It’s one small step for the millions of interns around the nation, and a giant leap for the Tribeca Film Festival as this year they will be paying their hundreds of interns for their time and effort. The Tribeca Film Festival has been a for-profit festival since 2004, and is valued at $45 million as an enterprise.

As this festival is for profit, it is only fitting that the interns are paid. The Fair Labor Standards Law applies to nonprofit groups like Sundance. Unpaid internships for profit groups like the Tribeca Film Festival should only happen if the environment is focused on education.

Most internship’s however require a lot of hard work, including the Tribeca Film Festival, which in a typical season has around 1,000 unpaid crew members. The move to pay the interns will now have an interesting effect on other for-profit groups like South by Southwest.

IBT reporter Christopher Zara weighed in on the great intern debate, and why Tribeca Enterprises decided to pay their interns this year, discussing the effect the Tribeca Film Festival will have on other for-profit groups. The Tribeca Film Festival opens April 16.

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