<\/p>\n
By all appearances, \u201cTulsa King\u201d has everything going for it \u2014 an A-list series lead (Sylvester Stallone), one of the most in-demand creators in the business (Taylor Sheridan) and the full backing of Paramount.<\/p>\n
But behind the scenes, the show\u2019s handling of the recent firing of more than two dozen crew members is seen as the result of a lack of clear leadership \u2014 no formal showrunner is yet in place \u2014 that has emerged going into production of the fourth season in Atlanta.<\/p>\n
According to multiple sources, Scott Stone, executive in charge of production from 101 Studios \u2014 which produces \u201cTulsa King\u201d \u2014 has become the de facto showrunner. He is said to be working closely with unit production managers Rebecca Rivo and Christian Agypt in running the series. None of the three is involved in the writing or directing of the show.<\/p>\n
Freddie Poole, the Emmy-nominated \u201cTulsa King\u201d stunt coordinator, tells Variety<\/em> that a conversation he had with Stone between Seasons 3 and 4 about who would be in charge of the new season gave him pause.<\/p>\n \u201c[Stone] said, \u2018We\u2019re not going to have a showrunner. 101 is the showrunner.\u2019 And I raised an eyebrow at that,\u201d Poole says. \u201cThat was the writing on the wall for me. I knew at that point I better start looking out for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n Poole was one of 26 \u201cTulsa King\u201d crew members who were let go and ultimately replaced just days before cameras started rolling on Season 4. They worked across multiple departments, including sound, stunts, transportation and hair. Variety<\/em> understands that none of the people who were let go had deals in place for the fourth season, and it is not uncommon for a show to turn over parts of its crew between seasons.<\/p>\n But those who spoke with Variety<\/em> say that the way they found out about the loss of work hurt the most. Some only learned the news when someone sent them a job listing for their on-set role.<\/p>\n \u201cThe manner in which this was done was just unprofessional and unnecessary,\u201d Poole says. \u201cSome of these people \u2026 were told to leave their equipment at the stages [after Season 3], and then told a week before shooting that they don\u2019t have a job. I think it was really disheartening.\u201d<\/p>\n Reps for 101 Studios did not respond to multiple requests for comment.<\/p>\n Terence Winter was the showrunner on Season 1 of \u201cTulsa King,\u201d but exited that role ahead of Season 2, though he did contribute to the season as a writer and an executive producer. There was no formal showrunner on Season 2 either, but sources say that executive producer and director Craig Zisk largely filled the role.<\/p>\n For Season 3, Dave Erickson became showrunner after working with Sheridan on \u201cMayor of Kingstown.\u201d However, Stallone and Erickson did not see eye to eye creatively, sources say, leading to tension on set and to Stallone insisting that Winter be brought back. Erickson is no longer the showrunner on \u201cTulsa King\u201d but remains in the role on \u201cMayor of Kingstown.<\/p>\n Winter did return for Season 4, but he is now credited as head writer and executive producer. According to multiple sources, Winter is leading the writers\u2019 room in Los Angeles but is not leading production in Atlanta, nor will he be spending any meaningful time onset, per a deal he worked out ahead of his return to the series.<\/p>\n While it is not unusual for a production company to have a significant role in the day-to-day business of a TV series, the absence of a creative lead has been a source of confusion for the Atlanta-based crew. Many say they have not been involved in a production where a studio executive has been given this much power on set.<\/p>\n Stone\u2019s apparent elevation also comes at a time when many writers in the industry are struggling to find work. More to the point, with fewer writer positions available and fewer shows in production \u2014 a vital training ground for showrunners to be \u2014 there have been concerns about where the next generation will come from. And as perhaps proven by the behind-the-scenes drama on \u201cTulsa King,\u201d the lack of a strong showrunner can leave a series rudderless.<\/p>\n More from Variety<\/strong><\/p>\n This story first appeared in the Nov. 19 print edition of Variety. <\/em><\/p>\n Best of Variety<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By all appearances, \u201cTulsa King\u201d has everything going for it \u2014 an A-list series lead (Sylvester Stallone), one of the most in-demand creators in the business (Taylor Sheridan) and the full backing of Paramount. But behind the scenes, the show\u2019s handling of the recent firing of more than two dozen crew members is seen as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2167143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[403608,373752,416163,416162,355099,360759,344432,33132],"class_list":["post-2167142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-crew-members","tag-dave-erickson","tag-freddie-poole","tag-scott-stone","tag-showrunner","tag-terence-winter","tag-tulsa-king","tag-variety"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/\u2018Tulsa-King-Goes-Into-Season-4-Without-Creative-Lead-On.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2167142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2167142"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2167142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2167144,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2167142\/revisions\/2167144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2167143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2167142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2167142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2167142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}