Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1470106
7 2 P E R S P E C T I V E | M AY / J U N E 2 0 2 2 April 29, 2021 I had just driven onto the ferry that connects Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula on the Texas Gulf Coast when I got a call from Taylor Sheridan. I'd been Taylor's Production Designer on seasons two, three and four of the Paramount series Yellowstone. I'd heard that he was writing a prequel to Yellowstone, a new series titled 1883 that chronicled the original Dutton's journey from Texas to Montana, but didn't know much about it and fi gured he was calling to discuss the upcoming production of Yellowstone season fi ve in late spring. Instead, we talked about 1883. Taylor was very excited about the project. He said he was channeling Larry McMurtry with it, specifi cally McMurtry's classic novel, Lonesome Dove, and the television miniseries based on the book, both of which had a profound infl uence on him. In a recent New York Times interview, Taylor was quoted as saying, "…two days before I left school, Lonesome Dove aired for the fi rst time. I had read the book and what they fi lmed was how I had imagined it. I said, 'Now I know what I want to do: I want to do that.'" Taylor wanted 1883 to capture and bring to life his written narrative as he imagined it. He was interested in the truth, and my clear marching orders were for everything to be as historically accurate as possible, every wagon, every building, everything. Our conversation on the ferry ended with Taylor saying, "You'll notice I didn't ask you if you want to do it—you're doing it." What COULD I say but "Okay, I guess I am?" I so respected Taylor's creativity and brilliant writing and knew that 1883 would be a compelling and honest story. A dream job. Also, there was a perfect symmetry in my A n H o n e s t D e p i c t i o n o f t h e A m e r i c a n W e s t 1 8 8 3 B Y C A R Y W H I T E , P R O D U C T I O N D E S I G N E R A