46 Scene Matches Fuel Lawsuit Against Alexander Payne

A lawsuit filed on Wednesday cites 46 matched incidents between two screenplays. Simon Stephenson, the author of the unproduced script, is suing director Alexander Payne and several production entities.

Stephenson wrote Frisco in 2012 and 2013. The story follows a doctor at a children's hospital who befriends a teenage patient during a trip to San Francisco. The film ends with the doctor quitting his job to travel across the country. The script later ranked third on the Black List, an annual ranking of unproduced Hollywood screenplays.

Stephenson claims his agents showed the script to Payne in 2013 and again in 2019. Payne passed on the project both times. A producing partner told Stephenson's agent that Payne liked the script but was not interested in producing or directing it.

The complaint states that Payne provided input to The Holdovers screenwriter David Hemingson. Stephenson argues that elements of Frisco entered the Holdovers drafts through this process. The suit names Hemingson, producer Mark Johnson, Miramax, and Focus Features as additional defendants.

The filing describes the relationship between the two scripts as meticulous. It states that the structure and events of Frisco were transposed into The Holdovers with only cosmetic changes to surface details. The document likens the screenplay to a blueprint and says the defendants used Frisco as their guide to build the film.

Stephenson raised the issue with the Writers Guild of America in 2024. The union said it could not adjudicate the matter and referred him to legal counsel. Payne responded to the allegations at the Sarajevo Film Festival, calling the claim the stupidest thing in the world.

Stephenson has written for Paddington 2, Luca, and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain. He drew on his own experience as a pediatrician when writing Frisco. The legal action seeks to establish that the resemblance between the two works goes beyond coincidence.