Melania Trump Documentary Crew Alleges No Meal Breaks During Long Filming Day

A crew member who worked on Melania Trump’s upcoming documentary has alleged that staff were not allowed to take meal breaks during at least one long day of filming.

The self-titled documentary, Melania, is directed by Brett Ratner and will be distributed by Amazon Prime Video. The film is scheduled to premiere at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., on January 29, before opening in theaters on January 30.

Ahead of its release, multiple crew members spoke to Rolling Stone about their experiences working on the project. One person claimed that during a particularly long shoot, crew members were not permitted to stop for food and were also barred from bringing outside meals onto the set.

According to the same account, Ratner had his own food delivered and was seen eating near crew members who were allegedly not allowed to take a break. The source described the situation as uncomfortable and frustrating, suggesting either a lack of awareness or disregard for the working conditions of the crew.

Another source told Rolling Stone that the production was disorganized and intense, particularly as the team raced to capture footage of Melania Trump in the period leading up to President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Three separate production teams were operating simultaneously in Florida, Washington, D.C., and New York.

Each location had its own cinematographer, including Jeff Cronenweth (The Social Network), Dante Spinotti (The Insider), and Barry Peterson (Game Night), who filmed different segments of the documentary independently.

One crew member said the workload was heavy and described filming Melania Trump aboard a Boeing 757 during a flight to Mar-a-Lago. After landing in Palm Beach, Florida, crew members reportedly had to arrange their own transportation home.

“People worked really hard. Really long hours, highly disorganized, very chaotic,” one insider said. Another source added, “It wasn’t easy money. It was very difficult because of the chaos that was around everything.”

The challenges were compounded by the security restrictions surrounding the first lady. A crew member noted that filming a documentary under Secret Service supervision limited the flexibility typically involved in nonfiction filmmaking.

Sources also claimed that about two-thirds of the crew members who worked on the New York portion of the film asked not to be formally credited. One person who will still appear in the credits said they later regretted the decision after witnessing the first year of Donald Trump’s second term.

“I’m much more alarmed now than I was a year ago,” the crew member said. Despite the reported difficulties, several sources described Melania Trump herself as “totally nice.”

Meanwhile, early box office projections for the documentary appear modest. Entertainment columnist Rob Shuter reported last week that the film is expected to open in the low single-digit millions domestically. According to a source cited in his Naughty But Nice newsletter, advance ticket sales in New York and Palm Beach have been limited, even in areas traditionally supportive of the Trump family.