While this may seem like the kind of headlineThe Onion would showcase, this is in fact a reality. Eric Glatt and Alex Footman, two men who worked as interns (along with over a hundred others) for Fox Searchlight Pictures during the filming of Black Swan filed a lawsuit against the production company this past Wednesday in Manhattan.
The two are claiming that the company failed to provide a legitimate learning experience, and instead tasked them with the important responsibility of supplying the crew with coffee and making sure the java pot was full at all times. They also claim they were made to empty trash and keep the offices clean.
The lawsuit's basis is Fox Searchlight's lack of adherance to Federal labor laws, which state that unpaid intern experience must benefit from the experience in terms of training and knowledge. Being that learning how to be a barista may not have been the type of skills the aspiring-producers were hoping to acquire, the two former interns are hoping to put an end to unfair intern useage by Fox Searchlight, as well as demanding they be paid backwages for their time with Fox Searchlight.
“Black Swan’ had more than $300 million in revenues. If they paid us, it wouldn’t make a big difference to them, but it would make a huge difference to us,” Footman points out.
And, just for the record, here at Complex, we keep our interns fueled with pizza, Hip-Hop and praise, all while providing them with the detailed training necessary to become expert media ninjas. Take that, Fox Searchlight!
[via New York Times]
