Innermost Thoughts of an Intern

Cartoon by Nick Downes

If you are like me then you are a recent transplant to Los Angeles looking for a way into the entertainment industry with little to no social skills and an earnest, self-deprecating wit. With entry level positions needing at least one year experience becoming the latest trend, it seemed that the best thing for me to do was to get an internship. Now, I don’t come from an affluent family, so working for free was far from appealing. However, I do have a supportive family, and they told me that I was in this strange city to pursue a career and I needed to do everything in my power to do so. And I did just that.

However, I’ve since discovered that, just like any job, it pays to do your research. While it’s true that internships can lead to valuable connections, prepare you for a job within the industry, and help you learn what you need to survive in Hollywood, they do not all have the best intentions. It turns out that the United States Department of Labor has laid out six criteria that for-profit companies must comply with to determine whether an unpaid internship is legal or not. Included in this list is that the internship should be similar to training given in an educational environment, that it is solely for the benefit of the intern, and that the intern is not taking the job of a regular employee.  This list is vague at best, and could do with an update. It seems like any business (and I do mean any, as internships have become common in not only the entertainment industry, but in banks and law firms as well) would have to be pretty altruistic if they are going to abide by the Department of Labor. In particular, the “no immediate advantage” criterion seems hard to meet. It seems that most employers would hire an intern because there is a strong, mutual benefit to both the intern and the employer. A quid pro quo of sorts.

Some states have even more rules that further limit what qualifies a legal internship. In the state of California, if you are in an unpaid internship then you MUST get school credit. To be in one otherwise would be illegal. There is also the issue that internships are inherently prejudiced, as people from lower incomes can’t afford to work for free for any amount of time, so only the wealthiest people can be considered in the first place. Let me tell you, as an El Paso native I have never been considered elitist, but then I got an internship and all of a sudden people began treating me as though my whole world view had changed. It was strange, and a little unsettling.

Last year, two interns who worked on the movie Black Swan filed a lawsuit against Fox Searchlight Pictures for violating minimum wage and overtime laws. The lawsuit claims that the producers had the interns perform menial tasks that should’ve been done by regular, paid employees. This is one of the first times that an intern has brought a case to trial, as most interns fear being BLACKLISTED if they ever do so much as complain. I will be interested to see the outcome of the trial, and its impact on the unpaid intern practice.

When people suggested I get an internship I didn’t ask questions. I didn’t know the first thing in how to “break into” the industry, so it made sense to me. After all, I was untrained in film, having gotten my degree in technical theatre, and getting an inside look at how production companies operated seemed like a good deal. I got my first internship through Craigslist and it was painful. I would arrive at the office every day at 9:00am and the producer I was working for would go into the other room and go to sleep. I stayed up front to answer the non-existent calls and e-mails. Around two he would take me to Chipotle for lunch. Every day. Seven days a week. Chipotle.  During all this I had to endure a BARRAGE of ridicule and insults, a manic, screaming assault from my boss. He told me that this was the way interns and assistants were treated, and when I finally got up the courage to quit he had me sit down to watch an episode of Entourage, comparing himself to Ari Gold. Out of sheer confusion and bewilderment I sat and watched. When I left that day I never went back.

I currently work at yet another internship, that I found here on Media Match, and, thankfully, it’s nothing like the first one. I’m learning a few things on this one. I get to do script coverage, which I enjoy immensely, and my bosses treat me with respect. For me, that’s what makes an internship tolerable, there needs to an acknowledgement of the fact that you are giving your time and working for no pay. Being treated without dignity is not ok, even if you are getting paid.

Recently, the New York Times hosted a debate about unpaid internships. One of the debaters was Alex Footman, one of the plaintiffs in the Fox Searchlight suit. The other contributors are authors and lawyers, and all of them have an interesting argument for and against. If you’re thinking of participating in an internship I would suggest reading what they have to say. Unfair Internships is another great resource to check out for more information, or to confirm whether or not you are being taken advantage of, and I urge you to visit.

Update: An intern with Harper’s Bazaar has filed a lawsuit for failing to pay minimum and overtime wages. Read the full article on Slate.

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Tags: Department of Labor, entry level jobs, intern, media-match, minimum wage, New York Times, producer's assistant, unfair internships, unpaid internships, work experience