15 Years Ago, Natalie Portman's Oscar-Winning Movie Faced a Huge Lawsuit That Changed Hollywood
The film can become an event, not only as an outstanding cultural statement, but also by changing the rules by which the film industry operates.
The crown jewel of Natalie Portman 's filmography remains Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan. To bring his vision and ambitious script to life, the director needed a talented actress to portray the maniacally obsessed ballerina.
Portman was the perfect choice. Her Nina not only gives us a tragic portrait of an exhausted artist, but also captures the amazing talent of the actress in her magnum opus.
Black Swan's Studio Fox Faced a High-Profile Lawsuit from Two Interns
But few people know that one of the best films of Darren Aronofsky's career not only won an Oscar, but also became the cause of a high-profile lawsuit that changed the rules of the game for Hollywood studios.
In 2011, two former interns, Eric Glatt and Alexander Footman, filed a lawsuit against Fox, claiming that their unpaid work on the set of Black Swan violated labor laws.
The interns' complaint was that they were doing work that had no educational value – making coffee, delivering mail – essentially replacing regular, paid employees.
Fox Ended Up Losing the Case
However, unpaid internships are only possible if the intern receives the primary benefit, which is gaining new knowledge in the field of study. What Glatt and Footman described really looked like exploitation of unpaid workers.
The court agreed that Fox had violated these principles, and in 2013 ruled that the interns should have been paid.
Intern Lawsuit Changed Hollywood, but Sparked Mixed Reactions
The lawsuit has become a benchmark for unpaid internships in the film industry, but it has drawn mixed reactions. On the one hand, Glatt and Footman's lawsuit forced many major studios to switch to paid programs to avoid legal risks.
And interns have become more vocal in demanding their rights and assignments that actually provide educational value.
On the other hand, some believe that fear of lawsuits has led companies to offer fewer internships, making it harder for newcomers to break into the industry. Redditor THE_darkknight_pees wrote:
“This is setting a precedent across all the studios' intern program that stops people who are willing to intern for free, like myself.”
Regardless, the Black Swan lawsuit changed Hollywood and forced it to rethink its treatment of interns. Unpaid internships are now a rarity rather than the standard, and it's an important step toward fair pay in the film industry.
