Celebrating its 11th anniversary, the Shorty Awards continue to honor the best influencers, celebrities, brands, and agencies on social media, across Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and other platforms. The show returned to PlayStation Theater in the heart of Times Square in New York City for the ceremony.

Over 800 influencers, brands, agencies, and guests packed the theater for the ceremony, which featured a hot pink carpet, cocktail reception, seated dinner, and an afterparty at the W Times Square hotel. The staged event livestreamed on YouTube and Twitter to over 211,000 (and counting!) viewers internationally, as fans all over the globe tuned in to watch their favorite social media stars.

Comedian and actress Kathy Griffin hosted the show and kept the audience entertained with her trademark comedy from both the stage and the audience during a crowd interaction bit.

Helping keep the show lively throughout, well-known presenters included Jay Shetty, Shangela, Mamrie Hart, Denzel Dion, Eva Gutowski, and Sean Evans.

This was the most competitive show to date, as over 7 million votes poured in from fans all over the world, a record for participation. Winners of the signature Whale-Tail Trophy included Shantell Martin, March for Our Lives, Ryland Adams, Shane Dawson, and Shorty’s very own host, Kathy Griffin.

Recognized this year for their contributions to the world, Phenom Award recipients included Kevin Love (Athlete), Marsai Martin (Entertainment), March for our Lives (Changemakers), and Terry Crews (Activism).

New Orleans-based band and 2017 NPR Tiny Desk Contest winners, Tank and the Bangas, brought down the house performing four hits from their new album Green Balloon, including "Nice Things" and "Ants" to finish out the night.

Empire is proud to partner with The Shorty Awards for our fifth year and we congratulate all the 2019 winners, as well as an even larger congratulations to eleven successful years of the Shorty Awards!

Empire is excited to announce that the production team behind Solve at MIT, Peak XV Global, joined the company this month. The team has produced Solve at MIT, Solve’s annual flagship event, for the past three years and just completed the 2019 event.

Solving the world’s most pressing challenges is no small goal, but that is exactly what Solve at MIT aims to do. Each year, Solve launches four challenges and convenes more than 550 leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs from around the world on MIT’s campus to develop solutions to those challenges. Along with partnership building and intensive working sessions, Solvers gain access to more than $1 million in funding for their solutions.  

Attendees from more than 28 countries are treated to plenary discussions featuring MIT President Rafael Reif, U.N. High-Level Commissioner Alaa Murabit, Inter-American Development Bank President, Luis Alberto Moreno, Schmidt Family Foundation President, Wendy Schmidt, and Crate and Barrel CEO, Neela Montgomery. This year, the opening plenary featured a moving performance by poet and musician, Lyla June, followed by a lively reception at the MIT Museum.

Over the course of three days, our team created an environment across multiple buildings on MIT’s campus conducive to information sharing, networking, and partnership building. Arriving Solvers were greeted by a full-building graphic on the windows of the iconic Kresge Auditorium. During the evenings they were invited to curated salon dinners to further their solutions and networking within the Solve community.

Our team designed plenary rooms to accommodate a variety of content, from live performances, to custom video content, to Solvers presenting their challenge solutions. This year we designed a custom wall installation in MIT’s Media Lab where five Scribit robots drew artwork for Solve attendees to enjoy throughout the conference. We designed multiple conference venues to create an intimate feel for networking while enveloping the Solve community in a branded environment and creating a seamless, multi-day experience.

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For the fifth consecutive year, Screenvision Media called on Empire to produce their Upfront to demonstrate the power, emotional impact, and multifaceted reach of cinema advertising to their audience of media buyers and planners.

Screenvision Media asked Empire to strategically conceptualize and design an elegant event that would show media buyers why cinema advertising plays a critical role in any advertising campaign.

Traditionally held the week prior to network upfronts, the decision was made to present this event during the week of network upfronts to draw the most prestigious clientele. The chosen venue was the storied motion picture theater now known as the Ziegfeld Ballroom and the theme would be Inside Cinema.

Guests arrived at the Ziegfeld and were welcomed to the space with a striking champagne tower. Guests were served movie theatre popcorn as they took their seats in a theater over which hung custom-made, oversize crystal and LED chandeliers in the art deco design of the movie house.

The stage presentation was led by Screenvision Media CEO, John Partilla, CRO Katy Loria, and EVP Christine Martino. To help drive their key messaging, renowned cinema stars Hilary Swank and Vince Vaughn joined them on stage to discuss the impact cinema has on moviegoers.

In addition to announcing their 2020 10-pack offering, Screenvision Media also unveiled their newest initiative, a partnership with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, where they will work alongside studios in the earliest scripting stages to promote gender equality in movie roles. As part of this initiative, Screenvision introduced a new content segment in their Front + Center pre show, where Geena Davis will introduce a special look at upcoming films that receive a ‘GD-IQ Check’.

To conclude the presentation, Idina Menzel, star of Frozen and Frozen 2, performed her hits “Defying Gravity,” and “No Day But Today.” During her finale performance of “Let It Go” from Frozen, Menzel invited several guests to join her on stage.

The evening continued with cocktail reception/afterparty where guests created their own cinema-inspired gifs with two custom-created photo booths.

Empire was responsible for event details including concept ideation, venue acquisition, layout and scenic design, catering, production, scripting, screen graphics, décor, staffing and talent booking.

Empire is proud to work with Screenvision Media to reach advertisers with a high-impact, experiential upfront.

Empire is a leading producer of innovative Upfronts, Newfronts, and other mission critical business-to-business events.

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The 23rd Annual Webby Awards was held at Cipriani Wall Street. Honoring the best of the internet, the show is renowned for limiting award recipients’ speeches to five words or less. Host Jenny Slate, from Parks & Recreation, Big Mouth, and Obvious Child, set the tone with a hilarious opening monologue before getting into the awards. Presenters and winners at the event included Michael Douglas, Tracy Morgan, Issa Rae, Tierra Whack, Hasan Minhaj, and many more. Empire produced the event for the 15th consecutive year.

As always, winners’ five-word speeches alternated from poignant (Monica Lewinsky’s anti internet-bullying “Unbelievably grateful. Click with compassion.”) to protest (climate change activist Greta Thunberg’s “Act now or face disaster”), to spur-of-the-moment irreverent (Michael Douglas holding up his trophy and saying “My kids think it’s hilarious”).

The Webbys also took time out to reflect on the fact that 2019 is the 50^th Anniversary of the birth of the internet by inviting Vint Cerf to the stage to say a few words. Widely heralded as one of the very small handful of people who invented the internet, Cerf was thoughtful about just how far the technology has come in such a short time, and the incredible impact it has as “a mirror of our society”.

The Webbys took a new approach this year in order to distribute the best moments from the show. The night’s highlights, five-word speeches, and biggest moments were shared in real-time, with #Webbys, across Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. The show was optimized for social sharing from how the show was filmed, to how the stage was built, to a partnership with Instagram, and beyond, in order to ensure people across the Internet were able to experience the best moments of the show as they happened.

Empire is proud to maintain longstanding relationships with our clients and is honored that the Webbys have chosen us as their production partner since 2005. You can view the 23rd Annual Webby Awards in full here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOtdiLaK2N4

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Empire was proud to recently serve as producer of Smile Train’s 20^th Anniversary gala titled “It Starts with a Smile.” Over 500 people gathered at Capitale in New York City to celebrate Smile Train’s two decades of empowering local medical professionals and supporting comprehensive cleft care for more than one million children worldwide.

During the program and seated dinner, which was hosted by ABC’s Ginger Zee, Smile Train CEO, Susannah Schaefer, delivered moving remarks about the huge impact that proper care has on a child with a cleft. Chairman of Smile Train’s Medical Advisory Board, Dr. Larry Hollier, Miss Universe Organization President, Paula Shugart, and Top Chef’s, Graham Elliot, were all honored for their philanthropic efforts, while retired NBA player, Dikembe Mutombo, was recognized for his humanitarian work. The program also included a moving tribute to Smile Train Founder, Charles B. Wang. Other program highlights included appearances by Miss Universe 2015, Pia Wurtzbach, Miss USA 2015, Olivia Jordan, and a lively auction conducted by Paul Florez.

Guests arrived at the landmark Stanford White building to see a beautiful photo backdrop adorned in greenery. Interviews took place on the red carpet while others enjoyed cocktails at crystalline design-inspired bars that displayed rotating imagery of children helped by Smile Train. Additionally, an LED background interactive photo activation allowed guests to choose to be pictured in a variety of locations around the world where Smile Train supports cleft programs.  

Inside the grand ballroom, large, heart-warming photos of Smile Train beneficiaries from around the world flew from the soaring skylight roof. Stunning decor included luminescent centerpieces with gorgeous geode designs and bars covered in matching images. Ambient screens with moving visuals were set up as backdrops behind each bar to ensure the room was glowing throughout.

Alexa Ray Joel, Christie Brinkley, and Billy Joel’s daughter performed classic covers to end the dinner program, and later in the evening, Rev Run and DJ Ruckus raised the roof with a dance party of old-school music.

Empire is a leading producer of fundraising galas and corporate social responsibility initiatives.

We are grateful for the opportunity to support Smile Train’s incredible work by producing Smile Train’s 20^th Anniversary Gala. To learn more and donate, visit smiletrain.org.

Following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company, Fox Corporation embarked on a bold new path of growth with its retained divisions: Fox News Media, Fox Sports, Fox Entertainment, and Fox Television Stations.  

As part of this new journey, Fox Corporation convened an Investor Day event as a platform for the company’s top leadership to share the company’s new strategic direction with the global financial community. The Investor Day event would need to present the company’s future vision flawlessly to this critical audience. Empire was entrusted to serve as the producer of all aspects of event. Working closely with Fox’s Los Angeles-based Creative Services and Special Events team and the New York-based Operations and Finance teams, the team secured the auditorium at historic One Madison Avenue building. Empire transformed the 110-year-old space into a future vision of innovation with a set that included a custom LED stage and scenic screen surrounds showcasing three large LED walls (with design direction by David Korins Design). The program, which included both a live conference and a livestream transmission, began with Chairman Rupert Murdoch who welcomed the audience before turning the stage to Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Lachlan Murdoch. Following remarks by Lachlan Murdoch, Chief Operating Officer, John Nallen, took the stage before handing it off to the heads of the four divisions of Fox Corporation. CEO of Fox News Media, Suzanne Scott, CEO & Executive Producer of Fox Sports, Eric Shanks, CEO of Fox Entertainment, Charlie Collier, and CEO of Fox Television Stations, Jack Abernathy, each presented their divisional plans and performance in multi-media presentations that featured multiple videos and extensive animated graphics for each portion. After a short break, the audience was treated to a panel discussion with the commissioners of Major League Baseball, Rob Manfred, and the National Football League, Roger Goodell, who shared their insights on relationships the leagues have with FOX Sports.

Chief Investor Relations Officer, Joe Dorrego, led a Q&A period, and Chief Financial Officer, Steve Tomsic, presented the company’s overall financial performance.

In addition to the main stage program and livestream, Empire also designed and staffed the registration, lounge, and reception areas, all based on the new Fox Corporation visual design.

The flawless program came off not only on time and on budget but was, in the words of the client, “An Awe-inspiring feat.” Empire has been proud to serve Fox for over 15 years and is a major production resource to many of the world’s largest media and entertainment companies.

Empire was happy to contribute to a surprise-filled retreat in California for over four hundred people. Attendees from the global law firm did not know the theme of the retreat, or who would speak or perform. La Quinta Resort in California served as a perfect venue for the outdoor concert where Empire delivered Grammy Award-winning world musicians, Gipsy Kings, to perform under the stars.

A stage was built in the breathtaking desert-setting on the tennis courts at La Quinta, and the energy in the air spoke to the theme of the retreat: INSPIRE ~ EVOLVE ~ THRIVE. Featuring original members, Nicolas Reyes and Tonino Baliardo, Gipsy Kings played an outstanding and lively 75-minute set made up of greatest hits including, “Bambaleo,” “Volare,” “Hotel California,” and “Baila Me,” moving the feet of everyone in attendance.

Attendees from the firm spanning twenty offices around the world, including North and South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, were in attendance alongside their corporate and transactional partners.

Empire is a leading provider of celebrity talent and headline entertainment for corporate events.

Empire recently partnered with Reelworks.org again to produce their 2019 Gala, honoring the change-makers whose accomplishments help young film and media makers envision a future where their voices are heard, and their stories matter. Reel Works is one of the nation’s leading media and filmmaking not-for-profits, matching teens 1:1 with professional filmmaker-mentors to help them build vital skills of literacy, leadership, and self-confidence.

This year's gala celebrated the passionate and diverse individuals pioneering change in the industry by honoring four change-makers: comedian, actor, and television host of Netflix’s Patriot Act, Hasan Minhaj; Academy Award-winning costume designer for Black Panther, Ruth E. Carter; President of Will Packer Productions, James F. Lopez; and Worldwide CEO of Grey Group, Michael Houston. A special announcement also highlighted the support from Netflix and the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment to create diverse training programs for Reel Works students.

The evening began with a guest reception in the historic Capitale, adorned with Corinthian columns, Venetian glass, marble mosaic floors, and 65-foot vaulted ceilings. After guests enjoyed cocktails and passed hors d’oeuvres, they made their way into the ballroom for the program and dinner.

Empire managed the stage program working with Reel Works and the evening’s host, Nore Davis. Davis is a stand-up comedian and actor, who has appeared on Last Week Tonight, Conan, 2 Dope Queens, Inside Amy Schumer, and Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. There were also moving testimonials by Reel Works students and presenters such as Prashanth Venkataramanujam, Emmy-nominated writer and Executive Producer and Co-creator of Patriot Act; Da’VineRandolph, Tony-nominated actress and singer; and Steve Pamon, President & COO of Parkwood Entertainment.

The enthusiastic Charles Antin took the stage as the live auctioneer, helping to raise more than $350,000. The evening wrapped with the F. John Outcalt Award for Outstanding Filmmaking, awarding Faith Mora and her film, My Coming Out Story, out of five outstanding young finalists.

Event sponsors included Empire, HBO, Viacom, Samsung, Will Packer Productions, Sloss Eckhouse Law, Netflix, Grey Advertising, and Bloomberg Philanthropies, among others.

Empire is proud of our continued partnership with the Reel Works organization.

If you are interested in learning more about Reel Works, or would like to explore engaging Reel Works Productions for a project, please visit: http://www.reelworks.org/​

For the 10th year, Empire was proud to serve once again as the producer of the TIME 100 Gala, which took place at the Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Each year, TIME publishes the TIME 100: a list of the world’s most influential people. To celebrate this highly-anticipated issue, TIME hosts an exclusive gala event in New York City attended by current and past TIME 100 honorees. With its extraordinary mix of world leaders, innovators, and celebrities, the TIME 100 Gala is globally recognized as one of the most prestigious annual events.

As in past years, the 2019 TIME 100 was attended by a who’s who of global icons from industry, culture, sports, fashion and politics. Participants and performers at this year’s Gala included Taylor Swift, Khalid, Dwayne Johnson aka “The Rock”, Sandra Oh, Hasan Minhaj, Maria Ressa, and Fred Swaniker, as well as Editor-in-Chief and CEO of TIME, Edward Felsenthal, Mia Tramz, and Dan Macsai.

Among the notable attendees this year were Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, Glenn Close, Brie Larson, Rami Malek, Emilia Clarke, Gayle King, Naomi Campbell, Ryan Murphy, Alex Morgan, Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver, Adam Rippon, Trevor Noah, Julianne Moore, Martha Stewart, Arianna Huffington, Martha Hunt, Jane Goodall, Janet Mock, Lee Daniels, Tarana Burke, Yalitza Aparicio, Lynn Nottage, and Chip and Joanna Gaines.

The Gala featured an extensive red carpet on two floors, an elegant cocktail reception featuring music by Peter and the Master Keys (over which was flown a ‘photo chandelier’ of Time 100 honorees), a seated dinner and program that combined remarks, musical performances, and toasts by some of the evening’s honorees, and an afterparty with Questlove. This year’s Gala was sponsored by Cadillac, Citi, JaneWalker by Johnnie Walker, Amazon Alexa, and United Airlines.  

The TIME 100 drew extensive global media coverage including NBC’s Today Show, CBS This Morning, FOX, Entertainment Tonight, E! News, and Access Hollywood. Additionally, the TIME 100 generates extraordinary digital reach through TIME.com, online bloggers, and social media sharing by the attendees.

With the world watching, the production of the TIME 100 requires the highest caliber of precision planning and flawless execution. Empire was proud to work closely with the TIME team to once again deliver a flawless and extraordinary evening.

As Producer, Empire’s responsibilities include event design, talent booking and coordination, staging and technical production, venue and catering logistics coordination (catering provided by Great Performances), broadcast and media facilities, stage management, staffing, front of house logistics, security and sponsor activations.

Empire is proud to continue our 10-year history with the TIME 100 Gala.  

http://time.com/5573035/time-100-2019-gala/

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Empire was honored to produce ArtBall, which raised funds for Amref Health Africa, the largest Africa-based and African-led healthcare organization, at A/D/O in Brooklyn. This year’s ArtBall honored Zanele Muholi, a South African artist and visual activist focused on the LGBTQ+ community.

Upon arrival, guests entered through a curated gallery featuring over 30 artworks by artists from across the African continent that were up for auction. Each piece was available on Artsy prior and during the event, and 100% of the proceeds went to Amref. The VIP portion of the program included passed hors d’oeuvres and a special discussion with Zanele Muholi, moderated by Kimberly Drew. Among the many noteworthy guests were honorary host and artist, Shantell Martin, and Broadway's Féla star Adesola Osakalumi.  

After the VIP event, the party kicked into full-swing as over 600 general admission guests arrived in their impressive African attire. Open bars flowed with Hendricks, Tito’s, Espolon, and other spirits while guests enjoyed African diaspora-inspired snacks provided by Brownsville Community Culinary Center.

The centerpiece of the evening was an educational activation—a replication of a classroom structure designed in the spirit of the Wamba Girls’ School in Kenya. The classroom was staged with a chalkboard, desks, and “Dignity Kits” stuffed with school supplies, hygiene products, and more, with each item laid out out as an example of what a small donation could provide for a child. The wooden walls were lined with facts and photos from Amref’s work. A polaroid station was set up just outside the structure so attendees could write notes and send their photos to the girls from the Wamba Girls’ School in Kenya. Docents led guests through a guided tour of the classroom to fully explain Amref’s important work.

Global CEO of Amref, Dr. Githinji Gitahi, delivered a moving speech about celebrating life, noting that some come for the “art", while others come for the “ball", encouraging all to have fun and celebrate while being mindful of the cause for which the audience were gathered.

The night was led by emcee Young Prince, and an amazing mix of Afro beats and other dance music was provided by DJ Tao, Rich Medina, and Juls. Guests spent the night getting down on the dance floor until the very last second of the event.

Empire was proud to design and produce a successful fundraising gala for Amref Health Africa, supporting the inspiring initiatives they achieve.

Amref Health Africa provides health care solutions that are for Africans, by Africans. To learn more please visit https://www.amrefusa.org

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