Two former interns on the Oscar-winning film Black Swan have filed a lawsuit against Fox Searchlight, alleging the studio violated labour laws by failing to pay them for their work. Alex Footman and Eric Glatt submitted their claim at a federal court in Manhattan on Wednesday, seeking back pay and an injunction to prevent the studio from using unpaid interns improperly on future projects.
Footman told the New York Times his duties 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,' he said. Glatt, an accounting intern, created documents for purchase orders and petty cash, and tracked missing personnel information.
The interns argue that their work was menial and should have been done by paid employees, especially given the film's global box office revenue of more than $300m (£191m). 'If they paid us, it wouldn't make a big difference to them, but it would make a huge difference to us,' Footman added. The pair claim Fox has employed over 100 unpaid interns on various productions.
A spokesman 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.' The lawsuit follows earlier controversy over Black Swan, including claims that Natalie Portman used a dance double for most of her performance.
