THEY MADE COFFEE, CLEANED OFFICES AND TOOK OUT THE BINS
Two interns who worked on the Oscar-winning film Black Swan are suing studio Fox Searchlight. They claim their employer used them to complete menial work that did little to educate them in the business of film-making and which should have been undertaken by paid employees.
Alex Footman, 24, and Eric Glatt, 42, filed their suit on Wednesday at a federal court in Manhattan, asking for back pay and an injunction against the studio for improperly using unpaid interns on future projects. Footman told the New York Times that his duties on the shoot included making coffee, handling lunch orders, taking out rubbish and cleaning the production office:
“The only thing I learned on this internship was to be more picky in choosing employment opportunities. Black Swan had mor then $300 million [£191m] in revenues. If they paid us, it wouldn’t make a big difference to them, but it woudl make a huge difference to us.”
His fellow intern Glatt – who was employed as an “accounting intern” – was required to create documents for purchase orders and petty cash, going to the set for signatures and making spreadsheets to track missing information in personnel files. He said:
“When I started off looking for opportunities in the industry, I saw that most people accept and ugly trade-off. If you want to get your foot in the door on a studio picture, you have to suck it up and do an unpaid internship.”
The pair claim that more than 100 unpaid interns have been employed by Fox on various film productions. Adam Klein – the lawyer representing Footman and Glatt – said their lawsuit was highly significant and set to be the first of many as interns begin to fight back against exploitative employers. But he warned that the idea of taking legal action was still unappealing to many exploited young workers, saying:
“Unpaid interns are usually too scared to speak out and to bring such a lawsuit because they are frightened it will hurt their chances of finding future jobs in their industry.”
Meanwhile, Russell Nelson, a spokesperson for Fox Searchlight said:
“We just learned of this litigation and have not had a chance to review it, so we cannot make any comment at this time.”
Graduate Fog is tickled pink to see these interns attacking such a high-profile target – and grabbing serious column inches in the process. The legal situation on internships is slightly different in the US – as we understand it their labour laws say that unpaid internships are allowed as long as they have an element of being an educational experience. That said, what they describe is similar to that of many UK interns who are likely to follow the case with interest. And, given the story’s glamorous link (every time it runs, newspaper editors have an excuse to print a picture of Natalie Portman), the result of the case looks likely to make the headlines. Let’s just hope it’s the right result.
*Are you behind the Black Swan interns?
Should more interns come forward and complain about their employers? Have you done a film or TV internship – and were you paid for your work? Will the Black Swan interns ever get paid work in their chosen industry, now they’ve taken this action against Fox Searchlight?
STILL no comments! Was waiting for lots of pertinent ones from those at the coalface, as there are none to date I’ll chip in ….
It’s great the Black Swan interns are suing. They’ve lost nothing by doing so – their “employer” clearly saw them as people to exploit, not as potential employees.
The interns will have regained some self-respect by fighting back (which is important) and will have learnt something useful (how to prepare a case and defend your rights). By suing, they’ll also have discouraged other employers – in that sector and outside it – from offering future interns such a raw deal.
Assuming they win, they’ll also have made themselves more money than they could have hoped to earn over the next few years.
“Internships” should be seen for what they really are. An excuse by graduate “employers” to use peoples skills in the hope of jam tommorrow that they have no intention if they can help it of ever giving in most of not all instances.
If someone has the wherewithal from at least 3-4 years of study to do the job (assuming its more than making the tea) then you pay them to do it with an actual position.Internships? Why? To make people superstreneously go an extra length to prove according to them they are any good when they know from their grades/CV that is already probably the case ?And then of course it just so happens that it’s still not “quite good enough” to just hire them at a going rate when it comes to the bit.
If they are not offering bona fide positions for graduates then they should be taken with really about the same seriousness that they take anyone the expect to apply. That is as a joke.
Boycott them. The whole concept of them for any kind of skilled/ intelligent people should be viewed as evil if they haven’t always been from the start.
I’ve seen some very nasty comments directed towards interns on other sites that are featuring this story. Not surprised that so few have chosen to express an opinion here.
Just a shame that it isn’t a british company being sued by british interns.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYf3pOo-CsU&feature=player_embedded
Worked in University College Dublin’s (UCD), IT service department for 7 months. Didn’t get payed a cent. There were three of us working there for 7 months each. I also know about a list of other companies that fellow students had to work for as part of college for 7 months, all of which were unpaid. I don’t know where or who to tell this to on this website so I said I’d put it here.
Good on them! If a multimillion even billion dollar company can’t afford to provide its staff with at least minimum rates of pay what hope is there for everyone else!
The company I currently work for pays all of its interns which I think is a really attractive quality in a company and something I definitely look for in an employer. It shows that they respect their staff and young people in general.
Shame on Studio Fox!!!