A new lawsuit from screenwriter and producer Lauren J. Salkin accuses Yellowstone mastermind Taylor Sheridan of borrowing liberally from a show she pitched to him in 2016 create Yellowstone, right before Paramount greenlit his smash hit show.
Why Is Taylor Sheridan Getting Sued Over Yellowstone?
In court documents filed Friday (Aug. 21) that Variety obtained, Salkin claims that she pitched a very similar Western drama titled Sovereign Nation to Sheridan’s management company, Elevate Entertainment, in 2016.
Her filing claims that they responded that Sheridan was “unavailable for TV projects,” thanking her for her interest.
The filing claims that Paramount picked up Yellowstone “within months” of her pitch to Sheridan.
Yellowstone debuted in 2018, and Sheridan has spun it into a massive TV franchise that includes 1883, 1923, Marshals and Dutton Ranch, with more spinoffs planned.
The suit alleges that Yellowstone borrowed specific concepts from Sovereign Nation.
Those ideas include “a tribal casino functioning as the institutional center of political and development power; a signature confrontation staged in the tribal chairman’s casino office over expansion beyond reservation boundaries; the use of trust land, the absence of zoning restrictions, and a 99-year lease structure as the concrete mechanism for that expansion; and recurring master-plan imagery deployed to dramatize the struggle for territorial control.”
The lawsuit also claims that Salkin had originally intended to cast actors Danny Huston and Gil Birmingham in Sovereign Nation in roles similar to those they played in Yellowstone; “Birmingham as the tribal political leader whose authority and development strategy run through the casino, and Huston as the outside development power broker who supplies the political or commercial path for that expansion.”
Salkin is suing for copyright infringement and seeking an injunction, naming Sheridan, 101 Studios, Paramount and Elevate Entertainment as defendants.
She’s also asking the court to award her damages, including a portion of the profits from Yellowstone.
Was Taylor Sheridan Successful Before Yellowstone?
Yes.
After a modest acting career, Sheridan switched gears into writing and developing his own projects. He wrote Sicario and Hell or High Water, earning a reputation as an uncompromising new filmmaker who could turn a profit on challenging subject matter.
How Did Taylor Sheridan Come Up With Yellowstone?
Sheridan has said he originally conceived Yellowstone as a film, and he pitched it for years to no avail before Paramount finally picked it up.
Sheridan also wrote and directed Wind River, which he released in 2017, one year before Yellowstone premiered in 2018. The film features many of the same actors and story themes as Yellowstone and serves almost as a precursor to the show.
READ MORE: 5 Taylor Sheridan Movies Yellowstone Fans Will Love
Kelsey Asbille — who played Monica Dutton on Yellowstone — plays Natalie Hanson in Wind River, and Gil Birmingham plays her father, Martin Hanson.
Other future Yellowstone actors who appear in Wind River include Hugh Dillon (Donnie Haskell), Ian Bohen (Ryan), Martin Sensmeier (Monica’s physical therapist, Martin) and James Jordan, who has gone on to play roles on Yellowstone, Lioness, Landman and more.
Who Is Lauren J. Salkin?
According to IMDb, Salkin is a “TV producer, development executive, and screenwriter with a foundation in photojournalism and 15+ years spanning editorial storytelling and television production.”
She worked for media outlets including Newsweek, the Associated Press and National Geographic before transitioning into television, where she worked with Dick Clark Productions.
What Has Taylor Sheridan Said About the Yellowstone Copyright Lawsuit?
Sheridan has not commented publicly on the lawsuit.
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