Monroeville, PA -- (SBWire) -- 07/10/2009 -- Do you have a great product or business idea? If so, casting assistants at Mark Burnett Productions would love to talk with you.

In fact, the California-based production company is searching for entrepreneurs, inventors, businesspersons, dreamers, promoters, creators and innovators. If you feel you have a solid business idea but just can't seem to secure the financial backing to get it off the ground then Shark Tank is just the show for you.

Mark Burnett, executive producer of Survivor and The Apprentice has teamed up with Sony Pictures Television to create Shark Tank, an exciting, new reality show that gives budding entrepreneurs the chance to make their dreams come true. But the entrepreneurs must first try to convince five tough, multi-millionaire tycoons to part with their own hard-earned cash and give them the funding they need to jumpstart their ideas.

In these trying economic times, it's difficult for an individual possessing a dream or even a working small business poised for growth to get a loan for a risky venture. Whether it be an imaginative enhancement for an existing product, a family recipe that has all the ingredients to become a profitable culinary treat, or the latest technological gadget that could take the world by storm, most of these dreams die an early death because no one dared take a financial chance on someone with an unproven and oftentimes outrageous proposal. Many of these people now see Shark Tank as their last chance at success. Some have been laboring on their ideas for years or even decades, have invested large amounts of money, and are being pressured to throw in the towel by friends and family. Others have simply never had access to the means to live out their dreams, until now. Enter the Sharks of Shark Tank -- five multi-millionaires who lifted themselves up by their bootstraps to make their own entrepreneurial dreams come true and turned their ideas into empires.

Each week, ambitious entrepreneurs from across the country will present their breakthrough business concepts, products, properties and services to the panel of ruthless investors. Their goal is to convince these merciless moguls to invest their own dollars in the concept. Convincing real-life millionaires to part with their own money is no easy task, because when the idea is poor, the Sharks will tear into the ill-prepared presenters and pass on the idea with a simple, "I'm out!" -- sending them running for the exit.

But these Sharks aren't just out for blood, they too have a goal: to own a piece of the next big idea. Entrepreneurs will be asked to give up a percentage of their companies' equity to the Sharks in order to get the investment they need. But when the Sharks hear a really top-notch idea, and more than one of them wants to sink their teeth into it, a war between them will erupt. Then the once-desperate entrepreneur can rejoice when the Sharks reveal their true interest in the product and bid up the price of the investment.

The Sharks of Shark Tank are:

Barbara Corcoran
Kevin Harrington
Robert Herjavec
Daymond John
Kevin O'Leary

Mark Burnett, Clay Newbill and Phil Gurin are the executive producers of Shark Tank, based on the Japanese Dragons' Den format created by Nippon Television Network Corporation. The series is from Sony Pictures Television.

To learn more about the show or register to become a contestant go to: http://www.enterthesharktank.com/index.aspx?ref=blog.