Country star and actor Tim McGraw has launched a new media company to make film and TV project in association with Skydance Media, the studio behind blockbusters like Top Gun: Maverick, Mission Impossible: Fallout, and Terminator: Dark Fate.
McGraw’s company will be called “Down Home” and will be based in Nashville, Tennessee, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The announcement for the project says Down Home will connect “McGraw’s country music audience with Hollywood and brands by producing film, TV, and digital media that focus on relatable stories that capture the essence and spirit of everyday Americans.”
McGraw recently starred as settler James Dutton in the streaming series 1883, a prequel to the Paramount’s popular streaming series, Yellowstone. He played the patriarch of the Dutton clan as they migrated from post the Civil War eastern U.S. to the wide-open west. The series, produced by powerhouse producer Taylor Sheridan, chronicled the early days of the Duttons.
As part of the deal, David Ellison’s Skydance Media will co-develop TV and film projects and apparently two such projects are already in the works.
“Country music has always been about storytelling,” McGraw said in a press release. “Our stories are honest vignettes of life and family and community. I think there’s a longing for that. For me, that’s Down Home. That’s how I grew up, those are the stories I like to tell, and that’s what I want our company to be about.”
“Tim McGraw is an outstanding artist and entertainer. He is truly gifted at telling stories across mediums that deeply connect with the audience and has built an unmatched community of fans around the world,” Ellison added. And Down Home CEO Tim Staples said, “From 1883 to Friday Night Lights, or songs like ‘Humble and Kind’, Tim McGraw knows how to connect with this audience in a way that can be really powerful for both Hollywood and brands.”
Down Home is also set to produce social content to focus on local Nashville talent and promote new voices in entertainment.
Despite his films featuring guns, McGraw, who has supported Obama and Biden, has long been a big anti-gun nut and has helped front radical gun control issues. As far back as 2105, McGraw hosted a gun control fundraiser in the wake of the Sandy Hook mass shooting.
Tim McGraw performs during the Celebrating America Primetime Special on January 20, 2021. The livestream event hosted by Tom Hanks features remarks by president-elect Joe Biden and vice president-elect Kamala Harris and performances representing diverse American talent. (Handout/Biden Inaugural Committee via Getty Images )
McGraw was also a supporter of Michelle Obama’s left-wing voter turn out group, When We All Vote.
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