Bravo Media, a division of NBC Universal, selected Empire Entertainment to produce their Upfront Event, held on March 10, 2010 at Skylight Soho in New York City.Empire collaborated closely with Bravo Ad Sales Marketing to create an attention-getting event that would bring Bravo’s distinctive brand and unique programming to life for its advertising clients. The result was a stylish, experiential marketing event and party for 600 guests that featured a variety of programming-themed, custom-designed vignettes in which clients could interact with show talent.To showcase Bravo’s roster of programs, Empire proposed the concept of transforming a raw space into a “house” comprised of highly stylized rooms, with each room representing one of Bravo’s 5 passion points: Food, Fashion, Beauty, Design and Pop Culture.

Empire built temporary walls to partition the interior of Skylight’s expansive, high-ceilinged venue into the Kitchen (food), Closet (fashion), Bath & Fitness Studio (beauty), Living Room (design) & Pop/Screening Room (pop culture).The Kitchen featured Top Chef chef’testants cooking and serving small plates to guests across a 20-ft wide central island counter, while former contenders from Shear Genius styled guests’ hair in the Bath. Other interactive stations included interviews with Andy Cohen on a reproduction of the Watch What Happens Live! set, love consultations with the Millionaire Matchmaker team in the Pop Room, couture fashion styling and photo shoots with the stars from Double Exposure in the Closet, and workout tips with Thintervention’s Jackie Warner in the Fitness Studio.For this Upfront Event, Bravo brought in nearly 70 stars from their shows, half of which were flown into New York City by Empire’s talent logistics team, which managed all air and ground transfers. All participating talent walked the Bravo blue carpet inside the heated 60-ft press tent before heading into the party through the custom-branded entrance canopy, accented with box hedges.

Inside the party, Creative Edge served up tasty hors d’oeuvres and a variety of food stations, while guests sipped specialty cocktails tinted to match each passion point’s color. DJ Eric Cubeechee, a contestant from Launch My Line, spun a set of pop tunes that kept the crowd partying 45 minutes past the scheduled 4-hour party time frame. Celebrity attendees included Matthew McConaughey, Isaac Mizrahi, Sarah Jessica Parker, Tom Colicchio and others. The striking design and unique interactions with show talent combined to create an unforgettable experience for Bravo’s top clients and one that will keep Bravo’s brand front and center as they determine their advertising purchase decisions for 2010.Empire Entertainment worked closely with the Bravo Ad Sales Marketing team and served as overall event producer and designer for the program. Empire’s responsibilities included overall design & management, coordinating custom scenic, decor, audio/visual, catering, activities, venue, helping Bravo’s press department with red carpet, talent travel logistics, graphic design, printing, permits and security.

Empire has also produced many upfront events and parties for clients that include Disney Media Group, FOX Broadcasting and the National Geographic Channel among others.

As the global economy continues its rise out of recession, many companies remain reluctant to invest significant portions of their event budgets for top-tier talent despite the undiminished need to inspire and entertainment employees & customers. Empire Entertainment, while continuing to secure high-end artists and large-scale corporate events, has responded to increasing client needs for cost-effective, high quality entertainment by delivering talent options to suit any budget. On three recent corporate events, Empire managed to deliver big name value and up-and-coming pricing. When a consumer products client needed an after dinner show for several hundred people in Dallas Texas, Empire delivered technology magician Marco Tempest's 'Power Show' with over 30 minutes of dazzling illusions on a large meeting stage with only one performer traveling. For a recent business meeting at the Dubai World Trade Center for a technology client with over 3000 attendees, Empire provided a 4 member cast of Europe's Phoenix Fire Dancers to perform one of their "Light Vision" sequences to open the first morning's general session. For a global consulting firm meeting in La Quinta, CA Empire provided after-dinner entertainment in the form of comedic improv troupe "Whose Live Anyway." Cast members Ryan Stiles, Greg Proops, Chip Esten and others brought down the house with their hilarious and spontaneous routines.

For these and other projects, Empire has used its extensive knowledge of locally-situated performer options, its negotiation ability and its longstanding relationships with artists to deliver top quality talent at prices that clients can afford. Empire has established itself in the securing and booking of talent, and have worked within every budget range.

For the highly anticipated launch of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition 2010, the Sports Illustrated events team selected Empire Entertainment to provide the perfect entertainment for two high profile, sexy marquee events in NYC and Las Vegas. Empire secured Sugar Ray's lead vocalist and host of Fox's "Don't Forget the Lyrics", Mark McGrath, to emcee the stage program. McGrath introduced the sexy models including this year's cover girl, Brooklyn Decker. At NYC's Hotel Gansevoort, Club Provocateur, first stop of the multi-media tour, onlookers such as John Legend, Jay Sean, and Gregg Bello watched the bevy of supermodels rock a runway that spanned the packed club. The models, guests, sponsors and McGrath partied the night away and later departed on a chartered jet from New York City to their next destination, Las Vegas.

At the final night of the launch at the Hard Rock Hotel's newest edition, Club Vanity, Mark McGrath once again emceed the stage program to an eager crowd of over 1,000 guests and sponsors. For this party, Empire secured rockers Maroon 5 to perform while DJ Cassidy spun. Empire was responsible for securing Maroon 5 and McGrath, handling details relating to their performances with the help of the Sports Illustrated Events team. Empire also worked closely with Team Velocity / Vivid who staged the events.

Empire is a leading provider of high-profile talent for corporate and media events.

When one of the nations largest companies decided to host a special weekend for customers at Super Bowl XLIV, they turned to Empire Entertainment to provide headline entertainment for the Saturday night before the game. With an intimate audience of less than 100 consisting of CEO-level guests along with their spouses and children, it was Empire’s challenge to come up with an entertainment option that would entertain all of the age groups within the room.With the decision made to hire a comedian, Empire recommended well-known Saturday Night Live writer and performer, Darrell Hammond. Darrell is known for being one of the most prolific comedians of his time, responsible for a wide array of memorable comedic impressions throughout his 15 years on the air.

In order to allay client concerns about content for this singularly important audience, Empire arranged for a pre-event conference call with it’s producer, Darrell and a company executive responsible for the evening. Through this call, Darrell Hammond learned a great deal about the attendees, the client’s goals for the evening, and the celebratory feel they were looking for. This gave Darrell the background necessary to tailor his performance material to exactly suit the audience.Darrell’s 45-minute standup comedy set kept the guests hysterically laughing from beginning to end. The material was 100% clean and included many of his best-loved impressions including Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Jesse Jackson, George W. Bush, Jay Leno, and Dick Cheney among others. Darrell also interacted with the audience, working a few very willing members into the act. Following the performance, Darrell participated in a meet & greet / photo-opportunity with all of the audience members, and even joined the guests later in their hospitality suite.

For this engagement, Empire was responsible for all contracting, scheduling, production, and logistical elements for Darrell Hammond’s performance. Empire worked closely with the venue’s staff to coordinate the perfect timing and set-up for the performance.

Empire is the leader in providing headline comedy entertainment for high profile events throughout the world.

This past January, BizBash, the event industry's leading publication, released their lists for The Top New York City Events. In addition to serving as producer of the event named as New York's #1 Media Event, the Time Magazine, Time 100, Empire was honored to have produced 5 events (out of 19) listed under the categories of "Top Industry Events" and "Top Entertainment Events" in 2009.Of the top 10 New York Entertainment Industry events last year, Empire served as producer of no fewer than five including the Time 100 Gala, The Webby Awards, The New York Film Festival, The Film Society of Lincoln Center Tribute to Tom Hanks, and The Gotham Awards.BizBash's "New York's Top Entertainment Industry Events 2010"New York Film FestivalFilm Society of Lincoln Center TributeGotham AwardsBizBash's "New York's Top Media Events 2010"Time 100 GalaThe Webby AwardsEmpire will produce many of these and other events in 2010.Empire is a leading producer of some of the world's most influential entertainment & media industry events.

The Omotesando Hills 4th Anniversary Party is a highly anticipated party hosted by the most prestigious and luxurious shopping center in Tokyo, Japan. In February 2010, Empire was in charge of casting and coordinating the artists for the Special Music Program to celebrate the 4th Anniversary of the Mall. The exclusive party was invitation-only with VIPs, company guests and shopping enthusiasts. Empire cast Japan’s Jazz Diva Aoki Karen, Classic Pop Singer Hirahara Ayaka, for the main stage. For the DJ session, Empire secured fashion model DJ Yoshida Natsumi and the immensely popular DJ DAISHI DANCE to heat up the night. More than 7,500 guests attended the event to celebrate, shop, listen and dance to live music, and enjoy the free champagne and chocolate fondue fountains inside the mall.

Empire Entertainment, in tandem with Honeysweet Productions, produced the first-ever Brand-In Entertainment Inaugural Integration Auction held at Christie’s Auction House in New York City.The purpose of the Inaugural Integration Auction was to invite professional representatives and advertising agencies to bid on exclusive packages to feature their services and products among a variety of media platforms. Leveraging relationships with major advertising firms in the U.S. and abroad, as well as with major studios, record companies and independent production companies, the Inaugural Integration Auction 2010 auctioned off choice brand incorporation opportunities in a multitude of platforms, including network television, online/ webisodes, graphic novels, films, plays and more.

The setting for the auction was from Christie's Auction House in New York City on January 20th, in the renowned Woods Room. The uniquely original auction was hosted by COO of Brand-In Entertainment and licensed auctioneer Tere Morris. The live auction and program featured stage appearances by John Salley, Samantha Marq, Paul Provenza, Joey Greco, Corbin Bernsen and others, as well as a special performance by Heather Myles from TruCountry.The focal point of the event was the silent auction, which featured an innovative electronic bidding system from IML that eliminates the traditional pen & paper bid sheet.

Empire & Honeysweet branded the room as if it were Brand-In Entertainments headquarters in a simple yet elegant design scheme that transformed the room. For this production Empire & Honeysweet handled all production design and management, talent coordination and stage management as well as consulting on all aspects including logistics, catering and show design.

When Omotesando Hills, one of the most prestigious and luxurious shopping centers in Tokyo, Japan, wanted to do something special for the 2009 Christmas and 2010 New Years season, they decide to program a series of live events and turned to Empire Entertainment Japan to help them realize their vision. More than a shopping mall, Omotesando Hills is the cultural and fashion center point of Japan. For this reason, events in this complex always receive a lot of media attention across the country especially during the Christmas season. Designed by world famous architect Tadao Ando, Omotesando Hills is one of the most popular sites to visit for Asia's fashion leaders and fashion forward tourists. Empire worked with Omotesando Hills to expand their brand through this Christmas program.

To accomplish this, Empire Entertainment’s Japan office programmed various artists to appeal to various segments of Omotesando Hills’ upscale clientele. Performers that appeared as part of this holiday series ranged from current pop artists such as May J. & MAY’S, Safarii to established veterans who know how to work any kind of crowd such as Ide Mariko and Naomi Grace. Also included were DJs AYUMi and DJ AMIGA to add a spice in to the holiday season, and Miss Universe Japan / Opera Singer Ogawa Satomi to get the crowd fully into the seasonal mood. When the New Year’s sun rose, Tonfu, Fusion Japanese Koto musicians greeted the crowd.The slope inside the mall is identical to the angle of the Omote Sando road that runs alongside the mall creating a six story visual panorama with winding balconies that wrap around a central, focal point on the grand staircase. On this staircase a grand Christmas tree was placed which served as a visual backdrop for the performances. Thus Empire was able to make use of the building's unique architecture to achieve maximum visual effect.Omotesando Hills was extremely happy with the results of this series and Empire was delighted to bring the talents of these various artists this great venue, and to help put smiles on the faces of thousands of Tokyoites shopping for their love ones during Christmas Season.

Empire is a leading booker of all forms of entertainment for retail centers, building launch events, civic plazas and real estate developments with existing performance facilities and stages. Empire Entertainment Japan K. K. is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan and operates on behalf of private clients throughout Asia.

When a leading pharmaceutical company needs to do something special for its sales force -- something special in an off year -- it calls on Empire Entertainment. Empire leveraged its industry connections and know-how to secure the chart-topping, multi-platinum selling Counting Crows at a reasonable fee for a year-end gala in Phoenix, AZ, celebrating the client's elite sellers. For an intimate audience of 300, the Counting Crows ripped through a string of hits including 'Round Here and Mr. Jones. With their angst-filled hybrid of Van Morrison, the Band, and R.E.M., Counting Crows became an overnight sensation in 1994. Only a year earlier, the band was a group of unknown musicians, filling in for the absent Van Morrison at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony. Early in 1993, the band recorded their debut album, August and Everything After, with T-Bone Burnett. Released in the fall, it was a dark and somber record, driven by the morose lyrics and expressive vocals of Adam Duritz. The only up-tempo song, "Mr. Jones," became their ticket to stardom, and Counting Crows enjoyed a significant amount of success throughout the '90s and beyond. The Crows were preceded by a karaoke extravaganza featuring various attendees in crazy costumes singing parody versions of popular songs. The music was provided not by a karaoke machine but b y live karaoke specialists, The Amazing Embarrassonics.

When it came time to start planning their 10th Annual Gala, the American Friends of Israel’s Rabin Medical Center turned to Empire in order to take their event to the next level. The gala raises money for one of Israel’s premier hospitals, and every year they draw an elite crowd of civic and philanthropic leaders to support their cause.After an extremely successful gala last year, AFRMC needed help to brand the gala and secure high-stature entertainment to liven up the event. With the event on the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, Empire helped develop the “Broadway on the Hudson” theme through Broadway talent solicitation and collaboration with their graphic designer. Given the client’s concerns that a lengthy program would alienate the audience, Empire conceived creative solutions to integrate the numerous speakers with entertainment components while solving timing issues regarding the schedule of events.

Through an extensive outreach process, Empire secured legendary comedian Robert Klein and world-renowned tap dancer Savion Glover to perform. Empire was also able to secure Charlie Rose to emcee the event and to facilitate the performances of other talent including the Broadway Show “Memphis”, the National Jazz Museum in Harlem All Stars Band and New York City Swing.Empire served as overall event producer for this 760 person gala managing all aspects of production including venue, lighting, staging, audio, image magnification, catering (provided by Restaurant Associates and Foremost Catering), video documentation, valet parking, security, design and décor, graphic presentation and overall project management. Empire also consulted on the invitation design, journal design, and creative programming aspects including scripting, show order, and the medical equipment appeal and art auction ran by Jennifer Roth of Sotheby's. Empire then developed a press release and distributed it to key media outlets for maximum exposure.

Empire is one of the world’s leading producers of not-for-profit events and fundraisers.