screen — that is, on the streaming service Paramount+. The writer-director is best known for “Yellowstone,” spinoffs “1883” and “1923” (plus more in the works), and other shows such as “Landman,” which are all set in the West. With this extensive filmography, Sheridan has almost single-handedly wrangled America’s attention back to the Western drama.

Perhaps the biggest contributing factor in Sheridan’s achievement is that he has relied on his home state, Texas, to authentically capture — rather than simulate — the gritty, rustic, and independent spirit of the West on camera. If he writes a scene set on a Texas ranch, he won’t use a set. He probably won’t even invent a ranch: He’ll film directly on location at real, historic ranches, such as the Four Sixes Ranch headquartered near Guthrie and the Bosque Ranch along the Brazos River, which both appear in “Yellowstone.” He also regularly films on site in his hometown of Fort Worth, especially at the famous Fort Worth Stockyards. Not only has the district made special appearances in “Yellowstone” and “Landman,” but — after some modifications to re-create the series’ titular time period — the Stockyards was a central filming location in “1883.”

Texas’ iconic landscapes and cityscapes are just the visual element of how Sheridan has achieved such incredible authenticity; it’s the Lone Star State’s deep culture that has made Sheridan’s plots, scripts, and characters so genuinely Western. Sheridan learned to be a cowboy on his family’s ranch in Cranfills Gap in Central Texas. Now he’s using that experience to spin Western yarns that only a bona fide cowboy could.

“I’m deeply influenced by where I grew up and how I grew up,” Sheridan told Texas Highways in a 2021 interview. “Everybody wants to be a cowboy. It’s a romantic way of life. But it’s rarely portrayed realistically in Westerns. We want to show the real cowboy life.”

The Future of Texas Show Biz

Sheridan and his Texan roots are inseparable — more so today than ever. In the summer of 2025, he announced the latest and boldest venture in his mission to outdo Hollywood on Texas soil: a sprawling, high-caliber film studio on the northern edge of Fort Worth.

The facility is called SGS Studios and, at 450,000 square feet, it’s truly Texas-sized. The complex features six massive soundstages, each designed to accommodate four large-scale productions at once. Sure enough, Sheridan’s cameras have already been rolling there: Scenes from the second season of “Landman” were filmed at the studio, and upcoming seasons of “Special Ops: Lioness” and a new “Yellowstone” spinoff, “The Madison,” are in the works.

SGS Studios is the first result of a new Texas bill that was passed in May 2025, which is providing up to $1.5 billion in grants for film and television productions in Texas over the next 10 years. The bill was passed to directly compete with Hollywood’s vise-grip on American film and television studios, and Sheridan was one of the first big fish to bite.

And yet, Sheridan insists his vision for the venture isn’t driven solely by tax breaks.

“SGS Studios isn’t just about soundstages or incentives — it’s about reclaiming the independence and grit that built this industry in the first place,” Sheridan said in a statement when the studio opened. “Texas offers something rare: the space to dream big, the freedom to build fast, and a community that still believes storytelling matters.”

On the other side of the screen, Fort Worth and other Texas towns where Sheridan works are getting more than prestige too. Production for “Landman” alone has created nearly 4,000 jobs in North Texas. SGS Studios partnered with Tarrant County College to train hundreds of students in set construction, stage operation, and other production careers. Local caterers, hotels, set designers, tourists, and small businesses are also benefiting from the influx of film and television work brought to the state by Sheridan and his studios.

“Yellowstone,” “1883,” “1923,” and “Landman” have been indisputable hits in American households, and Paramount realizes they’ve struck gold with this cowboy behind a camera who has brought home hit after hit after hit. And now that he’s cast Texas as a recurring character on nearly every American’s screen, one is tempted to ask: Has Taylor Sheridan finally revived the Western genre?

Three Texas Landmarks in ‘Landman’

Although all of Taylor Sheridan’s series are steeped in Western drama, his newest series, “Landman,” is the first to be set entirely in Texas. It centers on another industry that’s distinctly Texan: oil. The story takes place in the oilfields of Midland and Odessa, boomtowns deep in the heart of West Texas where real-life landmen, drillers, and independent wildcatters have battled for their fortunes in black gold.

The show — which wrapped filming for its second season in summer 2025, after its first season set streaming records on Paramount+ — is filmed almost exclusively in Texas, predominantly in Sheridan’s hometown of Fort Worth and in nearby Jacksboro. Whether you’ve yet to watch the first season or you’re gearing up for the second, keep an eye out for these familiar Texas locations seen in the first season.

Fort Worth: Multiple shots and scenes are filmed around Cowtown: Look out for Hotel Drover in Episode 2, a brief shot of Cattlemen’s Steak House (which Sheridan recently purchased) in Episode 3, and a glimpse of Sundance Square in Episode 4.

Ratliff Stadium, Odessa: Geeks for the 2004 film “Friday Night Lights” will immediately recognize Odessa’s iconic Ratliff Stadium in the first episode of “Landman.”

Texas Christian University: Episode 2 features a scene at Texas Christian University’s Lowdon Track and Field Complex and was filmed on location with real TCU students and staff playing extras.

Learn more about the real-life, renowned Texas ranch featured in Sheridan’s “Yellowstone.”