During the production of the hit film Black Swan, an army of interns toiled behind the scenes, performing dozens of tasks to keep the production moving.

Their grunt work was real, but their pay was non-existent. That’s because they had “earned” a spot as a Fox Entertainment Group intern, a coveted gig for aspiring entertainment professionals.

Even though interns really did the work of paid assistants, unpaid internships had been a staple of the media and entertainment industry since the dawn of time. Of course, many interns thought the system was unfair, and fighting Hollywood seemed like a bad idea, pulled out of a “B” movie script.

But in Hollywood, stories are often driven by courageous protagonists who see the destination, even if they can’t visualize the entire path to get there. While interning on the set of the psychological thriller Black Swan, Eric Glatt decided to become one of those protagonists.

After reading an article about unpaid interns by New York Times labor reporter Steven Greenhouse, Eric felt moved to act. Eric reached out to lawyers, and the Department of Labor, looking for someone to see that this work was worth paying for. None did, until he spoke to Ross Perlin, a freelance journalist who was gathering stories for an upcoming book called Intern Nation. Ross also knew Outten & Golden’s Adam Klein, so he connected Eric to him.

After talking, Eric and Adam felt the moment was ripe to take on Hollywood.

And so began Glatt v. Fox Searchlight, a lawsuit Deadline called “an industry gamechanger, in an era where the term is too often overused.”

After filing the suit, more Fox interns came forward, including Alexander Glassman from the film 500 Days of Summer. Many interns reported a world of privilege and power, where well-connected children happily took unpaid positions because of the economic safety net they had from their families. But just as many talented interns were struggling to afford basic living expenses and lacked the resources to take unpaid work. In the end, the interns were united in their pursuit of justice, and a full-fledged movement was born.

Unpaid internships quickly became the talk of the town. The Los Angeles Times said a victory for the plaintiffs would “force Hollywood to change everything, from the way film crews are assembled to the manner in which new talent is cultivated.” Around New York City, people proudly wore “pay your interns” buttons.

In 2013, a U.S. District Court judge sided with Eric and the Fox interns, finding them indistinguishable from regular employees under the U.S. Department of Labor’s six-part test, which says workers are entitled to pay when their employer gets an immediate advantage from their labor.

Fox then appealed to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which said that interns could go unpaid, as long as they gained more from the learning experience than their employer did from their free labor. But legal nuances aside, public opinion was clearly with the interns, and the media and entertainment establishment knew they would have to change.

Five years after Eric Glatt began his journey, Fox agreed to settle, a monumental achievement ripped straight out of an Oscar-winning script.

And the Black Swan movement wasn’t done there, as Outten & Golden subsequently represented thousands of interns who successfully challenged other media and entertainment companies, including Conde Nast and NBCUniversal Through this work, the fair pay for intern movement took off, and the rights of interns remain stronger to this day.