Small decorative pump jacks line the tables during a Sunday viewing party, where a group of real country folk have gathered to watch the fictional film. Husbandmanthe latest in Fort Worth native Taylor Sheridan’s television empire. Currently streaming on Paramount+ and loosely based on the Texas Monthly podcast Boomtown by Christian Wallace, the saga aims to capture the drama, class hierarchies, wars, and moral conflicts of the West Texas oil and gas industry in much the same way as Yellowstone illuminated ranching in Montana.

It’s safe to say that the dangerous scenario playing out on screen – Billy Bob Thornton, who plays world-weary country man Tommy, is held captive by members of a drug cartel while explaining the details of a contract – has never happened to anyone before. . this room. But the jargon is familiar to the men and women who do this work, and when Thornton reaches the stupid punch line of the impasse: “They sent me to negotiate a lease,” the room erupts into knowing laughter.

The display will take place at the Fort Worth headquarters for the American Association of Professional Landmen, or AAPL, a professional development group with about 12,000 members. Sixty people showed up to hobble and occasionally pose with life-size cardboard cutouts of the show’s star-studded cast, including Jon Hamm as an oil baron and Demi Moore as his wife. A food truck will hand out free pizza, while an open bar will serve whiskey, wine and beer, including Michelob Ultra, Thornton’s favorite brand in the series.

What does a farmer do?

“When (news about the show) first came out, some people were hesitant,” said Nancy McCaskell, the president of AAPL. Anyone who watched the soap Yellowstone knows that Sheridan can take his characters to dark places. Ultimately, the AAPL decided to embrace the visibility that such a broad audience brings. After all, McCaskell says, “I’ve spent my entire career trying to explain what I do.”

Farmers are not engineers or geologists. They secure rights and communicate with landowners, the courts and the public, depending on their specialty. They are often fluent in business, finance, legal contracts and human relations.

“I think of land dwellers as the great communicators,” says McCaskell. And yes, country men can be women. Some people call McCaskell “country lady,” although “country man” is fine. (AAPL surveyed its female members to ask if they would make the name gender neutral, and the answer was no.) McCaskell, who stands 6 feet tall, with a slight build and short white hair, reminds us that the profession is a spectrum of personalities, not just swaggering tough guys. “No one will confuse me with Billy Bob Thornton,” she says, laughing.

‘We all have stories from landowners’

Thornton gets into trouble in the first episode. After the drug cartel, he has to deal with an explosive accident on the highway and a tragedy in an oil field.

“When there are so many emergencies around you, maybe you should get a new rancher,” jokes Jason Maloy, who lives in Plano. It’s clear that Hollywood is ramping up the drama, but land dwellers sometimes find themselves in sticky situations.

“We all have stories from landowners,” says Maloy. Shotguns are drawn. Contracts are disputed. “I had a man in Robertson County who claimed he was sovereign and not part of Texas. He wanted a million dollars per square inch for a lease.” That problem was solved, Maloy explains, when the man pointed a gun at the sheriff and ended up in jail.

To help sort fact from fiction, the AAPL is starting a podcast called Farmer Now which will be launched later this week. As the season progresses, industry experts will comment on how the show is doing.

“We wanted to have some kind of mouthpiece where we could respond to what is right and where they are taking liberties,” Maloy says.

An accidental filming location

The show is filmed partly in Fort Worth, the big city contrast with the dusty landscapes of West Texas, and the first two episodes (which dropped Sunday) include shots of the Petroleum Club, the neon cowboy sign outside the Hotel Drover in the Stockyards and TCU athletics. One scene from a future episode was filmed at the AAPL headquarters, although ironically the setting was not specifically intended for land dwellers.

“They were looking for a building that would resemble a law firm,” said Le’Ann Callihan, executive vice president and chief operating officer of AAPL. In an amusing coincidence, the show’s production office was located close to the association’s headquarters, and when the crew first noticed the building, Callihan says they didn’t realize it was the professional premise of the career the show was embarking on. exploring was.

“It was amazing,” Callihan says of the shoot. “Billy Bob Thornton has grit, but he also has such a sweet spirit.” She did give one note to Taylor Sheridan. At the time he was working on spelling Husbandman as two words. She presented it as one word. She’s not sure changed her mind, but one look at the logo will confirm she got her way.

‘Sizzle and pop’

Husbandman opens up a world unknown to most of us, and the real country men at the screening thought Sheridan got the important details right. The problem-solving nature of the profession, the camaraderie of the oil field, where losers brave dangerous conditions for the kind of money typically unavailable without a college degree, the Odessa and Midland jokes that will be familiar to anyone who works in the oil business. Permian Basin.

“Hollywood is going to buzz and pop,” says Bill Hackett, who works in Santa Fe, of the more exaggerated moments. “If someone followed me with a camera all day, they would go to sleep.”

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