Name: ______________________________________________________ Class/Period:__________

Joy Film - Guided Viewing Questions & Analysis

Joy is a biopic starring Jennifer Lawrence portraying the HSN superstar and successful
inventor/entrepreneur Joy Mangano. Joy’s persistence and hard work throughout her life can be an
inspiration to any hopeful businessperson looking for success. Let’s watch this together to see what we
can take from Joy’s experiences into our unit on entrepreneurship.

Directions: Answer the following questions as you watch the film.

1. What was Joy’s first invention? What did she wish her parents had done with it originally to make it
successful?

2. What inspires Joy’s first mop idea?

3. What is the problem with her first pitch to her family investor? Why does she need a prototype?

4. What are the issues with Joy’s pitch to:

a. The hardware store?

b. The larger cleaning product company?

c. The parking lot?

5. Describe the physical attributes of QVC building. Why do you

think they make the building/waiting room look this way?

6. What does QVC stand for?

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 7. Neil Walker does not originally like the mop, but Joy ends
up selling Neil on the idea. What is the difference between her
pitch in the boardroom and her pitch alone with Neil?

8. What are the strategies that QVC uses to sell so many necklaces in the scene where Neil Walker
shows Joy the set?

9. Describe the first time the Miracle Mop is on QVC? What goes wrong?

10. Why does Joy want to sell the mop on her own on QVC? Is it successful?

11. What happens when Peggy goes to California to speak to the manufacturers about a price increase?

12. What does Joy find out is going on with her designs at the manufacturing plant in California? What is
the issue with the royalties?

13. Why does Joy go to Dallas to meet with Derek Markham? What is the end result?

14. How do Joy and Neil end up becoming “adversaries in

commerce” by the end of the film?

All images used are owned by 20th Century Fox © (2015) All rights reserved. Find more products like this at teacherspayteachers.com/store/edreverie – Use with permission.
 After the Film – Overall Thoughts
Directions: After watching the film Joy, based on a true
story about successful inventor and entrepreneur Joy
Mangano. Use the articles provided and details from the
film to reflect on the following questions in a short essay,
paragraph format.

• Explore some of the business processes featured

in the story. What are the steps that Joy needs to
go through to create a successful product?

• Name some of the obstacles that Joy came up

against in bringing her invention to market.
Discuss the ways in which Joy overcame them.

• Name some of the chief characteristics that you

think helped Joy to succeed.

• Soon you will be partaking in an entrepreneurial

project of your own, creating a product and/or
business model that you will need to pitch to investors. What have you learned from Joy’s successes
and challenges that you can bring to your own experience? What will you try to avoid from her
experience? What worked that you will you try to replicate?

Additional Sources:
• Four Business Lessons You Can Learn From The Movie 'Joy' -
• Joy Mangano Dishes on Her Life Behind the Big Screen Movie

All images used are owned by 20th Century Fox © (2015) All rights reserved. Find more products like this at teacherspayteachers.com/store/edreverie – Use with permission.
 Name: _______TEACHER GUIDE/ANSWER KEY____________ Class/Period:__________

Joy Film - Guided Viewing Questions & Analysis
Joy is a biopic starring Jennifer Lawrence portraying the HSN superstar and successful
inventor/entrepreneur Joy Mangano. Joy’s persistence and hard work throughout her life can be an
inspiration to any hopeful businessperson looking for success. Let’s watch this together to see what we
can take from Joy’s experiences into our unit on entrepreneurship.

Directions: Answer the following questions as you watch the film.

15. What was Joy’s first invention? What did she wish her parents had done with it originally to make it
successful?
A dog collar – she wishes her parents would have helped her patent the product by
getting a lawyer.

16. What inspires Joy’s first mop idea?

She is cleaning red wine off an expensive boat deck… They mop was not very
absorbent and she had to wring the mop out with her hands. This made her hands wet
and dirty, and she cut her hands on broken glass from the spill.

17. What is the problem with her first pitch to her family investor? Why does she need a prototype?
Her family can’t originally envision what she is explaining. She needs a prototype so
that her investors can see what the product actually is, what it looks like, and how it
works.

18. What are the issues with Joy’s pitch to:

a. The hardware store?
Large companies buy display space.

b. The larger cleaning product company?

They do not see the benefit in selling a better mope, as they think they can
make more money selling many cheap mops that people must purchase over
and over.

c. The parking lot?

They are soliciting illegally.

19. Describe the physical attributes of QVC building. Why do you

think they make the building/waiting room look this way?
It is big, dark, and quiet. It feels extremely
professional and intimidating. It immediately gives
you the feeling that this corporation is much bigger
and better than you.

20. What does QVC stand for? Quality, Value, Convenience

All images used are owned by 20th Century Fox © (2015) All rights reserved. Find more products like this at teacherspayteachers.com/store/edreverie – Use with permission.
 21. Neil Walker does not originally like the mop, but Joy ends
up selling Neil on the idea. What is the difference between her
pitch in the boardroom and her pitch alone with Neil?
Joy is more confident when she is in a more
comfortable space that she can actually show off the
uses of her product. The board room is intimidating
and the committee does not seem to give her the
opportunity to thoroughly explain her invention. When
she can actually model the mop’s use, she sells him
on it.

22. What are the strategies that QVC uses to sell so many necklaces in the scene where Neil Walker
shows Joy the set?
They talk about its varying uses and talk consistently. They use their hands to display
the pieces, showing its worth. They tell viewers why they NEED the product.

23. Describe the first time the Miracle Mop is on QVC? What goes wrong?
The salesman is not prepared for the pitch and does not know how to use the mop, so
he cannot model it. He struggles with using it himself and cannot sell it, so no sales
are made.

24. Why does Joy want to sell the mop on her own on QVC? Is it successful?
She knows the product best, and she knows how to sell it and how it works. She is a
regular person that actually USES household items like a mop, so she is relatable.

25. What happens when Peggy goes to California to speak to the manufacturers about a price increase?
She agrees to pay the price increase of $2 per unit, and she also pays the $20,000
the Gerhardt claimed he was owed due to manufacturing mistakes in the beginning of
the production process. She also speaks to them about manufacturing a product idea
of her own.

26. What does Joy find out is going on with her designs at the manufacturing plant in California? What is
the issue with the royalties?
She finds out that they are copying her molds and designs and saying that they fall
under a Fabripac (their own company) patent.

27. Why does Joy go to Dallas to meet with Derek Markham? What is the end result?
She decides to confront the original source that claimed her product was similar to a
patent previously received from a company that he
deals with in Hong Kong, She explains to him that she
found out that the Hong Kong company knows nothing
of the agreement and that the product does not
resemble hers at all, anyway, resulting in 2 cases of
fraud and embezzlement. She agrees not to press
charges under the conditions that she is paid
$100,000 with interest from royalties previously paid,
and for her designs and molds to be relinquished.

28. How do Joy and Neil end up becoming “adversaries in commerce”

by the end of the film? Joy’s company ends up making a very large deal with the new
television sales corporation, HSN, leaving QVC for its largest competitor.

All images used are owned by 20th Century Fox © (2015) All rights reserved. Find more products like this at teacherspayteachers.com/store/edreverie – Use with permission.
 After the Film – Overall Thoughts
Directions: After watching the film Joy, based on a true
story about successful inventor and entrepreneur Joy
Mangano. Use the articles provided and details from the
film to reflect on the following questions in a short essay,
paragraph format.

• Explore some of the business processes featured

in the story. What are the steps that Joy needs to
go through to create a successful product?

• Name some of the obstacles that Joy came up

against in bringing her invention to market.
Discuss the ways in which Joy overcame them.

• Name some of the chief characteristics that you

think helped Joy to succeed.

• Soon you will be partaking in an entrepreneurial

project of your own, creating a product and/or
business model that you will need to pitch to investors. What have you learned from Joy’s successes
and challenges that you can bring to your own experience? What will you try to avoid from her
experience? What worked that you will you try to replicate?

Additional Sources:
• Four Business Lessons You Can Learn From The Movie 'Joy'
(https://www.erieinsurance.com/blog/four-business-lessons)
• Joy Mangano Dishes on Her Life Behind the Big Screen Movie
(http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/a36211/joy-mangano-cover-story-film/)

Open to student interpretation and response. Use of sources will determine how this open-
ended is answered.

All images used are owned by 20th Century Fox © (2015) All rights reserved. Find more products like this at teacherspayteachers.com/store/edreverie – Use with permission.