In collaboration with Forbes, Anthony Pratt, Executive Chairman of Pratt Industries, hosted the first-ever DTC Cocktail Reception at Pratt’s spectacular multi-story private residence in New York City.

Upon arrival, guests were greeted with passed champagne and lux hors d'oeuvres from Abigail Kirsch and Mr. Pratt’s personal favorites.

The catered reception featured a three-hour performance from DJ Mark Ronson, who spun a mix of new and old-school favorites in front of a gorgeous Manhattan skyline.

The evening also featured a panel discussion led by Forbes Editor and Founder of Forbes 30 Under 30, Randall Lane, which featured Jarret Streebin, Founder and CEO of EasyPost, as well as Jesse Horowitz, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Hubble Contacts. Randall Lane discussed with Jarret Streebin and Jesse Horowitz the current state of supply chains, consumers, and their predictions for the upcoming year.

Attendees witnessed the exclusive launch of Prattbox.com, a new DTC website service offering custom D2C packaging to small and medium businesses.

In attendance were other notable Forbes Executives as well recent Forbes 30 Under 30 classes.

Empire was responsible for securing and producing Mark Ronson’s performance,  the screen content design, technical production, onsite management, and talent booking/coordination.

Empire is leading producer of bespoke private events and staging headline performances in intimate environments.

Empire was honored to help produce the Environmental Defense Fund’s (EDF) Hybrid Staff Retreat. The annual Staff Retreat, which is typically held over several days and shared with employees across the globe, gives EDF employees the opportunity to celebrate their achievements from the previous year and for their leadership team to set the tone for what's to come. This year, Empire was tasked with consolidating a typical several-day event into a three-hour program that was engaging, informative, and celebratory.

The Zoom Webinar, which featured live and pre-recorded remarks, panel discussions, and original video content, was viewed by over 600 EDFers internationally. Program highlights included remarks by EDF’s President, Fred Krupp, Executive Director, Amanda Leland, and current sitting US Senator, Tammy Duckworth. Speakers joined the program both remotely from their homes as well as in-person at EDF’s New York City and Washington DC offices, where small, live audiences also participated in the event.

Empire also worked closely with EDF to create three original videos, which highlighted what it's currently like to work at EDF and where employees hope the organization will go in the future. To create these videos, Empire interviewed over 60 EDF employees from across the globe, each of whom answered a standard set of questions. The responses were then cut together to create the videos, titled “A Look Back from 2030,” “How Will We Get There,” and “What It Will Be Like to Work at EDF?”, all of which included the 60 EDF voices across the three videos.

Empire’s scope of work included the development of the program’s run-of-show, technical production consulting, creative design of the live stream screen graphics, and production and editing of the feature videos.

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

Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) celebrated its 12^th annual Crown Awards virtually this year. Empire was honored to produce the virtual benefit program highlighting Columbia’s efforts to address the mental health effects of the pandemic, and healing in its aftermath.

The evening program was hosted by Dr. Judith F. Joseph—a VP&S alumna, an expert on child, adult, and family psychiatry, and a medical media contributor. The event also featured remarks by Dr. P. Roy Vagelos, Chair of the Board of Advisors, and Dr. Anil K. Rustgi—Interim Executive Vice President and Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine, Director of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Herbert and Florence Irving Professor of Medicine.

Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman—the Lawrence C. Kolb Professor and Chair of Psychiatry, Columbia University VP&S, Director of New York State Psychiatric Institute, and Psychiatrist-in-Chief atNew York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia University Irving Medical Center—introduced the short films on Mental Health. These films recognized the doctors, clinicians, researchers, and Columbia’s efforts to affect global improvements in mental healthcare as well as develop tools and techniques to improve mental health equity through increased access to quality care.

Tony Award-winning actress, Adrienne Warren, closed the night with songs such as “Simply the Best,” “Impossible Dream,” and “Home/What’s Love Got to Do with It” to highlight the evening’s inspiring theme and occasion.  

Empire worked closely with the Columbia team to implement the design and run-of-show. Empire also recorded the speakers and talent (safely in person and remotely), and oversaw the technical production and livestream.

Empire is a leading producer of virtual events of every kind. We are proud to support Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

To view the program, learn more, and donate, please visit ColumbiaCrownAwards.org

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Empire produced an international, virtual award show for one of the world’s top 100 corporations. The awards show is the company’s most prestigious corporate recognition program with a multi-year legacy, recognizing its most important global B2B partnerships with participants and attendees joining live from throughout the world.  

Due to the pandemic, this was the first time in the Awards’ 20-year history that they would be held virtually. The necessity to include attendees and participants from dozens of countries including China, Russia, Brazil, India, and Australia in real-time required highly complex technical production and precision execution, originating from multiple broadcast locations.

Hosted by Ghida Fakhry, a renowned broadcast journalist, from an XR (extended reality) studio in New York City with multiple, additional satellite locations, the ceremony honored eight partner companies for their achievements within their regions. After recognizing the honoree companies and showing films produced by each, two overall winners were announced to receive the coveted prize, one from the UK for 2019, and one from Mexico for 2020.

All speakers, including the company’s Chairman and CEO, its Chief Commercial Officer, as well as regional CEOs, presenters, and nominees, joined the virtual ceremony via remote connections around the world. Empire provided technical online virtual stage managers to facilitate smooth participation for each participant.  

The program ran flawlessly and engaged and entertained winners in every region of the world, many of whom viewed and participated in the program through live virtual watch parties, some of which were translated live into multiple languages.

Empire served as overall producer of the program managing run-of-show development, visual design, technical production, broadcast, graphics, animations, LED wall screen content, talent coordination, and overall project management.  

Empire is a leading producer of virtual, hybrid and live events, and has been a proud production partner for this corporate client for over 25 years.

Empire was pleased to help produce the 2021 New York Public Radio Gala hosted in-person at The Plaza Hotel, continuing a partnership in a series of events for the public radio service.

The gala invited supporters of NYPR to gather for the first time since 2019 for an exciting evening packed with entertainment and good company to celebrate 20 years of Radiolab. Starting with a cocktail reception in the Terrace Room, guests were then led to the dinner in the ballroom by the High and Mighty Brass Band, kicking off the program with high-energy performances.

This year’s program featured actress Julianna Marguiles as Gala Host, with remarks by Goli Sheikholeslami, CEO and President, NYPR; Timothy A. Wilkins, Board Chair, NYPR; Ed Yim, Chief Content Officer and SVP, WQXR; Jad Abumrad, Creator and Host, Radiolab; and musical performances by Kishi Bashi and WQXR’s Artist Propulsion Lab Artists, and special guests.

Two awards were presented, celebrating Radiolab’s past and present. Ira Glass, Creator and Host, This American Life, presented an award to Robert Krulwich, Retired Host, Radiolab; and Suzie Lechtenberg, Executive Producer, Radiolab, and Soren Wheeler, Executive Editor, Radiolab, presented an award to Jad Abumrad, Lulu Miller, and Latif Nasser, Hosts, Radiolab.

In addition to the in-person guest experience, the main program was livestreamed to a remote audience tuning in from their homes. Overall, NYPR raised over $1.1M towards supporting the organization’s vital work delivering local news to the greater area of New York and New Jersey.

Empire’s scope of work included development of the program run-of-show, technical production management, creative design of the livestream screen graphics and micro-site, and production and editing of three feature videos, plus post-gala video assets including a gala sizzle reel.

Empire is a leading producer of events including fundraising galas, experiential marketing engagements, corporate conferences, festivals, concerts, and more.

When one of Empire’s longtime clients was looking for talent for their prestigious, virtual award ceremonies, they turned to Empire to secure A-list talent that would resonate and excite their global attendees. For the main host of the program, Empire secured award-winning actress, film producer, and former Miss World, Priyanka Chopra-Jonas, who hosted the events from a studio in London.

For headline entertainment, Empire delivered one of country music’s biggest superstars, Keith Urban, and the sensational Grammy Award-winning acapella group, Pentatonix.

Each artist performed from their respective studios with Keith Urban performing his hit song, “The Fighter”, and Pentatonix performing their latest single, “Sing”. Empire is a leading provider of world class talent for various types of virtual and in-person events.

Empire was proud to produce New Heights’ 5th annual gala, The GameChangers Ball, as an in-person event. This year’s gala held special significance, inviting guests for an exclusive first look at their new space at the Major R. Owens Health & Wellness Community Center in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, featuring sports facilities, basketball courts, classrooms, office, and community spaces.

The gala began with a cocktail reception and a jazz performance by KingKlavé. Overlooking the basketball court, the guests viewed live basketball played by the New Heights youth members on the new court.

Guests were then seated for dinner and the main program at the community space which was transformed into a ballroom for this special occasion. Catering for the evening was presented by a special collaboration of two of the finest local caterers, Dining with Grace and Ginger Root, and desserts were provided by Brownstone Cheesecakes, a popular bakery based in Brooklyn.

While guests enjoyed dinner, the program consisted of an introduction to the new space, an awards ceremony to four special honorees, a live auction, and a call to action by New Heights executives. The honorees were Lance Thomas, New Heights Class of 2006, Board Member, Duke National Champion and NBA Veteran; Don Capoccia, Principal of BFC Partners; Amber Sabathia, Co-Founder & Executive Director at PitCCh In Foundation and Player Agent, CAA Baseball; and Bruce E. Mosler, Chairman of Global Brokerage at Cushman & Wakefield.

Working closely with New Heights, Empire served as the overall event producer, managing elements including venue, catering, décor, programming, and technical production. Empire is a leading producer of fundraising events and has been proud to serve leading not-for-profit organizations and foundations for nearly three decades.

About New Heights:

New Heights Youth, Inc. is a non-profit sports-based youth-development and educational organization based in New York City.

New Heights creates opportunities and provides support for promising youth to fulfill their potential in the classroom, on the court, and in the community. Their mission is to educate and empower promising underserved youth to be leaders, champions, and student-athletes by developing the skills necessary for success in high school, college, and life.

Specifically, the organization uses basketball as a “hook” to engage young men and women in the program, help them access high-quality educational opportunities, and instill in them the values and life skills that will prepare them for success in life beyond sports.

Client Testimonial: Teaming up with Empire to produce our annual GameChangers Ball was one of the smartest decisions we made. Turning a century-old armory into a luxurious ballroom was a tall order, but Empire–and Sammy Kim in particular–planned every detail beautifully and within our budget. Thank you for guiding us on this journey and making our event vision a reality!!

Empire joined Internews once again to produce FilmAid’s Power of Film Awards at the Standard Hotel in New York City. Set under a semi open-air sky on a crisp Autumn night, the event was a perfect mix of purpose and pleasure. For the first time since the pandemic, FilmAid supporters gathered to celebrate its mission to harness the power of film to educate, inspire and empower refugees and other vulnerable communities around the world.

The cocktail event and program included moving remarks by FilmAid’s Founder, Caroline Baron, and new Director, Gita Saedi Kiely, who painted her vision for tomorrow.

“We are now a global organization with projects happening in communities worldwide, with partnership and support from industry leaders like The Oscars (AMPAS) and Variety, and with life changing work that impacts hundreds of thousands of people every year.”

Tim Blake Nelson presented the Student Award to Nhial Gatriek Deng, a 2020 graduate of the FilmAid training program. Mark Ruffalo shared a heartfelt pre-recorded tribute honoring Ian Urbina with the prestigious Christopher Dickey Award for his groundbreaking work on The Outlaw Ocean Project.

Kati Marton then spoke regarding her late husband’s Richard C. Holbrooke Humanitarian Award before introducing Mariam Wardak. Mariam received the award on behalf of the awardee, Sahraa Karimi, who was unable to attend in person. She shared an incredible story of life as a woman under Taliban ruled Afghanistan, and how Sahraa was a devoted advocate of women and cinema until her final moments boarding an evacuation flight to Europe as the Taliban took over.

Jeanne Bourgault, Internews President and CEO, closed the evening with immense gratitude and pride for Internews joining forces with FilmAid. Their incredible work in training young people in all aspects of storytelling and communications empowers the next generation to advocate for its own rights to effect positive change in the world.

Empire is honored to support the vital work of FilmAid and has been serving not-for-profit organizations for nearly three decades. To learn more please visit https://www.filmaid.org

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The Enactus World Cup took place virtually this year, showcasing and celebrating the work of 72,000 Enactus nextgen leaders from around the globe creating a better, more sustainable world.

The event was hosted by Jeff Houghton and Adesina Sanchez. The four-day programming gathered esteemed business leaders, Enactus Alumni, and 1,000+ students from more than 30 countries to experience Passion on Purpose. Notable speakers included the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy to the 2021 Food Systems Summit, Dr. Agnes Kalibata; IMAGINE Co-Founder and former Unilever CEO, Paul Polman; and Artist Voice Coach, Roger Love.

Sessions addressed pressing issues and actions needed to further advance the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals—specifically the need to rethink plastic and combat the ocean crisis, the climate crisis, and food insecurity.

The Enactus World Cup 2021 was supported by impact partners Ford Motor Company and Unilever; Enactus innovation partners AIG, BIC, DSM, and Harmony; and the Better World Award Sponsor, Ford Motor Company Fund.

Empire worked closely with the Enactus team to create the overall event, run-of-show, and graphics, coordinated logistics for all speakers and talent, and oversaw the technical production and broadcast.

Enactus is the world’s largest experiential platform dedicated to developing the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders and social innovators who create a better world. That translates to 72,000 student leaders around the world on 1,700+ university campuses in 35 countries, all focused on creating innovative solutions to the world’s greatest social, economic and environmental challenges.

Enactus believes that investing in students who take Entrepreneurial Action for others creates a better world for us all. You can learn about the work of the Enactus #nextgenleaders here—everything from innovative technology used to alleviate the burden on medical workers during COVID-19 in Australia, to the world’s first zero-waste shower tablets in Canada, to an edible alternative to single-use plastic utensils in Morocco.

Empire is a leading producer of virtual, hybrid, and live events, and has been serving not-for-profit organizations for nearly three decades. Empire is proud to support Enactus.

​SHOWTIME has been a pioneer in LGBTQ-inclusive programming for over two decades and has helped bring LGBTQ stories to the forefront through series including the groundbreaking show, The L Word, which premiered in 2004 and ran for six seasons. Ten years later, the series was revived with The L Word: Generation Q, bringing back some of the original show’s favorites as well as a new, younger cast.

SHOWTIME called on Empire to help promote the 2nd season of The L Word: Generation Q, by enhancing a series of weekly viewing party events in six cities across the US over a nine-week period, leading up to the season finale. In Los Angeles, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Mobile, AL, Houston, TX, and New York City, Empire sent brand ambassadors, custom swag, games, photo booths, and other fun activities, to a total of 50+ viewing events held mainly in lesbian bars.

At Henrietta Hudson in New York City and The Semi-Tropic in Los Angeles, fans were treated to surprise appearances from most of the show cast including Kate Moennig, Leisha Hailey, Arienne Mandi, and Jennifer Beals. SHOWTIME’s enhancements to the weekly viewing parties helped swell attendance to 3x the usual numbers, peaking around 400 guests for the finale episode watch parties in New York City and Los Angeles. The 2nd season of The L Word: Generation Q is available on-demand on SHOWTIME.