Sony Pictures is offering quite the unique competition in collaboration with their upcoming release The Pursuit of Happyness starring Will Smith and hitting theaters on December 15. “Pursue It” is being described as The Ultimate Internship Contest, in which contestants will compete for dream internships at Gap Inc., The Hollywood Reporter, Morgan Stanley, NBC, the National Football League (NFL), PEOPLE Magazine, PlayStation and Yahoo! In addition to the internship position, each winner also will win a trip to the Hollywood premiere of The Pursuit of Happyness. Winners will have the opportunity to meet Smith and enjoy the gala evening with the film’s cast.
Why an internship? Well, in the film Chris Gardner (Will Smith) is a bright and talented, but marginally employed salesman. Struggling to make ends meet, Gardner finds himself and his five-year-old son evicted from their San Francisco apartment with nowhere to go. When Gardner lands an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, he and his son endure many hardships, including living in shelters, in pursuit of his dream of a better life for the two of them.
“Chris Gardner, the person I portray in The Pursuit of Happyness is a bright, talented guy who’s barely making ends meet until he gets an internship that enables him to pursue his dreams,” said star and producer Will Smith.
Steve Tisch, one of the film’s producers and a co-owner of the NFL’s New York Giants football team added: “America is the land of opportunity, but to succeed in the corporate world everyone needs that first break, that foot in the door. The winners of this contest will get a unique chance both to learn about how great companies work and to demonstrate their own creativity, energy and determination.”
From October 18, 2006 through November 5, 2006 contestants can visit the contest Web site www.sony.com/Pursue-It and choose the company at which they would like to intern. As part of the online application process, entrants will need to create a video of themselves, in which they share, in five minutes or less, their own personal motto or “words to live by” giving examples of how this philosophy makes them uniquely qualified to work at the company they have chosen.
The leading candidates’ videos for each internship as determined by a leading human resource specialist will be posted on the contest website. The public will then be invited to vote for the applicant they believe is best suited for each position. Officials at each of the eight companies will interview the top two finalists applying for their respective internships and select the ultimate winners.
Contestants are encouraged to learn as much as possible about the company for whose program they are applying and to tailor their video presentation accordingly. Each of the internship programs has its own eligibility requirements which are posted, along with complete contest rules, at www.sony.com/Pursue-It.
