In late April, Shaun Gray filed a lawsuit against Paramount seeking a share of profits for work he alleges he did on the studio’s 2022 megahit Top Gun: Maverick. The cousin of one of the film’s credited screenwriters, Eric Singer, Mr. Gray claims that Singer and Joseph Kosinski (the movie’s director) approached him in 2017 about co-writing the screenplay and that he did so, contributing several scenes that appeared in the film.

Prior to this, Mr. Gray has primarily worked as a special effects artist, though his IMDB profile  does include one writing credit – as a staff writer on the 2022 TV show Shantaram – and lists him as an uncredited “writing consultant” for Singer’s Only the Brave, and as Singer’s writer’s assistant on The International. 

Moreover, a 2022 GQ interview with a former Navy fighter pilot who worked as an adviser on the movie confirms Gray’s involvement — at least in the writing process:

“In the early days, it was me, Eric [Singer], and Shaun [Gray]. We spent five days straight in a hotel room in San Diego going through the screenplay line by line. About a month later, Eric, Shaun, and I did five days in Eric’s Santa Monica office and Joe dropped in for the last two days to review our work.”

Gray also claims to have “meticulous, time-stamped files” detailing his contributions to the film. The only thing he does not have? A signed work-made-for-hire agreement, which would entitle him to a share of the copyright and profits.

Seems like a slam dunk for Gray? Maybe. Maybe not.

The Different Degrees of “Writer” in the Entertainment Industry

Receiving writing credit for your work in the entertainment industry can be notoriously convoluted. Big films like Top Gun: Maverick often utilize dozens of writers, as well as various “story consultants,” “assistants,” and the like. There are very specific rules about what entitles someone to a particular credit such as “written by” or “story by”. 

Moreover, while anyone can contribute ideas in meetings, and sometimes those ideas might end up in the finished product, that does not mean that the individual is legally required to receive a writing credit — or copyright protection — for their contributions. While Mr. Gray claims to have “meticulous, time-stamped files” of the work he did, there may be questions about what was actually his work versus that of Mr. Singer or others if they were together. For example, a writer might work with an assistant to type out the script even though they are the one doing the actual writing, though there is no telling what the case was in Mr. Gray’s situation. 

If the specifics of his arguments pan out, he would seem to have a strong case for having made significant contributions to the screenplay and the final film. However, you can bet that versions of the questions raised here will be employed by Paramount, which has already said the lawsuit is “completely without merit” and that they are “confident that a court will reject this claim.”

Not the First Writing Battle over Maverick for Paramount

If you are thinking that this case feels familiar, you might be remembering the previous claim we covered against Top Gun: Maverick. In that claim, the heirs of Ehud Yonay, who wrote the article that inspired the first Top Gun, argued they should be compensated due to the connection to their loved one’s article and similarities in the new movie.

That claim was dismissed.