Our Work

When the world's largest companies take to the stage to launch their newest products, before the watchful eyes of the global technology press, they turn to Empire Entertainment to deliver the right talent.For this particular product launch which was held in New York, Empire assisted our client in identifying and securing the Belgium-based, multi ethnic a cappella group, Zap Mama, to perform their inspiring and powerful world music as a component of the opening sequence. Zap Mama are an ensemble of 5 female vocalists, hailing from Jamaica, Senegal, Zaire, Burundi who are based in Belgium and who perform a blend of Euro-African music in brightly colored costumes. Empire worked directly with the client and their creative agency to integrate Zap Mama's performance into a multi-media extravaganza of video, graphics, lighting effects and stage direction. Empire negotiated for and facilitated the provision of a specially remixed backing track, to which all of the media was timed, while Zap Mama sang powerfully in colorful costumes to underscore the product messages. The collaboration between the client and artist resulted in a colorful, beautiful, memorable and newsworthy introduction of the next version of the world's leading business software products.

Empire is an invaluable partner to businesses looking to match their products and messages to the global talent pool. Our connections to global talent and experience in integrating the art of performances with the science of commerce are the foundations of our business.

When the Executive Council of New York, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to fostering innovation and commerce in New York City, sought to launch their Ten Awards program in New York City, they turned to Empire Entertainment to produce the awards gala. This singular business event was sponsored by a variety of companies including Microsoft, Accenture, AT&T & EDS and was staged to recognize and reward innovation and business achievement in the New York business community.

The theme of the event was "From Inspiration to Innovation..." The Awards program was hosted by the host of CNBC's Wakeup Call, Liz Claman and featured an, inspiring keynote speech by Craig Barrett, CEO of Intel. This year's award winners were: Shelby Bonnie, CEO, CNET Networks, Inc. Jason Devitt, CEO, Vindigo Hossein Eslambolchi, CTO, AT&T and President, AT&T Labs Donna Iucolano, President, e-Scholastic Sallie Krawcheck, CEO, Smith Barney Kumar Mahadeva, CEO, Cognizant Jim McCann, CEO, 1-800 Flowers Martin Nisenholtz, CEO, New York Times Digital Alan Patricof, Vice Chairman, Apax Partners Kevin Ryan, CEO, DoubleClick Lindsay Nohr, Founder and Executive Director, Fertile Hope (Civic Award). For this upscale event for more than 400 attendees, Empire provided virtually all services including venue selection (Gotham Hall), staging and set design, sound, lighting, the production of 11 video roll-in packages, graphic design and all program graphic production, catering, stage management, decor, florals, logistics management, security, signage, etc.

Empire is a cost-effective, efficient and creative producer of business events, meetings and awards shows worldwide.

Working in conjunction with meeting planning & logistics company, Above The Rim, Empire Entertainment procured noted tennis celebrity Bud Collins to appear nightly at Morgan Stanley's hospitality suite at the 2003 U.S. Open. Empire arranged for Bud Collins, who is also an NBC sports commentator and author of several books on Tennis, to interact with important clients of Morgan Stanley's, providing observations and insights into the respective matches and the U.S. Open in general for three consecutive nights of play.

Empire Entertainment is a leading supplier of sports personalities for hospitality, motivational speaking, and exhibition play. Other sports figures Empire Entertainment has booked for corporate clients include Tom Seaver, Tommy Lasorda, Magic Johnson, Peggy Fleming, Carl Lewis and many others.

For the past five years, Empire Entertainment has been an integral part of Kaleidoscope Productions' team in creating the automobile industry's premiere dealer meetings & reveal shows. For this year's meeting, held at Philadelphia's Wachovia Arena, Kaleidoscope Productions designed a stage that made the Academy Awards' stage look simplistic. Empire Entertainment filled the arena with premium talent. The day began with a speech by former President George H. W. Bush who surprised the audience with both his worldly insights as well as his robust sense of humor. The meeting was capably hosted by Jon Stewart, the hilarious host of Comedy Central's Daily Show. The meeting also featured live performances by American Idol's top winners, Clay Aiken and Reuben Studdard. The finale of the show was Elton John's first concert with a full band in almost three years. When Elton John performed timeless hits like "Rocket Man", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," "Daniel," "I Guess That's Why They Call it The Blues," and "I'm Still Standing," the audience went wild. The centerpiece of Elton's performance was the song "Philadelphia Freedom," a salute not only to the meeting location, but to the overall meeting theme of ‘Freedom.'

There were also other parts of the meeting in which Empire was engaged. As various new car models were revealed over the course of the afternoon, the Wachovia Center throbbed to the driving beats and freak-adelic sounds of The Crystal Method, a DJ team and America's answer to the UK's Chemical Brothers. During The Crystal Method's set, members of the FreeRunners -- French "urban ninjas" featured in recent television commercials for Nike – spilled into the venue like spider-men, leaping from rafters and falling from impossible heights, unhurt. The meeting reveals also featured Kaleidoscope-produced industrial videos starring basketball great David Robinson and Daily Show correspondent Rob Corddry, who were also booked by Empire. Empire also worked with The George P. Johnson Company to provide Dick Bright's SRO, an 18 piece dance/show band, for an elegant car salon after-party at which dealers and their spouses danced, ate, drank and viewed the exciting new car models. As with any show of this scale, challenges arose. Elton John was, at first, reluctant to perform with a full band. But the client desired this configuration and Empire was able to persuade him to accommodate their desire through patient and capable negotiation. Said one attendee of the star-studded event, "I thought I was dreaming."

To celebrate the release of Wylclef Jean's highly anticipated new album, "The Preacher's Son," J Records turned to Empire Entertainment to stage and produce a multimedia 'listening party' presentation by music industry legend and RCA Music Chairman, Clive Davis, and live performances by Wyclef Jean and Patti LaBelle.The event was held at the Hudson Theater, an 800 seat former Broadway house adjoined to the Millenium Hotel. The maximum capacity audience for this 'high buzz' event included celebrities ranging from Donald Trump, Kevin Bacon and Tyra Banks, to Julius Irving and Don King.

Empire handled all production & onsite event management, working with the Hudson Theater and Wyclef's production team as well as a host of outside vendors and specialists to put together a state-of-the-art sound, lighting and multimedia projection system capable of supporting the demands of all parties. The presentation by Clive Davis included playback of tracks from the new album as well as his behind-the-scenes observations and projections for the future success of the album and the artist. The presentation also included playback of Wylclef's new music video to support the album. At the end of the presentation, the screen flew out, the curtains parted and Wyclef and his band rocked the dancing audience with a 30 minute set of material from "Preacher's Son" which included a duet performance with Patti LaBelle. In addition to all production and stage management for this event, Empire also provided the video crew & producer to shoot red carpet arrivals, the presentation, the concert, and the celebrity reactions which were compiled as B-roll to help J Records promote the album to the music press. The following week, Empire produced the same event and concert in California at the Conga Room in Los Angeles, CA.

Empire is a leading producer of contemporary music for all manner of corporate and private events.

For the fifth consecutive year, Empire Entertainment produced The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation, Kids For Kids charity event which was underwritten by Nickelodeon and the Bandai Foundation and sponsored by People Magazine, InStyle Magazine, Toys R' Us and Mercedes-Benz among others. As event producers of this mammoth, not-for-profit undertaking, Empire Entertainment managed and coordinated all aspects of the four hour event including the construction of eleven major tents on busy New York City streets, the permitting and street closures of five blocks of West Greenwich Village for almost 2 days, staging, sound, lighting, labor, electrical power distribution, labor, cleaning crews, main stage activities and talent, emergency medical service standby, signage, A/V and many other elements. Decor for the event was provided by Robert Isabell who transformed the tented spaces into a Fall carnival with trees and autumn leaves.

More than 1,500 people attended the event which featured a designer Sponge Bob Square Pants fashion show emceed by Whoopi Goldberg, A Nickelodeon Bikini Bottom space in which children went Jelly fishing for prizes in a real pond, a kids dance club created by MTV/VH-1/CMT, delicious foods from dozens of participating New York City restaurants brought together by Jonathan Morr, an Art Room in which artists like Chuck Close worked with children to create original paintings and sculptures, a street carnival where children played games with celebrities like Diane Sawyer, Natalie Portman, Chloe Sevigny, Gilbert Gottfried, Donna Karan and Al Franken, and a toy redemption area donated by Toys R' Us. The afternoon event also featured several performances on a main stage including Kid Pop, Big Truck Music, Jack Ryan, Strawberry Shortcake, The Power Rangers and Antigravity (featuring the first live performance on Segways personal transporters).

Empire faced the challenges of Hurricane Isabell which threatened to delay or even make impossible the building of tents right up until the day before the event. In the end the the event was a tremendous success for all involved and helped to raise funds for a very worthy cause.

Empire is a key producer of high-end, not-for-profit events and a strategic partner to businesses looking to create event marketing opportunities in collaboration with charitable causes.

In 2003 Empire Entertainment joined with Director/Choreographer Tee Scatuorchio and Musical Director, Mike Levesque (Co-creators of the performance ensemble The Rhythmics) to create LIVE LAB. LIVE LAB is an integrated creative & production team that delivers live performances from every genre for a wide variety of commercial applications. LIVE LAB exists to identify emerging trends & genres in live performances, and to stay in front of the curve to continually deliver fresh creative and the 'Next Big Thing' season after season. LIVE LAB provides an experienced and skilled creative team who not only identify new performers and performing arts genres, but also provide the essential development and packaging of this talent with professional support in script development, choreography & direction, music composition, recording and editing, casting, rehearsal management, costuming, makeup, prop design & fabrication, supporting multimedia production and production design.

LIVE LAB's expertise and organization enable it to secure performers from dance, sports, comedy, music, acting, mime, stunts, and other areas and fine tune their performances to international standards of excellence for specific applications such as trade shows, general session performances, industrial videos, event marketing programs, etc. In one of it's first major projects, LIVE LAB recently completed production of the main stage presentation for PANASONIC at the 2003 IFA exhibition at the Messe Berlin in Berlin, Germany. LIVE LAB was given the challenge to create a 10-minute, high energy entertainment piece integrating content about PANASONIC'S product lines. As PANASONIC is a major sponsor of Formula 1 racing, LIVE LAB was asked to utilize a racing theme for the presentation.LIVE LAB delivered an exciting, percussion & dance-based show based upon a day at the race track. Dressed in official Panasonic F1 Pit Crew suits, the LIVE LAB cast took the audience through the whole race sequence from setting up the car, time trials, & the race including pit stops.The focal point of the performance was the use of an actual Formula1 race car on stage during the performance. The cast used props such as Racing Tires, wrenches, Fast Fill Gas Cans and Large 30 gallon drums wired with electronic triggers. The performance was choreographed to an original music track and included high energy dancing and percussion on a two story high stage. The seamless integration of PANAONIC Flat Panel Displays, DIGITAL CAMERAS such as the D-Snap & AV-100 video camera, the PANASONIC E-100 DVD Recorder and the introduction future vision ideas were all woven into the performance using the racing theme. Playing off the PANASONIC advertising theme "IDEAS FOR LIFE", LIVE LAB, worked closely with PANAONIC'S Tokyo-based Ad Agency, Dentsu, to develop the script, cast performers from Germany, the UK and the United States, and stage the performances in Berlin. LIVE LAB, a U. S. creative team, working for a Japanese client to deliver a performance in Germany, in German to a mainly German audience was a total success.

At the 2003 National Business Travel Association convention, Empire Entertainment was again asked for the 6th year in a row by co-sponsors American Express and American Airlines to secure headline entertainment that would meet a variety of criteria. The chosen talent would have to reflect the values of the sponsoring companies, work in the acoustically 'live' Union Station hall and be appropriate for the Dallas, TX setting for the event.

Empire worked with both clients to manage a selection process that ultimately yeilded all-American artist Wynonna Judd who agreed to perform in an acoustic configuration with the backing of bass, 2 guitars and 3 vocalists. Wynonna's performance was a thrilling highlight to the evening as she alternately seranaded and belted songs that spanned her celebrated career. From country & blues to all-American anthems and spiritual songs, Wynonna managed to bring the audience to their feet several times for standing ovations, sing-alongs and a roaring good time. Wynonna also agreed to a meet and greet with up to 30 of the sponsor's VIP guests and she was exceedlingly gracious and poised, taking time to speak with each guest before posing for individual photos. The timing of the booking coincided perfectly with the release of her newest album, and her performance at this event occured on the night before her new album debuted at #1 on the country charts.

Empire met many challenges in bringing this show about including budget constraints of the challenged corporate travel industry, the need to maximize audience capacity in a finite room space to cope with the overwhelming response to the Wynonna invitation, and the need to maintain the highest quality sound in a tall, stone room that reflected even the smallest sounds. Empire was able to overcome all of these challenges to present a truly spectactular evening that won our clients rave reviews from their customers and was, in a word. 'Awesome!'

When one the world's largest internet brands needed to entertain and meet with their key advertising clients in the middle of summer, Empire helped them plan and execute a flawless weekend in the desirable east end of Long Island. Working closely with the client, Empire helped to develop an agenda to met the client's objectives to combine meeting and networking along with family time and socializing. Meeting in the Hamptons on Shelter Island, known for it's the quiet and remote feel, while being just minutes away from the social happenings in Sag Harbor, Empire was able to create an atmosphere of relaxation on the island and excitement in Sag Harbor. Accommodations and meeting events were at the posh Sunset Beach Hotel and Restaurant.

Activities included a luncheon cruise around the island, family time at the beach and early morning yoga on the sand. The weekend was capped off with a sophisticated dinner at B. Smith's in Sag Harbor and an evening at a famous Hamptons club. All elements of the weekend were planned and executed with the clients needs coming first. Empire managed all the housing, meeting needs, food and beverage, hospitality, staffing, transportation and negotiations easily. Empire provided the onsite staff to help make all arrangements flow smoothly. The event exceeded the expectations of the client and their guests.

Empire is an effective, full service and creative production company whose services include traditional meeting planning services such as site selection & contracting, agenda development, air, room & ground transportation arrangements, destinatin management, theme parties, ticket acquisition, activities, amenities and gift items and onsite hospitality management.

When Seattle-based Maverick Productions contacted Empire Entertainment for secure a well-known television figure to appear in an industrial video for a major technology firm, Empire worked swiftly to deliver "Frasier" co-Star John Mahoney. The purpose of the video was to introduce one of the presenting executives. The talent needed to be widely recognized by the audience, had to work within the context of the creative script developed by Maverick, and had to be an experienced actor capable of some degree of improvisation and flexibility in accomplishing the creative vision. Actor John Mahoney, who plays Mr. Crane on "Frasier", performed an originally scripted role in the very humorous video and was able to schedule the one day shoot within 72 hours of confirmation of the engagement. Empire worked to ensure compliance with Mahoney's existing agreements with the producers of "Frasier" as well as proper contracting of replay rights and payment of union dues and benefits with the Screen Actors Guild and AFTRA unions.

Empire is a leading provider of talent for industrial videos, infomercials and commercial projects.

When a global pharmaceutical company sought to match a contemporary headline rock act with their young sales force, they turned to Empire Entertainment who delivered one of today's biggest Canadian Rock acts, the Barenaked Ladies. With less than a month between initial direction and the show date, Empire worked switfly to identify entertainment options that targeted the specific demographic needs of the client's audience. Empire's unrivaled talent database enables us to quickly identify all appropriate candidates for any set of demographic parameters.Once the selection of top choice was made, Empire leveraged it's high level contacts in the ever changing world of contemporary music and managed to quickly secure the Barneked Ladies to perform a 90 minute, greatest hits concert. On show day, the Barneked Ladies rocked the audience with over 100 minutes of high energy pop rock including their biggest hit, "If I Had a Million Dollars." The band also participated in a meet & greet with client VIPs and even agreed to sign 100 CDs as gifts for attendees. Other talent that was booked by Empire and featured at this meeting included comedian Greg Giraldo, speaker Lizzy Simon, Bluegrass band The Suggins Brothers, and members of the DeKalb Marching Band who were featured in the motion picture "Drum Line."

Empire continues to be the industry leader in booking and presenting contemporary talent for corporate meetings and events.

For the all night party of a global technology company, Empire booked and coordinated a performance by rockabilly legend and Stray Cats leader, Brian Setzer and his Orchestra. For this performance at the Louisiana Super Dome for almost 14,000 attendees, Empire provided a high-energy headline concert that perfectly suited the audience, the setting and the House of Blues-style rock and roll party atmosphere that the client wished to achieve. Brian Setzer and his Orchestra performed Stray Cats hits like "Stray Cat Strut" and "Rock This Town" as well as rock and swing covers like "Mack the Knife" and "Brand New Cadillac." Dressed in leopard print jackets, the orchestra featured two female backing vocalists and moved in tightly choreographed routines that kept the action going. Brian Setzer's rocking guitar work and vocals won over the multinational audience. Empire works regularly on large, complex programs in close collaboration with travel management companies, production and staging companies, decor vendors and venues to ensure smoothly run events. Empire is expert at tailoring it's approach in each of these situations to create the most efficient and positive experience for our clients.

For the 2003 MacWorld convention at the Jacob Javits Center, Empire was contacted by West Coast events company Milligan Events to provide suitable actors to play the role of MSN Butterflies to assist Microsoft in their event marketing efforts for this online service. Empire was able to quickly cast, costume, brief and direct three terrific, New York-based actors experienced in playing 'Brand Ambassador' roles. The client was thrilled with their enthusiasm, professionalism and can-do attitude.

Empire is a leading resource to communications firms in the casting, costuming, directing and deployment of brand ambassadors for street marketing campaigns.

For a private client in the Hamptons, Empire worked in collaboration with designer Colin Cowie to create an extraordinary evening's entertainment. Empire provided vocalist Patti Austin with her trio to perform at a dinner in a beautiful tented site in the Hamptons for approximately 250 guests. Following the dinner, Empire produced an intimate, greatest hits concert with rock and roll legend Rod Stewart who customized his show and included interstitial song introductions that related to the birthday host. One challenge that Empire was able to overcome was to arrange for rehearsal space at the last minute for Rod and his band that had not performed together for some time. Empire was able to accomplish this on very short notice.

Empire has many years of experience producing extremely high-end events in the Hamptons.

Working with travel management firm, Crossing Boundaries, Empire Entertainment designed and executed a complete entertainment program and provided all production in connection with three evenings of entertainment for a Midwestern insurance company's top incentive award program. The Diamond Club program was held for approximately 150 independent insurance brokers and their spouses. On the first night of the program, Empire provided production support for Michigan dance music ensemble, The Persuasion Band. On second night of the program, guests traveled to the Bay Harbor Yacht Club via ferryboat where they were treated to a dinner in a beautiful tented setting and a sunset concert by one of the Irish Tenors, Ronan Tynan, backed by a 41 piece local orchestra. For this performance, Empire secured Ronan Tynan, the 41 piece Interlochen Orchestra and provided all production including staging, sound, lighting and logistical management.

One of the challenges of this event was how to provide generator power to the tented setting in a way that the noise of the generator would not interfere with the peaceful lakefront setting or the incredible vocals of this world-class tenor. Empire's solution was to build a separate tent around the generator and treat the insides with sound absorbing materials. The result was a perfect performance with several standing ovations. On the final night of this program, Empire put together a surprise disco show featuring DJ / Emcee D Brown, four dancers in hot pants & afro wigs and headline performances by disco diva Gloria Gaynor ("I Will Survive"), Sister Sledge ("We Are Family") featuring all 4 original sister singers Kathi, Debbie, Joni and Kim, and The Village People ("YMCA," "Macho Man," and "In The Navy"). The performance kept the guests dancing and was the pinnacle of this incentive program. One of the challenges of this performance was how to mount a show on an island where all staging, sound and lighting had to be shipped by ferry and then carried up to the hotel by horse cart. Empire managed these challenges and produced a show the likes of which the 216-year old Grand Hotel has never seen.

For the 2003 worldwide incentive program awards dinner of a top global beverage company, Empire again worked to provide this longtime client with compelling interstitial entertainment with global appeal to break up sections of the awards presentations. In an enormous tent on the grounds of the company's worldwide corporate headquarters, Empire presented the modern circus ensemble Cirque to perform a series of dynamic segments that inspired and entertained the audience and perfectly suited the global themes. Performances included 3 female contortionists, a tandem balancing act called Rolla Bolla and the Tower Strength trio, a stunning hand balancing/strength performance. Extraordinary set & lighting design by Kaleidoscope Productions and decor by Bardin & Palomo combined with the performances to create an atmosphere of pure fantasy. Following the awards program, Empire again delivered top funk & R&B dance band Eturnity to rock the audience and keep them dancing until the end of the night.

For the 2003 Tribeca Film festival, Empire Entertainment was again engaged to produce the festival's largest single component, the Family Festival, which drew an estimated 300,000 visitors over the course of the one day event. This year's family festival encompassed more than 10 blocks of TriBeCa and incorporated a series of large sponsored pavilions and many smaller vendor tents, outdoor stages and activities. Empire Entertainment managed the entire event and provided virtually all services including tenting, permitting and street closure, community relations, integration with city agencies, security, electrical power distribution, decor, staging, sound, lighting, labor, bathrooms, street cleanup, video and A/V, event design and layout, stage management, etc. The key features of this year's event were a reading room and library by Scholastic which again featured storytelling by Whoopi Goldberg and others, a Bloomberg pavillion, a DJ station where children could learn to scratch and mix music, a Starbucks Coffee House pavillion which featured a full afternoon of live talent, a General Motors pavillion which featured an exhibit on hydrogen fuel cell technology and a futuristic hydrogen vehicle, an American Express pavillion where children created crafts, an additional arts & crafts pavillion where children could draw, paint and assemble collages and sculpt, and a Puppetville world which included a series of puppet performances. There were also approximately 50 tents for local merchants, restaurants and crafts people. Another feature of the event included a Tennis area by the USTA, a basketball area operated by the New York Knicks, a fencing area, giant street chess, sidewalk chalk painting, a public art mural, a face painting area, a kite making workshop, jewelry making, and dozens of other activities. There was also a main stage and 5 satellite stages where performances happened throughout the day as well as more than 100 street performers who entertained children and families continuosly throughout the event.

Empire is a leading producer of sponsored events and is proud to be part of the innovative team that presents the TriBeCa Film festival.

For the 3rd year in a row, Empire again produced the annual client conference for one of the world's largest financial companies. For this 4 day / 3 evening event, Empire booked and produced all entertainment and provided keynote and topical speakers including authors Ken & Maddy Dychtwald, Neil Howe & Bill Strauss, Jeri Sedlar and Dr. Bruce Pfau.The opening evening featured world-renowned mentalist, Michael Weber, who stunned the audience with his client-approved, custom mind-reading show. The second evening was an Italian-themed dinner, set in the beautiful hotel gardens, and featured festive décor by McNabb-Roick Events and the Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas. Empire complimented this décor and setting by booking classical Italian stringed soloists. Following the dinner, guests walked through the gardens to the Ponte Vecchio Bridge where a beautiful stage was set for concert headline entertainer, Chris Isaak.

For this evening, Empire provided stage & set design, which seamlessly conformed to the bridge architecture and outside surroundings and color schemes, lighting design, sound and all production. Isaak's 90-minute, audience interactive performance was the perfect entertainment for this warm desert night.The third night was a night out on the Las Vegas strip, for which Empire secured 100 tickets for the 'O' performance at the Bellagio. Finally, Empire also designed, built and installed the conference's Resource Center in which a dozen 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 a stately athletic club environment with custom-made wood desks, backdrops, bookcases, and custom-produced & framed artwork. These elements were complimented with a combination of rentals of leather furniture, beautiful props, floor lamps, trophies, newspaper racks, antique desks and a library area.

An email bank was custom-built in the form of a library study carral. The client indicated how pleased they were with the work that Empire had done for them with an onstage moment of recognition by the company's COO who stated, "Each year, Empire raises the bar…"

At the 2003 NYC Auto Show, Toyota needed a dynamic way to reveal their new Solara Automobile at a press event at the Jacob Javitz Center. Working with production company 02 Creative and in association with George P. Johnson & Co, LUMA created a runway of light in the dark routine set to music. The Solara came in during this blackout and undulating waves of light reflected off the side of the car. When the lights came up, the car was revealed but there was no sign of the methods by which the effect was created. The client was thrilled with LUMA's creative process and their ability to work closely with the client to develop performance solutions that meet their needs.

Two weeks prior to his 40th birthday, Empire Entertainment was asked to secure the entertainment, sound and lights for an elegant club event designed by Colin Cowie at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, DC for basketball superstar and American icon Michael Jordan's 40th birthday party. Empire Entertainment had the challenge of finding the appropriate dance band and current club DJ while providing suitable sound and lighting to fit not only within a pre-approved budget, but within the fabulous Colin Cowie décor plans. As with every event on this scale, sound and lighting must be the finest quality and appear seamless within the structure of the décor scheme, which in this case was a three level "club" created using the three ballrooms largest ballrooms in the lower level of the Ritz-Carlton. Sound and lighting, for the entertainment and décor, was set up three days prior to the event making it possible to hide virtually every single cable and speaker. Even the front of house console was invisible to the guests.

For the entertainment, Empire Entertainment selected perhaps the most exciting dance band available in the 11 piece Eturnity Band, featuring former James Brown drummer Tony Alston, and radio personality and club DJ Funk Master Flex. Empire Entertainment handled all aspects of the evening's production, including talent and stage management, coordination with the transition from cocktails to a "reveal" of a hidden dance section. The party, dubbed "Club Michael", was one of the most memorable events we've ever been a part of.

For the first annual Syndicated National Television Association Conference evening reception, Empire transformed a generic hotel ballroom into a sophisticated, elegant and exclusive nightclub/lounge. The ballroom was draped entirely in white fabric to create a blank slate and was filled with white square banquet tables, white square airport high tops and custom made white square ottomans. At the center of the room a 36’ x 24’ white bar stood with a giant white island in the center. Atop this island an array of white televisions displayed the color bar pattern that Empire brought to life through computer animation. Throughout the room the colors on the monitors were picked up and emphasized with bright bouquets of yellow, red, green and blue flowers, colored martinis containing lighted ice cubes, colored pillows, and extensive décor lighting. Along one wall, Empire printed and hung an image gallery consisting of 21 6’ X 4’ marketing images from various top syndicated television programs which were promoted at the conference. Comfortable lounge areas of low ottomans and stools were grouped around a dance floor and stage upon which a live band performed and a DJ spun dance music in front of a fiber-optic light curtain that changed colors throughout the evening.

For InStyle Magazine's What's Sexy Now Party Empire worked with Event Designer Colin Cowie and Ted Kruckle III to create a singularly sexy event in Manhattan's newest venue, the Hammerstein Ballroom. Reopened after a 60 year hiatus, the Hammerstein Ballroom was Oscar Hammerstein's vision of the rival opera house to New York's Carnegie Hall. At this elegant party for InStyle advertisers and celebrity attendees, Erykah Badu descended a series of candlelit stairs dripping with fag to sing her hits and enchant the crowd. After her set, a DJ spun a set of dance music while attractive models dressed in leather on roller skates danced on pillbox platforms beneath enormous plumes of ostrich feathers created by Colin Cowie.

Empire is a leading producer of Magazine and advertiser events.

In January of 2003 martial arts performance ensemble Art of War performed five major production numbers and four interstitial segments for a Novartis Pharmaceuticals conference produced by MJM Creative Services. The cast of six performers consisted of some of the film industry's top martial artists, including stunt performers from prime time television shows. This outstanding troupe performed in front of an audience of over 600 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.The meeting's theme, "Focus The Power" came to life on three large video screens depicting a full-grown tiger, stalking and running, while narration told the audience, "The greatest martial artists are said to have the Eye of the Tiger. Like the tiger, they know that flawless execution of their strategy demands a relentless focus on their goals..." As the shoji screens slid open, two orange and black clad martial artists, costumed like tigers, furiously twirled staffs before meeting center stage in a combat exercise that illustrated the process of two people learning from one another to expand their knowledge. Later that day, the Art of War troupe performed at the Masters Awards Ceremony for employees who had achieved high goals in the company. The shoji screen at stage left slid open to reveal a martial arts Grandmaster in a black ceremonial uniform. The stage right screens opened and four students in black and orange uniforms entered, followed by a small woman in orange silk. The woman in orange exploded into a gripping wushu performance punctuated by ceremonial drumbeats. Ending her test, she resumed her position in front of the Grandmaster, and ceremoniously exchanged her orange belt for a black belt. Master and student bowed deeply to one another. All of Art of War's performances were met with resounding applause and exclamations of enthusiasm. Art of War is the world's leading martial arts performance ensemble working in the field of customizxed business communications. Art of War also performs at special events and spectacles, and for commercials and event marketing programs.

One of the major emerging trends that Empire has witnessed over the past decade is the increasing use of special events and other forms of experiential or otherwise interactive programming for the purposes of marketing and advertising products and services. As a leading designer & producer of creative projects in these genres, Empire has become an essential production partner to PR firms, advertising and event marketing agencies seeking to deliver high return on their advertising & marketing expenditures. One project that highlights Empire’s value in this area was the recent launch of the National Geographic Channel on Time Warner Cable, Channel 65 in New York City. For this two week campaign, Empire was engaged by the National Geographic Channel to partner with several PR firms and NGC’s media buyers to plan and execute an integrated campaign of events & stunts to achieve both consumer and advertiser awareness and channel tune-in, in the world’s most important media marketplace. Empire assimilated the values of National Geographic Channel’s brand and created a program of public events and stunts that included: NGC day at the Central Park Zoo at which NGC on-air animal adventure hosts The Kratt Brothers presented animal enrichment toys made from the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree to several animals; An Urban Climbing Open House at NIKETOWN New York that featured a 30’ high climbing tower (designed & built by Empire), a DJ, climbing stunts, and footage from the upcoming special Surviving Everest.Exercise classes at New York’s Chelsea Piers Sports Center led by former West Point Academy fitness instructors Bob & Bonnie Stauffer that included an army-style obstacle course and sandbag circuit to promote the NGC series Surviving West Point. Empire also produced a signature party targeted to key advertisers, members of the press and cable television VIPs. This celebration event showed the fun and edgy side of NGC and showcased its programming. The event was held at the stately Explorer’s Club and featured an Adventure Photo Station in which guests appeared in a jungle or atop the Himalayas, live animals and handlers including a lion cub, baby kangaroo (joey), alligator and 11’ albino python, lively African drummers, belly dancers, striking décor including extensive foliage and faux zebra & leopard print fabrics, a polar explorer’s martini bar made completely of ice, and an exotic menu including tempura-style tarantula, crickets and scorpions. A series of plasma monitors & projection screens, each tastefully outlined with NGC’s yellow border, looped channel programming throughout the event. The event was attended by several celebrities including undersea explorer and Titanic discoverer Bob Ballard, reptile wrangler Dr. Brady Barr, and Perfect Storm author Sebastian Junger. The last component of the campaign was a 10-member Adventure Squad composed of actors authentically costumed as astronauts, undersea explorers, polar explorers, and mountaineers. This squad took to the streets with the National Geographic Channel flag in hand to distribute Channel information and promotional items and engage in adventure-themed ‘street theater’ in all of New York City’s major areas of public congregation. Empire cast, outfitted, trained, and deployed the Adventure Squad, updating their routes daily to achieve optimal results. By the end of the campaign, these brand ambassadors had connected with over 1 million New Yorkers. The client’s view on Empire’s performance: “Thank you to you and your team for the flawless execution of the events celebrating the launch of the National Geographic Channel in NYC. Empire partnered with NGC, our PR firm and media buying agency to create events that were on-brand, on-budget, and exceeded all of our communications goals. Empire has done a superb job with our launch. I don't think anyone else could have done it better… THANK YOU!”

When Along Came Mary Productions sought creative and production assistance from a New York-based resource to help with the production of the premiere of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets at Cipriani, 42nd Street, they turned to Empire. For this magical event, Empire conceived of and created thematic activity stations for the children who attended the event. The stations included the following:- A Magic Potion Bar: Children created their own potions by pouring different colors of kool-aid powder from test tubes into a cup and mixing it with ginger ale. It was then stirred with a glowing straw and finished off with a lighted ice cube and magical dust. -A Magic Wand Decorating Station: Children were given Styrofoam wands and decorating materials such as stars, moons, glitter, jewels and many other sparkly items to create an exciting and unique wand to take home and practice their spells.-A Mandrake Planting Greenhouse: At this station, guests put on aprons, gardening gloves, and ear muffs (to protect them from the mandrake's fatal cry) and were given terra cotta garden pots to decorate. Once the decoration was complete, our costumed staff helped guests replant a mandrake (fictitious plant children learned about in the film) in their newly decorated pot, gave them growing/maintenance instructions and placed it in a cellophane bag for guests to take home and watch it grow. The heavily attended event which included appearances by all of the film's stars, was wildly successful for client Warner Brothers.

In order to generate press and create excitement surrounding the DVD release of their hit feature film, "Ice Age," 20th Century Fox asked Empire to come up with an idea for a press stunt that would draw lots of media attention. In order to achieve this goal, Empire conceived of and produced an ice sculpting performance that took place on a stage on the sidewalk in front of Toys "R" Us Times Square. The feature of this show was a 16' tall Geoffrey the giraffe made of ice surrounded by sculptures of the other characters from the film. Empire brought in world-renowned ice sculpture team "Fear No Ice" to deliver the live ice sculpting performance. Lighting and fog effects were used to enhance the atmosphere and draw more attention to the show. Background music consisted of a compilation of thematic songs including "Ice Ice Baby," "Cold and Ice" and "freeze frame." The atmosphere was further enhanced by the live walk-around characters from the film who interacted and posed for photos with guests. At the completion of the show, the world premiere of "Scrat's" Missing adventure," a short film that is available exclusively on DVD and home video was broadcast over the Jumbo "Geoffrey-tron" and was introduced by Denis Leary who was the voice of Diego, "Ice Age's" devilish saber-toothed tiger.Ther event was widely covered by both electronic and print media.