Black Swan Interns Suing Over Unpaid Work

Interns who worked on the award-winning film are suing Fox Searchlight and Twentieth Century Fox.

Two interns who last year sued Fox Searchlight over unpaid work on the Oscar-winning film Black Swan are now expanding their legal action to include all internships at parent company Twentieth Century Fox,according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Alex Footman and Eric Glatt's latest suit could have a major impact on working practices in Hollywood, where unpaid internships have risen in recent years. Fox itself says it changed its guidelines in July 2010 to ensure that all interns are paid at least $8 an hour. But the plaintiffs remain angry, claiming that they were made to undertake menial work with little or no educational value that ought to have been carried out by paid employees. The financial success of Black Swan, filmed in New York in 2009 prior to Fox's rule change, has also caused anger. Darren Aronofsky's intense psychological thriller earned more than $300m (£191m) at the global box office and won the best actress Oscar for its star Natalie Portman.