Starring comedic duo Vince Vaughn
and Owen Wilson, “The Internship” is a hilarious tale about two guys at the
peak of their powers of salesmanship, who dare to dream against all odds.
They turn sales into an art form, and must now work that magic in a high-tech
universe.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox |
In this new world order, Billy and Nick learn that if you want a place at the
table, then you have to work harder, reinvent yourself, and develop new skills
at the speed of fiber optics transmissions. Ignoring the naysayers and
following their gut, Billy and Nick turn Google on its head by bringing their
game to this center of the digital universe.
“I think the comedy in this movie comes out of relatable situations,” Vaughn
adds. “There's authenticity to Billy and Nick’s journey, in that
they initially go through some tough things, which is happening to a lot of
people.” Director and producer Shawn Levy echoes Vaughn’s observations on
the relatability of the film’s premise. “I think this movie is
astonishingly relevant,” states Levy. “There is a generation that feels
it must reinvent itself. So how do you do that in order to write a next
chapter?”
One way of reinventing yourself is to pursue non-traditional career paths. Job
seekers and employers are increasingly embracing “returnships” – return-to-work
programs and internships for older professionals. So, in some ways, Billy
and Nick are part of a “Returnship.” They are refreshing – and
reapplying—their skill sets and learning new technologies, to rocket themselves
back into the workplace in a big, big way.
The movie is an uplifting story with humor and idealism. “The optimism
that comes from the film’s message is that maybe there's something each
generation can learn from the other. It's a huge part of why the film is
not just funny, but also timely, aspirational and hopeful,” says Vaughn.
Vaughn’s Billy McMahon is high-energy, razor-sharp, and
verbally-dexterous. When he loses the only vocation he has ever known,
Billy searches the online job listings and inadvertently discovers the solution
to his career conundrum –Google. “Billy gets an idea, that Google's a place
where there are a lot of possibilities; it feels like a phenomenal place to
work, where there are nap pods, Ping-Pong, volleyball courts and lots of places
to eat – for free,” states Vaughn.
With nothing to lose and everything to gain, Billy “takes a swing for something
that's far reaching or far out, but also seems like an exciting place to work,”
says Vaughn. “Billy and Nick wonder, why not take a chance at the best
place to work that is filled with the most opportunities?” Billy and Nick
choose wisely. In January 2013, Fortune magazine declared Google the best
place to work, for the third time since 2007. Google has maintained a
longstanding reputation as a cool, fun and magical place to work. Its
employees love the company’s culture, mission statement and perks. “For
Billy and Nick, going to Google is like entering into the chocolate factory or
traveling to Oz,” Vaughn says.
Instead of using their masterful salesmanship for personal gain, Billy and Nick
use it as a way to unify the team, and more importantly, as a means to thrive
at Google. “What our characters bring is that ability, as salesmen, to
connect with people,” says Wilson. “And, do it in a genuine way.”
As underdogs in the competition, the team faces an uphill climb, but nothing
that a little guts, grit and Googliness can’t handle. “Googliness is a
willingness to take chances, roll the dice, think outside the box, and be open
to inspiration,” says Wilson. “It’s a quality that everyone aspires to.”
“The Internship” lifts the curtain on Google’s innovative wizardry, offering a
rare glimpse into its dynamic, trailblazing and high-tech culture. “When
I visited Google, that's when the project got exciting,” recalls Levy.
“It’s a tech company but every day they commit themselves to trying to make the
world a better place. There is a genuine altruism to its culture that is
inspiring, and I wanted to depict that.”
“The Internship” opens August
14 in theaters from 20th
Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.
No comments:
Post a Comment