Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1124104
Y E L L O W S T O N E | P E R S P E C T I V E 9 7 Taylor Sheridan and John Linson called me in route to Montana from their one-ton to ask if I'd consider designing Yellowstone. I was instantly captivated by the opportunity to create the world of a modern Western, especially with Sheridan writing and directing the entire first season. Not only did he want this to be a modern Western, he was interested in this feeling like a true Western. We shared the same desire. Make a show look and feel larger than life. A cinematic program for people sitting at home. Paradise Valley happened to be a place both Sheridan and I were very familiar with. It was important for me to capture the authenticity of the region and of ranching life, and have that come through in the design. Yellowstone follows the Duttons, a seventh- generation modern ranching family in Paradise Valley, Montana, who control the largest contiguous ranch bordering Yellowstone National Park. The Duttons and Yellowstone Ranch are in constant conflict with their borders—an expanding town, land developers, an Indian reservation and Yellowstone National Park. Sheridan was passionate about bringing to light the issues relevant to the West—water rights, eminent domain, Native American interests, corporate developers, power and ranching. I welcomed the opportunity to create these worlds that best depicted the current realities of the mountain West. "Leverage is knowing if somebody had all the money in the world, this is what they'd buy." –John Dutton (played by Kevin Costner) A. EXTERIOR DUTTON LODGE, ON LOCATION AT CHIEF JOSEPH RANCH SHOWN WITH ADDED PORCH AND ENTRY. IMAGE COURTESY OF CARA BROWER, SUPERVISING ART DIRECTOR.