Searching the Internet for a job, college graduate Leo David Hyde discovers a large list of intern positions. When David asks about pay, accommodations, and travel, he learns that these positions are unpaid with no benefits. Astonished at these findings that internships provide actual work responsibilities without pay, David and Nathalie Berger decide to make a documentary about interns; and, David secures an intern position at the United Nations in Geneva to do so. Since he lacks funds for housing, David sets up his campsite each day on Lake Geneva, gets dressed each morning after bathing in the lake, and bundles all his belongings in his backpack to head to work.
Separately, a second college graduate Kyle Grant secures an intern position at Warner Music in New York City; lacking money, Kyle is forced to live in a homeless shelter while working at Warner. A third intern Marisa Adam tells her story of harassment while interning for the Obama campaign, her hunger strike to protest her treatment, and her eventual decision to attend law school to work for social justice.
Between these stories, experts from different professions provide data about the origin and explosion of the practice of using interns by all types of businesses and organizations worldwide. Altogether, these stories reveal the astounding fact that companies take advantage of young people by giving them work experience without remuneration, and, being able to accept an internship is heavily slanted toward young people with the financial ability to work without pay.
Toward the end of the film a group of young people from the Global Intern Coalition and organize a strike in several major cities on demanding pay for interns. Call Me Intern makes a clear point about fairness in the workplace and includes intelligent individuals to communicate facts and personal stories. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P.