Paramount will lose its most prolific television creator, Taylor Sheridan, who has closed a long-term film and television deal with NBCUniversal, Deadline has confirmed.
The massive five-year overall deal for film, TV and streaming will begin January 1, 2029 after Sheridan’s overall TV deal with Paramount ends (it goes through 2028). Also moving to NBCUniversal is Sheridan’s close collaborator and producing partner David Glasser and his 101 Studios. Glasser has signed a first-look film and TV deal with the new studio that will begin in early 2026, after his company fulfills its current obligations to Paramount.
As Deadline reported, the new pact could reach as much as $1 billion, a major increase from Sheridan’s most recent TV overall deal at Paramount Global in 2001, believed to be worth $200 million.
This is a shocker that underscores the high stakes and intensity of the new era in the talent wars for top creators that kicked off with Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount Global in August. In one of the combined company’s first major moves, it poached Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer from their longtime home, Netflix, with a similarly massive exclusive four-year film and TV deal.
Sheridan’s departure, first reported by Puck, is also surprising as the new Paramount regime made it clear on day one that he was the top creator on their roster and someone they were looking to keep in the fold for a long time; Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison called him “a singular genius with a perfect track record.”
But the Skydance-Paramount merger came with top executive changes too, including the departures of Paramount Global co-CEO Chris McCarthy, and Paramount Media Networks & Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios COO Keyes Hill-Edgar who years ago bet on Taylor Sheridan, giving him his first TV overall deal, and were directly involved in his business. The previous regime was known for giving Sheridan a lot of leeway with budgets and control over production, with costs sometime running high — as high as $20M an episode — and shows often filmed at Sheridan’s ranches. In partnership with Glasser, Sheridan earlier this year launched new studio facility in Texas.
While pricey, Sheridan’s shows have also been very successful. Starting with Yellowstone, Sheridan has launched a slew of hits, with his slate of series for Paramount+ consistently among the streamer’s top performers, becoming a driver for new subscribers.
“On Paramount+ today, we have a really great foundation, which is the Taylor Sheridan universe,” Paramount’s Chair of Direct-to-Consumer Cindy Holland said in August.
Sheridan’s current Paramount series include Mayor of Kingstown, Landman, Lioness, Tulsa King and three upcoming Yellowstone spinoffs, The Dutton Ranch (aka Beth & Rip) and The Madison for Paramount+ and Y: Marshals for CBS, along with music reality series The Road, also for CBS.
He is set to deliver more seasons of his ongoing hits and new series to Paramount for three more years, leaving at least a dozen shows at the company before he moves to NBCU, and giving Paramount+’s new leadership time to build a slate of non-Sheridan titles.
In the meanwhile, Sheridan has a presence at NBCU as the mothership Yellowstone series is streaming on Peacock and is among the platform’s most popular offerings.
