Babies Movie: Does It Violate Child Labor Laws?
“Babies,” an adorable and heartwarming documentary about the commonalities of parenting around the world, hits theaters today. Most of the babies who “star” in the film aren’t from the U.S., but one of them is from California, a state with strict child labor laws. According to California law, infants need a doctor’s note and legal permits before they can be filmed. They’re only allowed on camera for 20 minutes a day. They must be accompanied by both a nurse and studio teacher — both paid for by the producers. The babies also need to be at least 15 days old. The law applies to any kind of film featuring children in the state, including documentaries. But Amandine Billot, the film’s producer, told the AP that the filmmakers didn’t have to worry about the law since they cast the film’s four international stars while they were still in the womb and filmed them unobtrusively in their natural environments. In fact, Hattie’s dad initially had reservations about the presence of cameras so he f
