CULVER CITY, Calif., November 19, 2010 – Moviegoers and TV viewers can now get closer to their favorite projects than ever before with Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Face of the Fan®, a new initiative for virtual talent sourcing. By visiting www.FaceOfTheFan.com, users nationwide can participate in online casting calls and contests for Sony Pictures’ properties – turning today’s fans into tomorrow’s stars™.  With this ongoing program, crossing all of Sony’s platforms — film, television, and online – Face of the Fan will give the biggest fans a chance to get involved with Sony’s most popular franchises.

Face of the Fan launches with a casting call for Screen Gems’ and Lakeshore Entertainment’s successful action franchise Underworld, for which the filmmakers are searching for a fresh talent to play a pivotal role as a female teenager. Users from across the country can log onto the website, download select pages from a script to rehearse, and then upload their audition video and other credentials for submission. The submitted videos will then be reviewed by a panel of studio and production executives; selected participants may be contacted by casting agents for future roles.  The site will also help users spread the word and expand the conversation by providing them with the tools to share the programs with their family and friends through social networking.

“The Face of the Fan program enables us to source people from all over the country to find unknown talent and give them a shot at something they may not have otherwise been able to do,” said Clint Culpepper, president, Screen Gems.

Future Face of the Fan initiatives include a casting call for Screen Gems’ Mortal Instruments and a contest tied to Columbia Pictures’/Sony Pictures Animation’s highly anticipated 3D hybrid live-action/computer animated family comedy The Smurfs, as well as an upcoming contest from Sony Pictures Television for “Wheel of Fortune.”

The concept for Face of the Fan builds on several past initiatives from Sony Pictures, in which uber-fans were chosen to participate in various marketing-related activities. Whether meeting talent on the red carpet, interviewing them at Comic-Con, or becoming guest correspondents covering the movies, these contests allowed the winning fans to get close to actors and filmmakers like never before and share their experiences online with their friends, family, and other fans.

Commenting on the announcement, Dwight Caines, president, Worldwide Digital Marketing for Sony Pictures, said, “As new Face of the Fan initiatives roll out, we hope to provide a unique way to reward those people who show tremendous enthusiasm for their favorite movies or TV shows by giving them an opportunity to meet talent and filmmakers.”