With Yellowstone Season 5 on the horizon, it’s about time fans met the “other” co-creator alongside Taylor Sheridan: John Linson.
As Paramount Network’s official announcement of Yellowstone Season 5 went live Feb. 3, a familiar moniker flashed throughout: “Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan.”
We’ve all seen it a thousand times. Whether in ads for Sheridan’s new shows (Mayor of Kingstown and 1883) or in commercials for Yellowstone itself, the man is quickly becoming a household name. Paramount’s parent company, ViacomCBS, is banking on it, too; a full ‘Taylor Sheridan Universe’ is top priority for their entertainment properties at the moment.
But with all this talk of Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan, others have to be just as curious. Who did Sheridan co-create this Western juggernaut with? Who’s the other co-creator? Are there multiple, or is it a single, wildly under-represented cohort?
The information is out there, so sharp fans may already know the answer. But for those who don’t, allow Outsider to introduce the other co-creator of Yellowstone, John Linson.
Meet John Linson, Co-Creator of ‘Yellowstone’
Sheridan may get all the press (and deserves every bit of it, as the man’s a master storyteller), but before Yellowstone took the world by storm, his fame came from film scripts and acting work on shows like Sons of Anarchy. Most notably, Sheridan’s Hell or High Water (2016), was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture. Sheridan himself was nominated for an Academy Award for it’s script.
Meanwhile, a producer named John Linson has been hard at work since the early 1990s. Linson’s producing career began with Guns N’ Roses music videos, which is one hell of a start. It runs in the family, after all. John is the son of famed producer Art Linson (both generations seen below), his father’s credits including Fight Club, The Untouchables, and Into the Wild.
By the 2000s, John was producing films like Sunset Strip, Lords of Dogtown, and The Runaways (which is regarded as one of the best, if not the best, films about the Rock n’ Roll genre of all time).
But Linson would truly step into his own with a passion project: Sons of Anarchy. The smash hit FX show was Linson’s creation, and showcased a lifelong passion: motorcycles. Sons of Anarchy ran for a whopping 92 episodes from 2008-2014, cementing Linson as a creative force to be reckoned with. And along the way, he met an actor and screenwriter named Taylor Sheridan.
As ‘Sons of Anarchy’ Ends, a Television Empire Emerges
Sheridan starred in Sons of Anarchy as Deputy David Hale. His Hale was an all-American officer and devoted enforcer. Sheridan would star in the show for 3 seasons before Hale’s death in a drive-by at a character’s funeral. According to Sheridan himself, Hale’s killing-off was the direct result of him being underpaid by the show and a whole lot of bad blood that followed.
Details are unclear, but the years that followed would see Sheridan and John Linson co-create the show we know as Yellowstone today.
Their premise was a strong one. So much so, in fact, that the duo managed to net Oscar-winner Kevin Costner as their lead. Yellowstone then premiered on Paramount Network June 20, 2018, and the rest is record-shattering history.
‘Yellowstone’ Season 5 and Beyond
Today, Sheridan and Linson’s fruitful partnership continues into Yellowstone Season 5. Linson also served as an executive producer for the first two episodes of wildly successful spinoff, 1883. In addition, he’s executive producing 6666, Yellowstone‘s second spinoff. Details on 6666 are sparse, however, outside of Sheridan purchasing the actual historical ranch in Texas outright.
Each project John Linson has executive produced with Sheridan also lists his father, Art, as an EP, as well. He may not be the household name his Yellowstone co-creator is, but we’re getting a Season 5 thanks to John Linson all the same.
