NBCUniversal Agrees To Settle SNL Intern Lawsuit

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-snl-intern-settlement-story.html

This article is about NBCUniversal finally reaching an agreement with a dispute regarding Interns who worked on the show Saturday Night Live. The issue was that these Interns who collaborated with the late-night comedy should have been paid for the work they did. The court came to an approval of 6.4 million dollar settlement, which would be shared among the thousands of SNL interns who worked in both New York and California. Interns have always been a huge beneficial factors for TV networks, but some have claimed to have done work usually associated with paid workers making the situation unfair. These individuals were said to receive at least $5,000 to $10,000 each for their help, but on the other hand the unpaid interns who qualified for the lawsuit agreement were said to receive as little as $500. Being an Intern required lots of work, sometimes assisting a filmmaker or record producer. This was rare because they usually were used to make coffee, photocopy documents, make travel arrangements, or simply run errands. This is not the first time Interns have sued a TV-network/show because of payment issues. Some similar cases include the Inters suing 21st Century Fox, Warner Music Group,  and Atlantic Records. This article caught my attention after I saw a lawsuit being filed against Saturday Night Live. I've always heard about Interns, but never truly understood the significance of one and how they're a beneficial option for TV-Networks who don't want to pay much for employees. As a filmmaker and student, this article shows me that unfair payment issues come up very often for those who are trying to make it out in the Film Industry. It must be a very frustrating situation to know that someone can take advantage of you like that by making you work that is usually done by paid employees and call you an unpaid Intern to just get away with it. It just goes to show you that its hard out in the Film business to get by just to get recognized and meet new people to help you grow and someday be something more than an Intern. As a consumer I feel bad for those who were not paid properly, but at the same time I understand that the whole point of an Internship is to be a beneficial way for TV networks and shows to get by a tight budget. It's definitely a place to start if you want to gain experience and have a glimpse of what it's like to be on set or working with professional. It helps you grow as a filmmaker because you get to see what kind of knowledge is required in that sort of field of work. This raises questions like: Will Interns finally begin to get paid the appropriate amount of money based on the work they do? What other TV-networks are having issues with payment of their employees?