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.