Thursday, February 05, 2015
The Weinstein Company Has Sold — Yes, That’s Correct — an Unpaid Internship for $25,000
Flavorwire: There’s very little that hasn’t been said about the injustices of unpaid internships — the way they privilege the privileged, the way they present themselves as invaluable “learning experiences,” the way they insure the immobility of post-graduates, etc.
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What kind of person would want to pay $25,000-50,000 for an unpaid internship? It's an internship supposed to help you with what you want to do in the future and help you get connection? I didn't know that an internship is basically the same price as a college tuition. These companies are really just using you if it costs that much. They want all of your money and then when you get the internship you probably don't do much anyways. So whats the point? Internships should be most beneficial to the intern, not to the entire company. When did greed become our only focus? I think Americans need to step back from what they are trying to do and think of all the trouble they are causing. I can't think of any other part of the world that would do this to someone. No matter how popluar that internship is, no internship should cost that much to be a part of. And if it is that popular they should be able to hire someone perfect for what they want and then maybe even offering him/her a really job for the future.
Immediately, I had the same reaction as Hannah. Why in the world would anyone pay to have a job that doesn’t pay? Why not go to college for that? Plus with college loans, how can anyone afford such a price? I don’t particularly care if the money is going to a worthy cause; I would never pay to have an internship. I’d rather have a low paying job than have to pay for one. The fact that someone actually was willing to do such a thing is unfathomable to me. The fact that I have worked for free is horrid enough, why would people pay? I don’t understand why no one will pay people for work anymore. Minimum wage isn’t enough to support a person, so why is it legal to have unpaid internships? It’s to the point that people debate between paying rent and eating food. If the idea of paying for work becomes popular, I don’t know what I will do. The greed of industries has become out of control.
This is ridiculous. Pretty much all interns are college students. That means that are paying for college. Why would you want to pay even more to get an internship that you wouldn't be payed for anyway. While internships are a great way to get experience and will look good on your resume, they end up being just free labor that companies can exploit in the name of learning. The problem is more and more now students have to have internship experience before they will be even considered for a real job so the companies know they will do anything to get the experience. Now I guess that includes paying for it.
The only good thing about this is that the money will go to a charity, but that is still an extremely ridiculous amount to ask for. It’s just like forcing people to donate which, to me, is not the point of donating.
Okay I'll give it to whoever came up with this idea, they sure know how to think out of the box. But the same way they auction of dates for charity, auctioning off work is a little across the line. Unpaid internships are to start, dumb, as many of the student professionals going into these field have large debts to pay off and need to work for pay and learn. Secondly, while the company is donating "much" of the proceeds to charity, they aren't donating all. This to me sound like they were just trying to cover up some quick money. I also agree with the comment from the founder of Graduate Fog. This intern may not have the qualifications for the job, its pretty much being said that "oh don't worry, if you have the funds you don't have to work for anything." Not fair, not cool Weinstein. I hope they've realized how they've hurt their company in the future for less than 25,000 dollars.
Why would somebody think that paying such an absurd amount of money for an internship was okay? Not to mention the internship was UNPAID. I understand the want and the need for networking and for getting your name out there. The experience that you will gain from this is slim in comparison to the amount of money that you will be losing to go into this. Unless you are GUARENTEED references, future jobs, and a stable income I would call this trade an unfair deal. However, I do know a lot of people who would be quick to jump into saying ‘this is the worst idea, why would you pay for something like this’ that have moved themselves across the country to accommodate an internship for the summer- including the cost of the plane, food, housing, and living. I suppose in some ways, this justifies itself and in some ways it is completely erratic.
This is, frankly, ridiculous. Regardless of charitable intent, this “paid” internship is discriminatory and widens the gap between those with money and those without by creating unequal opportunity for steps forward in the business. In my search for internships, the pay is definitely important: if it is in another city and doesn’t offer housing, then I at least need to receive a stipend. College is expensive enough, and I would rather not go any deeper into debt. This kind of internship, which can be purchased rather than won, makes it impossible for those with talent and drive but fewer funds to have an equal opportunity. I find it difficult to believe that anyone would actually buy this internship, and pay in three months the value of a full year of private education. Contacts, experience, and skills are gained through hard work and focus. That they can be purchased in this way is extremely upsetting.
Wow. It really goes to show you what's happened to the internship business -- especially concerning unpaid internships. I used to joke with my friends, when they asked me what I thought I'd be doing in five years, that I would "still be in an unpaid internship, slaving away for no pay but a ton of 'valuable' experience." It seems the joke doesn't fall too far from the tree. To have to pay for experience is like having to pay for education (see: almost every university and private school in the United States). It's absolutely backwards. We shouldn't have to pay for job opportunities. We shouldn't pay to learn. People should not be privileged one over the other because one's parents can afford to actually pay a higher price to obtain a reasonable job. I know there are hundreds of people who are probably ten times talented as I am, but because I had the education, exposure and funds to get myself to college I'm the one sitting in the chair, not them. It's a bittersweet truth that runs not only the industry we thrive in, but the world. I can only sit back and wait to watch whatever other seriously preposterous internship opportunities flash past my young generation.
Looking for internships right now I thought this article was very intriguing as well as ridiculous. I wouldn't be where I am without my internships but I don't value them at 25,000. The point of an internship was to either learn about your craft or to put the company on your resume. the fact that I have never even heard of the company says that they are not worth paying 25,000 for their name on my resume. In addition I think of internships as a trade off and if I think I am not benefiting at all by it I don't do it, I don't work for a company for free just to work for them. If you really like a company then many times money i just the bonus, and not the other way around. This is why I don't know why a person would pay this much? What benefits are they not telling us about? Did someone pay this much just to say they did? The things I take away from this is that many people think that money is what values a job or an experience so the more they pay the more they feel like it is worth it or that they got a good price. the other is that not all people are smart.
Unpaid internships are probably one of the few things that no one really enjoys doing, I mean depends on the work, but you’re not getting paid for it. In this case, not only do is it an unpaid internship, but you pay twenty five thousand dollars for this unpaid internship. At this point, for a three month internship, you better be getting your monies worth working for a company like the Weinstein Company. They’ve been putting out some great films recently, but you would definitely have to have the right connections as is the case in many aspects of this industry to get a job walking in the door. I’ve had the opportunity to attend a few gatherings, and it’s amazing the backgrounds of the various types of people you meet. Some will blow you away, and it’s those that you want to make sure you can maintain a connection, because when you need it and there isn’t an unpaid internship for the taking, then you better grab it while you can, because someone else might, and they might be that one person to make it.
This article disgusts me, especially since I hope to one day work in film. I think it is appalling that The Weinstein Company would first and foremost even try to sell an unpaid internship, but even worse sell it under the disguise that they were doing so for charity. I know that rich white capitalistic men run the art and entertainment worlds, but I’d like to think these industries could start moving past that in some ways to understand while there is still business to be made entertainment should be about the art first and foremost. In the film industry many of the first big filmmakers were poor immigrants that made it big by creating the idea of a film from scratch, yes these men rose to power and stayed there, but I’d like to think the film industry in particular could be understanding of humble beginnings since its origins started their. Now the entertainment industry is all corporate, many large film companies have become too wrapped up in their big budget life that they are now closer to elite gentleman’s clubs than studios created to produce great entertainment. I’m not saying those running these film studios shouldn’t be proud of their wealth, or appreciate their stature, but that they should be humble enough to understand that not all great ideas come from money, filmmaking and the whole idea of moving pictures didn’t.
This article disgusts me, especially since I hope to one day work in film. I think it is appalling that The Weinstein Company would first and foremost even try to sell an unpaid internship, but even worse sell it under the disguise that they were doing so for charity. I know that rich white capitalistic men run the art and entertainment worlds, but I’d like to think these industries could start moving past that in some ways to understand while there is still business to be made entertainment should be about the art first and foremost. In the film industry many of the first big filmmakers were poor immigrants that made it big by creating the idea of a film from scratch, yes these men rose to power and stayed there, but I’d like to think the film industry in particular could be understanding of humble beginnings since its origins started their. Now the entertainment industry is all corporate, many large film companies have become too wrapped up in their big budget life that they are now closer to elite gentleman’s clubs than studios created to produce great entertainment. I’m not saying those running these film studios shouldn’t be proud of their wealth, or appreciate their stature, but that they should be humble enough to understand that not all great ideas come from money, filmmaking and the whole idea of moving pictures didn’t.
Okay, yes, this is absolutely ridiculous, but not totally unheard of. This is an auction we're talking about, not someone looking for an internship and deciding to drop $25,000 on it. This is not a normal situation. Obviously none of us looking for internships right now are going to do anything like this. This is a situation where probably a bunch of wealthy people went to an auction, and someone thought something like, "Oh, my daughter would love an internship here, and I'm guaranteeing it for her!" When that kind of money is at your fingertips, and it's for charity, there's no reason not to put your kid somewhere you want them. I will say again: THIS IS NOT TYPICAL. No one is trying to make it typical. It is a normal, unpaid internship, that was auctioned off for a good cause. It's the same theory behind a Golden Playground Ticket- obviously the tickets for these shows aren't worth any money, but why not pay the stupidly priced bid for it when you know it's going toward showcase? I think we're overreacting a bit here.
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