Editor

Honda, FOX and MySpace Collaborate to Offer Two Student Musicians the Ultimate Hollywood Internship Experience

Dec 22, 2008 For the second year in a row, American Honda Motor Co., Inc. and Fox Entertainment Group (FEG) have partnered to offer a unique internship program designed to expose student-musicians from America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to the music and entertainment industry.

Created to complement the Honda Battle of the Bands (HBOB) Invitational Showcase, the FOX MUSIC EXPERIENCE is a uniquely designed music internship/immersion program that offers HBCU students the opportunity to learn what a career in music could look like. This year, two lucky HBCU band members will not only have the opportunity to participate in HBOB, but they also will get the chance to spend a few weeks in the summer working on the Twentieth Century Fox studio lot in Los Angeles. As part of the internship, students will have the opportunity to personally meet the president of Fox Music, enjoy a private tour of the movie studio lot, intern with film and television executives and experience music production first hand.

From now until January 9th 2009 marching band fans can log onto www.myspace.com/hondabattleofthebands and vote for their favorite band from the 10 HBCUs participating in the Honda Battle of the Bands Invitational Showcase. The two schools that receive the highest number of votes will get to select one student-musician from their ensemble to be awarded a spot in the internship program. Final student selections will be made by university band directors. The two winning students selected to participate in the internship program will be announced on January 24th at the 7th annual Honda Battle of the Bands Invitational Showcase event at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

“We at Honda are excited about partnering with Fox on the FOX MUSIC EXPERIENCE once again to provide this amazing learning experience to two lucky students,” said Barbara Ponce, Manager of Corporate and Diversity Advertising for American Honda Motor Co., Inc. “Honda is proud to support the Black college marching bands initiatives to go beyond mere entertainment by providing real opportunities for students to pursue a career in music. It’s this sense of teamwork that inspires us to unite with Fox Entertainment Group to help open doors of opportunity for HBCU graduates.”

PROGRAM BACKGROUND

Launched this year during the 2008 Invitational Showcase, the first internship recipient of the FOX MUSIC EXPERIENCE was saxophonist Jared Brown of Bethune Cookman University. Brown made such an impression during his internship last summer that Fox Diversity Development decided to expand the program in 2009, allowing two HBCU student-musicians the opportunity to participate.

"Fox Entertainment Group is pleased and honored to again sponsor the FOX MUSIC EXPERIENCE, alongside American Honda and the Honda Battle of the Bands," said Mitsy Wilson, Senior Vice President of Diversity Development. "As it evolves, the program perfectly complements our goal of enhancing opportunities for young people of color throughout our companies, and the entire entertainment industry. We're in the midst of preparing for the second year's awardees, and our music, film and television divisions look forward to meeting and working with the duo that emerges victorious from the online voting."

Fans are encouraged to visit the Honda Battle of the Bands MySpace Web page, www.myspace.com/hondabattleofthebands, click-on the vote icon, and vote for their favorite band by the January 9th, 2009 deadline. For more information on the 7th annual Honda Battle of the Bands or the FOX MUSIC EXPERIENCE please visit www.hondabattleofthebands.com , www.myspace.com/hondabattleofthebands, and www.fox.com/diversity.