What Were Producing

Smash Mouth Rocks A Global Technology Audience at The Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA

Smash Mouth Rocks A Global Technology Audience at The Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA

Atlanta, GA

July 2004

As corporate event audiences grow ever younger and more internationally diverse, Empire is constantly delivering contemporary and internationally known entertainment to meet the needs of these audiences. Such was the case when Empire was called upon to deliver an internationally-recognized, high energy concert act that would appeal to an audience in their 30's and 40's, representing countries from around the world. Using its extensive relationships in the contemporary music field, Empire was able to quickly deliver Smash Mouth who perfectly fit the bill for this major event in the massive Georgia Dome for an audience of over 13,000 people. Smash Mouth absolutely rocked the crowd with a 90 minute set that included their hits like "All Star" and their cover of the Monkees "I'm a Believer" from the motion picture Shrek. They also performed high-energy covers like "Why Can't We Be Friends?" and also material by Van Halen and others. The audience crowded the stage before the concert began, danced incessantly once they took the stage and brought the band back for a thundering three song encore once they finished their set. In addition to having 13,000 people jumping up and down in sync on one song, Smash Mouth's set had this world class company's employees 'body surfing', possibly a first for a corporate event.

Production for this event consisted of a massive stage that had been converted from a meeting set used earlier in the program. Five massive video screens were used to provide image magnification and the lighting was provided by a rig of several hundred intelligent lighting fixtures. A world-class concert sound system made the band sound perfect. For this engagement Empire provided all artist contracting, management of air, room, ground transportation and hospitality logistics, coordination of all production with the client company's technical supplier, and stage management of the concert portions. Empire also provided a custom soundtrack of pre- and post-show music to get the audience into the right mood before the show and to keep them dancing once Smash Mouth left the stage.

Empire is the leading provider of contemporary musical artists for corporate events.

Empire Helps Commerce Bank to Celebrate Independence Day with All-American Music & Fireworks

Empire Helps Commerce Bank to Celebrate Independence Day with All-American Music & Fireworks

East Meadow, NY

July 2004

Commerce Bank is one of the New York Region's fastest growing banking Empires and Empire has worked with Commerce Bank for several years to produce high quality entertainment & events for their customers and event marketing initiatives. So it was natural that Commerce Bank would turn to Empire to help them throw a major outdoor event in conjunction with their sponsorship of the Long Island Classic golf tournament. For this special event, Commerce Bank wanted to draw 10,000 or more people to their branches in Long Island and create an all-American program of entertainment to highlight the weekend tournament for which the signature event would be held on July 3, the night before Independence Day.

Empire quickly identified The New York Pops featuring Skitch Henderson as the perfect American family entertainment for this event. The concert was held outdoors in the beautiful Lakeside amphitheater on a perfect July night. As the sun set, the audience enjoyed the powerful sounds of Carnegie Hall's 77 piece house orchestra under the baton of the charismatic and dynamic Skitch Henderson as they played selections from great Hollywood soundtracks in front of a giant American Flag backdrop and Commerce Bank branding. The show concluded with a rousing version of Tchaikovsky's Overture of 1812 that led right into an amazing fireworks display by the world famous Grucci Fireworks family. For this event, Empire contracted the New York Pops, handled all production logistics with the orchestra and the theater, handled transportation in busy holiday traffic to ensure an on-time performance, created an all-American soundtrack to warm up the audience and were onsite to stage manage the magical event. In the end as many as 30,000 people attended the beautiful concert event and the client was ecstatic.

Empire is a major producer of both private and public events.

Empire Creates Innovative Press Event to Market one of the World's Best-Known Brands, Star Wars.

Empire Creates Innovative Press Event to Market one of the World's Best-Known Brands, Star Wars.

New York City, NY

June 2004

When LucasFilm and 20th Century FOX, the producer and distributor, respectively, of the Star Wars series of motion pictures, sought to create an innovative press event, they turned to Empire for the execution. The event was held to help cultivate long lead press (i.e. press who are creating stories which will run several months later) for the release of the Star Wars DVD Trilogy, a special package of the first 3 Star Wars films. For this event, LucasFilm sought to create a high quality live presentation which would feature both footage of the new DVDs as well as presentations by Mark Hammell who played Luke Skywalker in the first Star Wars movie, Irvin Kirzner who directed The Empire Strikes Back and several of the special effects wizards who worked on the movies including Frank Oz, Jim Ward, Rick Dean and John Lowry.

This presentation took place in the Grand Theater of the TriBeCa Grand Hotel and was preceded by a luncheon in the Café area where guests viewed humorous compilations of media featuring Star Wars references. As a centerpiece for the program, Empire created a living room set that was a pure time warp from May 1977, when the original Star Wars motion picture was released. The living room featured an 'Infinity' mirror table, thick shag carpeting, beanbag chairs, modular plexi-glass lamps, side tables and shelving and a wide variety of authentic props including an Atari game player, Peter Frampton & Barry Manilow album covers, paperback books, 'Smiley face' cushions, Farah Fawcett posters, etc. Naturally, both the theater and the DVD demo room had to feature the highest quality of visual projection and audio installation and Empire worked with LuCasFilm, JBL and THX to install a state-of-the-art THX sound system in the event space.

For this project, Empire played a variety of roles including site selection and acquisition, coordination of guest room logistics, management of all A/V systems, decor, set-design, oversight of food & beverage and onsite management.

Empire Presents Brazil's President, Lula da Silva, and Bossa Nova stars for CAIXA Event in NYC

Empire Presents Brazil's President, Lula da Silva, and Bossa Nova stars for CAIXA Event in NYC

New York City, NY

June 2004

When the Brazilian financial services firm, CAIXA Internacional wanted to launch their United States presence with a splash, Empire was called in by Latin American producer contacts to help stage and produce an important press event & reception that would feature both high stature presence and fun entertainment. The event was held at the Bildner Center in the City University of New York building on Fifth Avenue in the shadow of the Empire State Building.The event featured an address by Brazil's President, Lula da Silva, a multi-media presentation by executives of CAIXA Internacional, and a performance by Brazilian Bossa Nova legend, Paulinho da Viola.For this event, Empire provided all production management, audio and backline, as well as stage management of the show and printing of banners.

The event was planned with only a few days of advance notice and almost all of the arrangements and coordination had to be conducted in Portuguese through translators. The event was a rousing success and was attended by more than 500 guests and members of the press. Empire is a leading producer of international events, both overseas and for international companies seeking to establish and maintain presence in New York City and the United States.

Empire is a leading producer of presentations featuring heads of State from around the world.

Empire Transforms Times Square Into Hawaiian Paradise for a FOX Series,

Empire Transforms Times Square Into Hawaiian Paradise for a FOX Series,

New York City, NY

June 2004

When FOX Broadcasting needed to make headlines with the launch of their new summer series, North Shore, they turned to Empire Entertainment to create and execute a stunning press stunt in the heart of Times Square. Given that the show is based in Hawaii, FOX sought to transform the busiest intersection in America into a Hawaiian atmosphere that featured all the best of what Hawaii has to offer. Working through various New York City agencies, Empire was able to secure Fence Island, a small traffic island between 45th & 46th Street, Broadway and Seventh Avenue, in the heart of Times Square and arguably America's busiest intersection.

Working with a small army of designers, carpenters, florists, laborers and technicians, Empire realized the client's vision of a Hawaiian paradise, creating a main stage finished and backed with bamboo, a real beach with clean play sand, towering palm trees and lush tropical floral arrangements, greenery and various props including surf boards, beach chairs, Polynesian totem polls and Tiki huts. The centerpiece of the entire production was a towering volcano prop, 15' high X 9' wide that stood high above the stage. The volcano itself was designed by Empire, and included smoke and flame special effects. Branding for the event was also provided by Empire and included custom printed show posters on vinyl that fit over standard police barricades, a full size surf board and boogie boards that were printed with the North Shore, FOX logo and tune-in information, thousands of real flower Lei's that had been made in Hawaii and flown in for the event as well as branded post cards and Pineapple cups as giveaways to pedestrians.

Added to this were teams of performers, all cast, contracted, costumed, trained and supervised by Empire. This cast included male and female surf instructors, a team of catering servers who passed out original Hawaiian punch concoctions in branded FOX cups, a street team of 8 surfer dudes & girls in branded beach attire who worked the busy sidewalks of Broadway giving out premium items and building traffic on the island, and a running crew, all attired in Hawaiian shirts. On stage, an awesome Hawaiian music & dance ensemble, The Tiny Bubble Band, consisting of guitar, ukulele, congas and bass performed while a cast of 4 hula dancers in grass skirts performed traditional dances of Hawaii. In front of the stage, actress Brooke Burns and other stars of the show appeared live on FOX's Good Day Live and gave interviews for Access Hollywood, Extra, WNYW and other media. Brooke also posed for photos with fans, gave autographs and even participated in some of the surf lessons and hula activities.

The two hour long event was free and open to the public, served more than 2,000 guests and created quite a stir in Times Square. WPLJ was the radio promotion partner and provided additional promotional support onsite as well as on air personalities who helped emcee the event and participated in the prize giveaway of a trip to Oahu, Hawaii.

Empire provided all services for this promotional event including site selection and acquisition, security, staging, sound, lighting, electrical power & distribution, stage and set design and fabrication / installation, creation of the sand beach, staffing, music and other talent, onsite coordination, stage management and liaison with all parties.The clients at FOX Broadcasting were thrilled with the event and the President of the Times Square Alliance, an organization that helps to develop and promote Times Square, called the event "One of the most creative visual commercial promotions to happen in Times Square for a long time."

Empire is a leading producer of press stunts and events designed to generate national publicity.

Empire Presents Star of Broadway's 'Movin Out' for Corporate Event

Empire Presents Star of Broadway's 'Movin Out' for Corporate Event

South Beach, FL

June 2004

A major telecommunications company recently called Empire looking for a headline performer to act as the finalé to their conference in South Beach. The client wanted a concert act who could play songs that their entire audience would know, and who would get them out of their seats and on to their feet. She hoped to have someone like Billy Joel or Elton John perform, but those artists were beyond the reach of for the event budget.Fortunately, Empire knew the perfect alternative at a more reasonable cost: Michael Cavanaugh. Michael is the star of "Movin' Out", Twyla Tharp's Tony-Award winning Broadway smash-hit based on the songs of Billy Joel. Michael was hand-picked by Billy Joel to star in the show in which he performs all of the vocals and piano. When he performs for corporate events, Michael performs with "The Movin' Out Band" which frequently includes some well-known musicians who also play with Billy Joel. And at private shows, Michael is not limited to the Billy Joel songbook.

At our client's event, he performed a healthy dose of Billy's hits (opening the set with "Only The Good Die Young" and getting the crowd immediately onto the dance floor) while also mixing in a good number of other classic songs by artists including The Beatles, Elton John, Jerry Lee lewis, and others. Michael kept the attendees dancing for his entire 90-minute set and even accommodated the CEO who asked to come onstage and play bass with the band for a song.Michael is like a human jukebox and knows thousands of popular songs. He can perform hits from many genres of popular music, and would even be able to do a country music set if requested. He can also play solo at the piano or work his band into nearly any configuration for event spaces that will not allow for large-scale production set-ups.

Empire Entertainment, Inc. is a leading provider of upscale entertainment for corporate conferences and special events. We know that budgets are a primary concern and we are always able to suggest the best possible performer in any specified price range.

Blue Man Group Appears at the Premiere of FOX's The Jury

Blue Man Group Appears at the Premiere of FOX's The Jury

New York City, NY

June 2004

When FOX Broadcasting chose to premiere their new Summer Series, "The Jury," for Executive Producers Barry Levinson, Tom Fontana, James Yoshimura and Jim Finnerty in New York City, they turned to Empire to help them put on a first class event. Empire helped to create an upscale cocktail event at the 21 Club that included a red carpet area and step & repeat wall outside the Museum of Television & Radio (where the show was screened), and a themed reception in the main dining room of the 21 Club which included celebrity guests, branded items, live music, fine food & drinks and gift bags.

The 200 person event had just the right energy & buzz and attracted stars ranging from Blue Man Group (who recorded the show's theme song), Bill O'Reilly from FOX's "O'Reilly factor," Shalom Harlow, and Patrice O'Neal. Guests arrived immediately after the conclusion of the screening next door and stayed until after the bars were shut down. For this upscale event, Empire worked with FOX to provide a variety of integrated services including site selection, creative development, design & printing, menu selection (including a specialty bar with themed cocktails like "the Jury-Tini", the "Subpoena Colada" and "the Deliberation") the facilitation of bar displays and presence for liquor sponsor Belvedere Vodka, the management of security and check-in logistics, decor including branded table tops & custom linens and serving trays with miniature gavel garnishes and onsite management of the event flow. Empire also created a custom sound track for the event to fill in breaks between performances by the Todd Londagin combo. Empire worked closely with FOX Broadcasting, Vanity Fair, The 21 Club, Belvedere Vodka and other parties to ensure a smooth running event that reflected the high standards of this world class broadcaster.

Empire is a leading producer of press and product launch events for the media and other industries.

Empire Takes A Top Global Company's Top Performers on an Entertainment Trip Around the World

Empire Takes A Top Global Company's Top Performers on an Entertainment Trip Around the World

Purchase, NY

June 2004

Each year, one of the world's top food & beverage companies flies its highest sales achievers and their spouses from around the world to its New York headquarters to celebrate their achievement and recognize their accomplishments. The trip includes sightseeing, business programs, a marching band salute and an evening at Ellis Island. The highlight of the annual trip is the awards dinner, typically held inside a massive tent built on the grounds of the corporate headquarters. And for the past several years, this company has consistently turned to Empire Entertainment to deliver a program of interstitial performances that reflect the company's values and break up sections of the awards presentations.

This year, Empire was charged with creating a program of entertainment that represented excellence in four of the major regions of the globe and one that could segue naturally into a night of dancing and celebration. Empire was able to utilize its vast network of contacts in the worlds of international music and dance to deliver extraordinary, colorful and impactful performances from China, Ireland, India and Africa. The first performance of a traditional Chinese Dragon dance was performed by the Ying-Tang Dance Ensemble and featured colorfully costumed dragon dancers, drummers and waving flags to kick off the evening with a traditional dragon dance. The second performance was by the remarkable World Champion Trinity Irish Dancers from Chicago who amazed the audience with their high energy, and incredible timing and precision.The Natya Dance Thrater dancers of India then performed a number that was beautiful, graceful and entertaining, attired in richly colored costumes, jewelry and body paint & makeup. The last performance by the Universal African Dance & Drum ensemble featured wild energy, acrobatic stunts, explosive energy and served as a perfect ending to this international series of performances. Their segment ended with a reprise number on stage in which they were joined by the Trinity Irish Dancers and the Natya dancers who served to get the clapping audience up and on their feet. The Eturnity Band, New York City's best R&B, Funk & Motown dance band, then laid down the drum beat that kept the audience dancing until the end of the night.

Empire Entertainment is the leading producer of international talent & performers for corporate events. We have presented acts from every region of the world.

Major Financial Services Conference for the 4th Consecutive Year

Major Financial Services Conference for the 4th Consecutive Year

Orlando, FL

May 2004

For the 4th year in a row, Empire produced the annual client conference for one of the world's largest financial company's retirement group. For this 4 day / 3 evening long event, Empire booked and produced all entertainment and provided keynote and topical speakers including: President George H. W. Bush and Mrs. Barbara Bush, actor, comedian and political writer Ben Stein as well as 11 industry speakers and panelists.The opening evening featured world-renowned comedian / juggler and the senior Bush's favorite entertainer, Michael Davis, who thrilled the audience with his amazing juggling and hilarious humor. Michael received a standing-ovation for his performance

This year, Empire's responsibilities expanded to include all florals for the conference. Empire partnered with Tomik Productions who set up an in-house flower shop that provided all flower arrangements and linens throughout the conference for every function including two outdoor breakfasts, and lunches, the opening night cocktail reception and dinner function, the closing night cocktail reception, and an intimate breakfast with a small group of client guests and President and Mrs. Bush. Incredible custom floral arrangements were also provided for the Bush's suite, other VIP's and attendees as requested.The first morning, was a fresh and colorful citrus themed breakfast, set on the beautiful Da Vinci lawn within the hotel gardens, which featured festive citrus linens and floral displays.For that afternoon's lunch, the garden was reset with another fresh and bright theme, beautifully complimented with fresh florals and linens. These breakfast and lunch themed events were repeated the following day with the final in-house event being a cocktail reception held the last night of the conference in the conference resource center.

Empire again designed, built and installed the conference's Resource Center in which twenty one client participants / partners were provided custom-designed spaces to showcase their latest materials to the conferences 300 attendees. This space also served as a place where attendees could relax, network and check email between general sessions. Empire completely transformed a 100' X 50' ballroom space into an indoor garden, that featured Italian, English and Florida tropical themes, complete with a beautiful white email gazebo in the center of the room and an indoor fountain that enhanced the rooms ambience. These elements were complimented with a combination of various styles of outdoor garden furniture, beautiful garden-themed props, baker's racks for participants materials, computer monitors were provided as well as wireless internet connections for participants. Finally, Empire designed the General Session stage to compliment the Resource Center garden theme. The staging was then built by the client and dressed by Empire on site. The client and participants constantly complimented Empire on a job well done again this year. Many of the participants and attendees have attended this conference every year and are constantly surprised at how we conceptualize and implement a business function in a unique environment, not generally seen in the conference world.

Big Concert Night In the Big Easy

Big Concert Night In the Big Easy

New Orleans, LA

May 2004

When one of the world's largest and best-known software firms wants to dazzle its customers and business partners with a hot night in the Big Easy, it picks up the phone and calls Empire Entertainment. The client's goal was lofty: to put on a precedent-setting corporate concert, with multiple performers and a Grammy-like feel. Empire met the challenge head-on. Working closely with the client's marketing department, they arrived at a novel solution: to recreate, in concert form, last year's hit documentary, "Standing in the Shadows of Motown". The film celebrates the career of the Funk Brothers, the band that played on all of the classic Motown tracks from the early 1960s right through until the 1980s, backing the likes of Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and the Temptations. Few people are aware that the Funk Brothers tallied more number one hits than Elvis, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys combined. Empire partnered the Funk Brothers with Chaka Khan, Joan Osborne (both of whom were featured in the film), Aaron Neville and Ruben Studdard.

Two days before the show, Aaron Neville was hospitalized with bronchial asthma and forced to cancel. Empire worked quickly to replace him with none other than the legendary Isley Brothers' lead singer, Ron Isley. The end result was a high-energy, all-star event that ignited the 5,000 person strong crowd. The hits kept on coming: "Ain't Too Proud to Beg"; "What's Going On"; "Signed, Sealed, Delivered"; "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"; "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"; "What Becomes of the Broken Heart?"; "My Girl" and others. After the show, an out-of-breath member of the client's top brass exclaimed, "It is not possible to put together a better corporate show!" Earlier in the week, for this same client, Empire put on yet another all-star event: a panel discussion featuring James Carville, Ben Stein, and Todd Buccholz, and moderated by Stuart Varney. The lively debate focused on the upcoming presidential election and its economic impact of the U.S. and the world.

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