​After a three-year interval, Interstate Waste Services brought their legendary Waste EXPO reception back to Las Vegas, this time hosting nearly 900 partners, clients, and guests for an exciting evening event at the XS Nightclub at the Wynn in Las Vegas, NV.

Guests enjoyed the spring weather outdoors with drinks, bites and seafood based on a classic Italian menu, while listening to classic covers performed by the Christina Amato Band and sets by the XS Nightclub’s DJ. Guests were also entertained by world class sleight-of-hand magicians including Doug McKenzie, and had the opportunity to sample freshly-rolled cigars.

By activating XS Nightclub's pool deck with lounge furniture and highboys, guests enjoyed the excitement of the Las Vegas night al fresco, experiencing 360-views including the Vegas nighttime sky, Wynn/Encore hotels, and lavish interior of XS.

With lines of eager attendees throughout the evening, there was no better place to celebrate and end the experience at Waste Expo 2022!

Empire was proud to partner with The Public Theater to produce their annual Gala, live and in person.

This year’s theme, the “Gala on the Green”, began with guests arriving at The Delacorte lawn for a sunset cocktail hour. After a quick check-in and COVID compliance process, guests enjoyed views of Central Park with a step-and-repeat for photos, a fun flower crown making activity, as well as a sketch artist, who artfully captured guests' portraits. DJ Rich Medina kicked the night off with an upbeat set during cocktails before a brass band led the guests to the lawn outside The Delacorte Theater for the seated dinner and program.

Once the 700 guests were seated, they enjoyed an evening program that featured performances by Renée Elise Goldsberry, Oscar Isaac, Kimber Elayne Sprawl, Kelli O’ Hara, with remarks by Actress and Public Theater Trustee, Danai Gurira, Artistic Director of the Public Theater, Oskar Eustis, and Public Theater Board Chair, and Theater Producer, Arielle Tepper—all under the stars and sprinkled twinkle lights.

The event was emceed by Liev Schrieber and honored the singular Gil Shiva, whose leadership, integrity, and stewardship of the Susan Stein Shiva Foundation have guided The Public Theater for decades.The dinner ended with The Public presenting its second annual Community Leadership Award to Jamie Maleszka, Director of Creative Arts at The Fortune Society, one of Public Works' founding community partners, while guests dined on delicious desserts by Union Square Events.

With an online auction, ticket sales and in person donations, The Public Theater raised over $2.2 million supporting the arts, artists, and commitment to producing theater for all.

Empire worked closely with The Public Theater, Hometown Flower Co, Rana Florals, and many other partners to deliver this beautiful night. Empire’s scope of work included overall management and coordination, technical design and production, decor, logistics, and vendor coordination.

Empire was extremely proud to partner again with The Public Theater and bring back live events stronger than ever.

To learn more about The Public Theater and their programs and to become a member and supporter, visit http://www.publictheater.org/

Photos by: David Nicholas

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Empire produced the 26th Annual Webby Awards at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. The full show is available to view now at watch.webbyawards.com

After two years of being a virtual event due to the pandemic, the energy in the room was tangible as the best of the best on the internet gathered to be honored for their work online.

Empire booked Roy Wood Jr. (from the Daily Show with Trevor Noah) to host the show, and his tech-savvy monologue brought the house down.

Winners and presenters included Megan Thee Stallion, Ben Stiller, Drew Barrymore, Takashi Murakami, Questlove, and many more. The Webbys are considered the Internet’s highest honor, and the show is renowned for allowing winners just 5 words for their acceptance speeches. This year’s winners showed just how powerful and clever so few words can be:

• Professor Anita Hill accepting the Webby Award for her Public Service & Activism, General Series (Podcasts):  “Take equality seriously, for real.”

• Adam Scott accepting the Webby Award for Best Actor addressing the recently leaked Supreme Court draft that would overturn Roe v. Wade: “Supreme Court…..eat my shorts.”

• Laverne Cox accepting the Advocate of the Year Award: “Transgender. Unstoppable. Beautiful. Belongs. Everywhere.”

• Chef Gordon Ramsay: “No cursing tonight? F*ck me!!!”

Empire was proud to once again have the show feature a stage and set designed by David Korins Design (the creative force behind shows such as Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, and Beetlejuice, as well as the 2022 Academy Awards). Empire produced nearly all aspects of the event including the red carpet, the media lounge—where winners went for interviews and portraits—and of course the show itself.

Empire is honored to have produced every live Webby Awards event since 2005, and we consider the Webby Awards team part of the Empire family.

For more information on this year’s Webbys, check out #Webbys across Instagram, Twitter and TikTok to catch up on the fun, and watch the show now!

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The reviews are in for this year’s NewFront presentations, and it’s official, Tubi’s NewFront was a hit. MediaVillage’s Simon Applebaum assessed what worked and didn’t work across each presentation, and reported that when it came to Tubi’s, “there was nothing that didn't work."

Tubi, FOX Entertainment’s free ad-supported video on demand service (AVOD), joined dozens of other leading tech and entertainment firms for the triumphant in-person return to the IAB’s biggest annual event series. Empire has worked with FOX’s world-class creative services team for decades, so it was no surprise when they reached out to work with them and the Tubi team to produce their first simultaneous in-person and virtual NewFront event, welcoming 170+ in-person guests plus a dual livestream to an additional audience of 2,000+ media buyers and planners.

The Tubi NewFront began with guests arriving to Manhattan’s West Side to a fully branded experience in the newly opened modern Glasshouse venue. Past a swift check-in, Covid compliance, and badging process, guests stepped out of the 6th-floor elevator to breathtaking views of the Hudson River through floor-to-ceiling windows. Once inside, guests enjoyed a cocktail experience in a fully Tubi-branded living room environment complete with a series of stations where they could test drive Tubi’s interface and content offerings on iPads and various smart devices. Celebrity DJ and media personality, Nick Cannon, provided an upbeat soundtrack to the pre-show while the red carpet and step & repeat hosted Tubi’s VIPs.

Guests were then welcomed into a specially created immersive theater to view the stage program which featured both in-person and pre-recorded presenters. Screens surrounded the entire audience, immersing them in the Tubi interface and mimicking the look and functionality of the dynamic platform. As host Vivica A. Fox and a series of Tubi executive speakers appeared, guests were transported into environments representing the breadth and depth of Tubi’s content catalog of over 40,000 films and television series. These environments included riding horses in the wild west with Brad Pitt, romantic walks in Paris, and even a world stage soccer game experience with Réal Madrid. The concise 45-minute program with sizzle videos, surround-motion graphics, live moments, and surprises conveyed to the audience the reason why Tubi is experiencing explosive growth and is positioned for much, much more.

After the stage program and afterparty ended, guests were greeted by a Tubi-branded double decker bus to shuttle them to their next destination.

Empire worked closely with Tubi Ad Sales Marketing, FOX Creative Services, Glasshouse, Relish Caterers, and many other partners to deliver the program. Empire’s scope of work included overall concept ideation, scripting, screen content and graphics production, technical design and management, stage management, and overall logistics.

Empire was extremely proud to collaborate with Tubi on this year’s NewFronts event and looks forward to collaborating with Tubi as they grow for years into the future.

To read more, visit:

https://www.mediavillage.com/article/tubi-is-pushing-the-pedal-on-originals-and-ad-opportunities/

​Empire was honored to help produce the Environmental Defense Fund’s (EDF) Vision 2030 Talks.

The all-staff webinar featured 10 five-minute talks followed by an engaging Q&A session, hosted at two different times for employees across the globe. Vision 2030 is EDF’s plan for bold climate action in this pivotal decade, reflecting EDF’s mission of “A vital Earth. For everyone.”

EDF staff members spoke on key initiatives covering three broad goals, focusing on places around the world where they can make the most difference in stabilizing the climate, strengthen people’s ability to thrive in a changing climate, and support people’s health. The initiatives span a wide range of topics including innovation, transportation, markets, nature, methane, fisheries, agriculture, water, clean air, and chemicals.

Program highlights also featured remarks by EDF’s President Fred Krupp and Executive Director Amanda Leland, who provided context on the Vision 2030 plan. The program gave EDF employees the opportunity to learn about initiatives outside of their own teams, uniting the staff around current achievements and what’s to come.

Empire worked closely with EDF on producing the program, with scope of work including program development, creative design, coordinating in-person shoots, conducting remote records, video editing, and subtitling the entire program in several foreign languages.

Empire is a leading producer of virtual events of every kind: corporate & non-profit conferences, fundraising galas, experiential marketing engagements, festivals, concerts, and more.

We are proud to support the Environmental Defense Fund. To learn more about Vision 2030, please visit: https://vision2030.edf.org/

More than 3,200 of the world’s most engaged social entrepreneurs, social innovators, and leaders in finance, philanthropy, academia, government, business, media, and the arts gathered online for the annual Skoll World Forum.

With an opening plenary & awards ceremony and closing plenary session hosted by Femi Oke, attendees heard from world leaders, activists, and notable voices including Donald Gips, Marla Blow, Samantha Power, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Jonathan Dotan, Jola Mukherjee, Githinji Gitahi, Michelle Bachelet, Alaa Murabit, and Jonas Poher Rasmussen, among others—all sharing stories and experience to fuel the global audience’s efforts to create social and environmental impact.

The program also included performances by five-time Grammy Award-winner & Founder of Batonga Foundation, Angélique Kidjo, Grammy-nominated musicians Amadou & Mariam, and playwright, actor, and professor, Anna Deavere Smith.

To bring the 2022 Forum’s theme, “Face/ Forward", to life, the Empire and Skoll teams worked hand-in-hand to design and execute the event’s creative motif using custom animations, curated footage, and creative filming techniques intended to emphasize “a sense of space and place".

A two-day in-person shoot took place in San Francisco, bringing together seven award winners from around the globe for the first time, capturing their in-person interactions, remarks, acceptance speeches, and memories in a custom living room set. One virtual participant, unable to travel from Brazil, joined the group live in a unique hybrid appearance.

Working hand-in-hand with the Skoll team, Empire managed multiple aspects of the session production, including speaker management and briefings, set design, international filming (on-site and remote), budgeting, creative, host preparation, remote recording, and video editing.

To learn more and experience the Skoll World Forum content, visit https://skoll.org/2022-skoll-world-forum-face-forward/

Empire is a leading producer of thought leadership events and virtual events of every kind, and has been proud to serve leading not-for-profit organizations and foundations for nearly three decades.

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Empire was thrilled to work once again with Samsung on their annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest. The nationwide competition motivates Middle and High School students to use S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) to approach solutions to real-world issues impacting their communities.

After months of hard work, problem-solving, and preparation, the 10 national finalists pitched their prototypes in front of the panel of esteemed judges at Samsung 837.

Following the Pitch event, the students were treated to private tours throughout New York City, including The Museum of Illusions, a bus trip on The Ride, and a dinner cruise on the Hornblower Lexington, which included a trip under the Brooklyn Bridge, and time spent right in front of the Statue of Liberty.

The next day, the schools were invited back to Samsung 837 for a special brunch and the final reveal event, where the three National Winners were announced. Each of the seven national finalist schools were awarded $50,000 in Samsung technology and classroom materials, and the top three winners each won a total of $100,000 in Samsung technology and classroom materials.

Empire was thrilled to again collaborate with Samsung Solve for Tomorrow on this fabulous program and to continue our long tradition of work in S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education events.

To see the Pitch and Reveal Event, please visit: www.samsungsolvefortomorrow.com

Empire had the pleasure of producing Target’s Financial Community Meeting 2022, an annual presentation by the company’s leadership to analysts and media to announce their growth plans, earnings, and recent accomplishments, along with their strategies for continued growth.

The event began with a catered breakfast and quality networking time for the attendees. Once guests entered the main theater, Target leaders discussed its plan to invest up to $5 billion to continue scaling its operations in 2022. Target will invest in its physical stores, digital experiences, fulfillment capabilities, and supply chain capacity to further differentiate its retail offerings and drive continued growth.

At the conclusion of the presentation, Target’s leadership team engaged in an Investor Q&A segment which was immediately followed by a smaller session with media only.

Additionally, Target leaders had one-on-one live broadcast interviews where they further discussed Target’s recent achievements and success.

Empire worked closely with Target’s team to plan and execute each component of the event, overseeing all aspects of coordinating, permitting, venue management, technical  production, programming, development, budgeting, creative design, and catering. Empire also managed new accessibility features, as well as health and safety measures to ensure the safety of all persons in attendance.

Empire is proud to have worked with Target to produce their 2022 Financial Community Meeting to showcase Target’s growth and successes.

Working with our long-time partners in Asia, Empire delivered multiplatinum and Grammy Award-winning artist John Legend for his first-ever visit to Vietnam.

The inaugural VinFuture Prize Award Ceremony took place at the historic Hanoi Opera House before a live audience of 250 VIPs, including the Prime Minister of Vietnam, Phạm Minh Chính, and was broadcast live throughout Southeast Asia and the world on Vietnam Television (VTV).

John Legend’s world-class performance included his hits “You Deserve It All" and “All of Me“, and for the finale, a special rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine”. The event also featured performances by the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra with acclaimed Conductor, Honna Tetsugi, and Vietnamese-Canadian classical pianist, Đặng Thái Sơn.

The VinFuture Prize Foundation is an independent and non-profit organization in Vietnam. The Foundation was established with the vision of catalyzing meaningful changes in the everyday lives of millions of people by honoring transformational technological innovations at a global scale. https://vinfutureprize.org/

The first global award of its kind from Vietnam, the VinFuture Prize, presented US $4.5 million to international scientists to support breakthrough scientific research and technological innovation. In addition to the the Grand Prize, three special prizes recognized female innovators and outstanding achievements in emerging fields and in developing countries.

In addition to artist booking and contract negotiation, Empire advanced all technical and creative aspects of John Legend’s participation for the event, including staging, sound, lighting, LED screen graphics, teleprompter, run-of-show, schedule, and dressing room hospitality. Empire also provided consulting on all matters regarding artist interactions with press and media, television interview, press releases, broadcast/livestream, and music licensing concerns.

Empire coordinated all air transportation, hotel accommodations, ground transportation, and visa acquisition. For this unprecedented event, Empire worked closely with the client team to confirm changing border restrictions and PCR testing requirements for travel to and from Vietnam, Japan, Singapore, and the United States, and to arrange a private charter into Vietnam where no commercial flights were available.

Empire Entertainment is proud to deliver global musical artists for events by forward-looking organizations, such as VinFuture Prize in Vietnam and Asia.

Empire was honored once again to help produce the BVLGARI AVRORA AWARDS 2021, hosted in-person at the Maihama Amphitheater in Tokyo, continuing the star-studded annual award ceremony launched back in 2016.

Focusing on extraordinary Japanese women who shine in their respected fields and are an inspiration to women throughout Japan, the audience for this prestigious event included over 2,000 attendees and a large media contingent.

Awardees who walked the “Golden Carpet” included actress Kyoka Suzuki, manga artist Akiko Higashimura, Mori Art Museum Chief Curator Mami Kataoka, actress Yuko Oshima, journalist Shiori Ito, violinist Moné Hattori, renowned chef Natsuko Shoji, comedian High Heel Ringo, singer Akiko Wada, and e-Woman founder & CEO Kaori Sasaki.

The award ceremony also included powerful performances by Tsuchiya Anna and Miyavi.

Empire was intimately involved in the successful planning of the BVLGARI AVRORA AWARDS, and was honored to serve Bulgari in producing this premiere, high-profile event.

Empire is a leading producer of events and projects for luxury brands throughout the world.​