Dentsu and Dentsu Tec needed to produce a major press event in Tokyo for their client, a leading manufacturer of electronics products. They chose to partner with Empire Entertainment through its newly formed Asian arm to identify, book, and produce a world-class talent for their event.The press conference event was held to introduce the client's new line of flat panel LCD and Plasma televisions - most of which are high-definition. Dentsu and Dentsu Tec determined that it was important that the talent be both energetic and beautiful in order to wow the live audience. It was equally important that the act successfully demonstrate the new televisions' ability to accurately represent the brilliance of color, and also the very spirit of the performance.

Dentsu and Dentsu Tec's plan was to film the act in high-definition in advance of the actual press conference. During the press conference the pre-recorded and edited film would be shown on the new screens. As the pre-recorded sequence came to a close, a massive curtain on the side of the hall would be opened, and the actual performers would be revealed. The artists would then go on to perform a couple of numbers.For this demanding and exciting project, Empire identified the world-renowned Argentine Tango ensemble, Forever Tango, whose show is currently appearing on Broadway, as a perfect fit. The raw energy of Forever Tango's dances, coupled with the beautiful costumes and engaging live music was the ideal subject for this project.Forever Tango delivered 4 dancers and an accompanying band of five musicians(Cello, Violin, Piano, Bass and the Bandoneon) who performed in front of approximately 200 journalists at the popular Tokyo nightclub Ageha.

The event was a great success, and we at Empire are proud to share in the praise Dentsu and Dentsu Tec received from their client.For this event Empire contracted the artists, was responsible for all production logistics associated with the performance, and performed as the on-site producer.Empire Entertainment's new office in Tokyo Japan now enables Empire to better serve it's wide existing base of Japan-based clientele and also to better service the needs of our other clients throughout the world for projects in Japan and elsewhere in Asia.

When British event company Fait Accompli sought to produce a major, private event in rural Canada for one of their top clients, they partnered with Empire Entertainment to secure entertainment & production services. For this event, a North American party for a couple to be married the following week in France, Fait Accompli created an enormous series of tented spaces on a farm in Rural Canada, about 3 hours outside of Toronto. The tented areas included an arrival area, a cocktail lounge, a main dining room a performance space for local talent and family performances, and an after-party nightclub space where a performance by Pat Benatar and DJ dancing took place.

Empire worked with Fait Accompli to secure a headline entertainer that would play the hits from their generation - the 80's - Empire was able to secure Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo to perform a concert of their greatest hits including "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," "Heart Breaker," "We Belong," "Love is a Battlefield" and "Shadows of the Night." The audience loved the performance and danced throughout. At one point, the lead guitarist and Pat Benatar's husband, Neil Giraldo, walked through the tents playing a guitar solo. Immediately after the performance, guests stepped outside the tent for a spectacular fireworks show in the farm fields and a meet & greet with Pat Benatar. For this event, Empire contracted and handled all logistics for Pat Benatar and her band and crew, provided staging, all concert & other area sound systems, all decor and stage lighting, all band gear and onsite stage management of the many performances and components of the evening. Empire also provided a video installation to loop a custom DVD of the bride & groom throughout the event. Empire also handled all cross-border equipment shipping, work permits and taxation issues relating to the performance in Canada.

Empire is a major producer of events throughout North America and the world and is a leading producer of high-end events for private individuals around the world.

When a global technology company sought an internationally known, humorous performer for an awards show, Empire turned to Saturday Night Live veteran Darrell Hammond to reprise his role as President Bill Clinton to fit the bill. Dressed in a Presidential blue suit, with makeup and hair styling provided by the SNL expert who developed the Clinton look, Hammond appeared at a podium with a Presidential seal and delivered a hilarious state-of-the-planet address that drew several references to the host company's business and industry. Shamelessly promoting his book and offering his hotel room number to the women at the convention, Hammond managed to delight the audience of approximately 2,000 technology partners from around the world.

Speaking in his well rehearsed Clinton drawl, Hammond delivered tasteful and appropriate humor that covered the Iraq war, the administration of President Bush, Al Gore, the Monica Lewinsky scandal and his wife, Hillary, dropping famous Clinton-isms like "I feel your Pain" and alluding to his love of women and fast food. The audience howled with laughter as Clinton shamelessly flirted with the women in the audience and gave him thunderous applause as he left the dais with his presidential seal. Hammond returned to the stage for two more segments in the awards show as himself, delivering solid standup material that also included some of his other well-known impressions of Jay leno, Ted Koppel, Jesse Jackson and Sean Connery.

Empire is a leading provider of comedic talent for meetings and events. Contact Empire to book 'Bill Clinton' to appear at your next meeting.

This July, The City of Rochester celebrated it's annual music festival's 10th Anniversary, "Celebrating the Spirit of Rhythm & Blues."Each year, the city has presented the Rochester MusicFest for its community and has grown its promotion into surrounding regions including Buffalo, Syracuse, Toronto and slowly into the national market. Originally conceived and still promoted by Mayor Johnson, who is a great lover and supporter of music and the arts, this festival has financially sustained itself over its history by presenting, along with some very supportive sponsors, such as Eastman Kodak, Excellus and local R&B radio station WDKX, to name a few, a world-class line-up of musical entertainment. The Rochester MusicFest draws interest for local tourism and enriches community spirit & tradition, and while doing so has grown to be the largest R&B festival in the northeast.

In recent years, artists such as Mary J. Blige, The Isley Brothers, The O'Jays, Floetry, Maze featuring Frankie Beverly and Ashanti have played this R&B festival. Prior to specializing in R&B, this annual event has been a world-class presentation of some of the best music compiled from many musical styles and genres. Artists such as Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, BR5-49, Tito Puente, The Derek Trucks Band, Chaka Khan, Little Feat, Taj Mahal, George Clinton, Ziggy Marley and Al Green among dozens of others have appeared at The Rochester MusicFest. This year, the City of Rochester issued its tri-ennial request for proposals for production services for the MusicFest. In response, NYC event marketing company Lead Dog Marketing along with Empire Entertainment and PR firm Eric Mower & Associates won the bid for this position.

Empire's role was to book all of the talent and do all related coordination, logistics, advance and oversee stage production and management, as well as manage all talent on site.The process of booking was a close relationship with the City's Commissioner of Parks & Recreation, Loretta Scott (who has headed up the festival for the Mayor since its inception) for whom Empire presented all talent ideas and availability. This collaboration really helped to bring Empire in as a strong booking partner and served to positively enhance our understanding of the audience, the intent and the mission. In many ways, booking this festival was very similar to booking a corporate event. There were some of the same parameters such as no promiscuity or profanity, a positive message etc., as this festival is a family-oriented event.

A couple of challenges that Empire had to overcome, was trying not to repeat artists, (after 10 years of presenting so many of R&B's top artists) and finding suitable new and older school R&B artists that appealed to the mature and the younger generations of R&B. Artists must also perform with live bands as no track artists, hip-hop or rap is permitted at this community event.Empire secured 14 bands for this years Rochester MusicFest including several local artists. Beginning with Friday nights 'Latin Night', regional local, merengue band La Linea opened the evening, and were followed by Puerto Rico's own local salsa legends, Puerto Rican Power Orchestra. Opening Saturday's line-up at 1PM, was local artist, 15 year-old Damaris Rivera, who performed a short but wonderful set of original songs, that included her current regional radio hit and also a beautuful tribute to Aaliyah. She set a great mood for the rest of the days line-up with a lot of local support and a soulful beginning to a weekend of R&B.Following Damaris, another local group PrimeTime Funk, kicked it up a notch with a full 45-minute set of covers of some of the best funk in the business. They also were very excited to open for one of the legends of funk The Brothers Johnson, who recently came out of the woodwork after 18 years of absenture.

As corporate event audiences grow ever younger and more internationally diverse, Empire is constantly delivering contemporary and internationally known entertainment to meet the needs of these audiences. Such was the case when Empire was called upon to deliver an internationally-recognized, high energy concert act that would appeal to an audience in their 30's and 40's, representing countries from around the world. Using its extensive relationships in the contemporary music field, Empire was able to quickly deliver Smash Mouth who perfectly fit the bill for this major event in the massive Georgia Dome for an audience of over 13,000 people. Smash Mouth absolutely rocked the crowd with a 90 minute set that included their hits like "All Star" and their cover of the Monkees "I'm a Believer" from the motion picture Shrek. They also performed high-energy covers like "Why Can't We Be Friends?" and also material by Van Halen and others. The audience crowded the stage before the concert began, danced incessantly once they took the stage and brought the band back for a thundering three song encore once they finished their set. In addition to having 13,000 people jumping up and down in sync on one song, Smash Mouth's set had this world class company's employees 'body surfing', possibly a first for a corporate event.

Production for this event consisted of a massive stage that had been converted from a meeting set used earlier in the program. Five massive video screens were used to provide image magnification and the lighting was provided by a rig of several hundred intelligent lighting fixtures. A world-class concert sound system made the band sound perfect. For this engagement Empire provided all artist contracting, management of air, room, ground transportation and hospitality logistics, coordination of all production with the client company's technical supplier, and stage management of the concert portions. Empire also provided a custom soundtrack of pre- and post-show music to get the audience into the right mood before the show and to keep them dancing once Smash Mouth left the stage.

Empire is the leading provider of contemporary musical artists for corporate events.

Commerce Bank is one of the New York Region's fastest growing banking Empires and Empire has worked with Commerce Bank for several years to produce high quality entertainment & events for their customers and event marketing initiatives. So it was natural that Commerce Bank would turn to Empire to help them throw a major outdoor event in conjunction with their sponsorship of the Long Island Classic golf tournament. For this special event, Commerce Bank wanted to draw 10,000 or more people to their branches in Long Island and create an all-American program of entertainment to highlight the weekend tournament for which the signature event would be held on July 3, the night before Independence Day.

Empire quickly identified The New York Pops featuring Skitch Henderson as the perfect American family entertainment for this event. The concert was held outdoors in the beautiful Lakeside amphitheater on a perfect July night. As the sun set, the audience enjoyed the powerful sounds of Carnegie Hall's 77 piece house orchestra under the baton of the charismatic and dynamic Skitch Henderson as they played selections from great Hollywood soundtracks in front of a giant American Flag backdrop and Commerce Bank branding. The show concluded with a rousing version of Tchaikovsky's Overture of 1812 that led right into an amazing fireworks display by the world famous Grucci Fireworks family. For this event, Empire contracted the New York Pops, handled all production logistics with the orchestra and the theater, handled transportation in busy holiday traffic to ensure an on-time performance, created an all-American soundtrack to warm up the audience and were onsite to stage manage the magical event. In the end as many as 30,000 people attended the beautiful concert event and the client was ecstatic.

Empire is a major producer of both private and public events.

When LucasFilm and 20th Century FOX, the producer and distributor, respectively, of the Star Wars series of motion pictures, sought to create an innovative press event, they turned to Empire for the execution. The event was held to help cultivate long lead press (i.e. press who are creating stories which will run several months later) for the release of the Star Wars DVD Trilogy, a special package of the first 3 Star Wars films. For this event, LucasFilm sought to create a high quality live presentation which would feature both footage of the new DVDs as well as presentations by Mark Hammell who played Luke Skywalker in the first Star Wars movie, Irvin Kirzner who directed The Empire Strikes Back and several of the special effects wizards who worked on the movies including Frank Oz, Jim Ward, Rick Dean and John Lowry.

This presentation took place in the Grand Theater of the TriBeCa Grand Hotel and was preceded by a luncheon in the Café area where guests viewed humorous compilations of media featuring Star Wars references. As a centerpiece for the program, Empire created a living room set that was a pure time warp from May 1977, when the original Star Wars motion picture was released. The living room featured an 'Infinity' mirror table, thick shag carpeting, beanbag chairs, modular plexi-glass lamps, side tables and shelving and a wide variety of authentic props including an Atari game player, Peter Frampton & Barry Manilow album covers, paperback books, 'Smiley face' cushions, Farah Fawcett posters, etc. Naturally, both the theater and the DVD demo room had to feature the highest quality of visual projection and audio installation and Empire worked with LuCasFilm, JBL and THX to install a state-of-the-art THX sound system in the event space.

For this project, Empire played a variety of roles including site selection and acquisition, coordination of guest room logistics, management of all A/V systems, decor, set-design, oversight of food & beverage and onsite management.

When the Brazilian financial services firm, CAIXA Internacional wanted to launch their United States presence with a splash, Empire was called in by Latin American producer contacts to help stage and produce an important press event & reception that would feature both high stature presence and fun entertainment. The event was held at the Bildner Center in the City University of New York building on Fifth Avenue in the shadow of the Empire State Building.The event featured an address by Brazil's President, Lula da Silva, a multi-media presentation by executives of CAIXA Internacional, and a performance by Brazilian Bossa Nova legend, Paulinho da Viola.For this event, Empire provided all production management, audio and backline, as well as stage management of the show and printing of banners.

The event was planned with only a few days of advance notice and almost all of the arrangements and coordination had to be conducted in Portuguese through translators. The event was a rousing success and was attended by more than 500 guests and members of the press. Empire is a leading producer of international events, both overseas and for international companies seeking to establish and maintain presence in New York City and the United States.

Empire is a leading producer of presentations featuring heads of State from around the world.

When FOX Broadcasting needed to make headlines with the launch of their new summer series, North Shore, they turned to Empire Entertainment to create and execute a stunning press stunt in the heart of Times Square. Given that the show is based in Hawaii, FOX sought to transform the busiest intersection in America into a Hawaiian atmosphere that featured all the best of what Hawaii has to offer. Working through various New York City agencies, Empire was able to secure Fence Island, a small traffic island between 45th & 46th Street, Broadway and Seventh Avenue, in the heart of Times Square and arguably America's busiest intersection.

Working with a small army of designers, carpenters, florists, laborers and technicians, Empire realized the client's vision of a Hawaiian paradise, creating a main stage finished and backed with bamboo, a real beach with clean play sand, towering palm trees and lush tropical floral arrangements, greenery and various props including surf boards, beach chairs, Polynesian totem polls and Tiki huts. The centerpiece of the entire production was a towering volcano prop, 15' high X 9' wide that stood high above the stage. The volcano itself was designed by Empire, and included smoke and flame special effects. Branding for the event was also provided by Empire and included custom printed show posters on vinyl that fit over standard police barricades, a full size surf board and boogie boards that were printed with the North Shore, FOX logo and tune-in information, thousands of real flower Lei's that had been made in Hawaii and flown in for the event as well as branded post cards and Pineapple cups as giveaways to pedestrians.

Added to this were teams of performers, all cast, contracted, costumed, trained and supervised by Empire. This cast included male and female surf instructors, a team of catering servers who passed out original Hawaiian punch concoctions in branded FOX cups, a street team of 8 surfer dudes & girls in branded beach attire who worked the busy sidewalks of Broadway giving out premium items and building traffic on the island, and a running crew, all attired in Hawaiian shirts. On stage, an awesome Hawaiian music & dance ensemble, The Tiny Bubble Band, consisting of guitar, ukulele, congas and bass performed while a cast of 4 hula dancers in grass skirts performed traditional dances of Hawaii. In front of the stage, actress Brooke Burns and other stars of the show appeared live on FOX's Good Day Live and gave interviews for Access Hollywood, Extra, WNYW and other media. Brooke also posed for photos with fans, gave autographs and even participated in some of the surf lessons and hula activities.

The two hour long event was free and open to the public, served more than 2,000 guests and created quite a stir in Times Square. WPLJ was the radio promotion partner and provided additional promotional support onsite as well as on air personalities who helped emcee the event and participated in the prize giveaway of a trip to Oahu, Hawaii.

Empire provided all services for this promotional event including site selection and acquisition, security, staging, sound, lighting, electrical power & distribution, stage and set design and fabrication / installation, creation of the sand beach, staffing, music and other talent, onsite coordination, stage management and liaison with all parties.The clients at FOX Broadcasting were thrilled with the event and the President of the Times Square Alliance, an organization that helps to develop and promote Times Square, called the event "One of the most creative visual commercial promotions to happen in Times Square for a long time."

Empire is a leading producer of press stunts and events designed to generate national publicity.

A major telecommunications company recently called Empire looking for a headline performer to act as the finalé to their conference in South Beach. The client wanted a concert act who could play songs that their entire audience would know, and who would get them out of their seats and on to their feet. She hoped to have someone like Billy Joel or Elton John perform, but those artists were beyond the reach of for the event budget.Fortunately, Empire knew the perfect alternative at a more reasonable cost: Michael Cavanaugh. Michael is the star of "Movin' Out", Twyla Tharp's Tony-Award winning Broadway smash-hit based on the songs of Billy Joel. Michael was hand-picked by Billy Joel to star in the show in which he performs all of the vocals and piano. When he performs for corporate events, Michael performs with "The Movin' Out Band" which frequently includes some well-known musicians who also play with Billy Joel. And at private shows, Michael is not limited to the Billy Joel songbook.

At our client's event, he performed a healthy dose of Billy's hits (opening the set with "Only The Good Die Young" and getting the crowd immediately onto the dance floor) while also mixing in a good number of other classic songs by artists including The Beatles, Elton John, Jerry Lee lewis, and others. Michael kept the attendees dancing for his entire 90-minute set and even accommodated the CEO who asked to come onstage and play bass with the band for a song.Michael is like a human jukebox and knows thousands of popular songs. He can perform hits from many genres of popular music, and would even be able to do a country music set if requested. He can also play solo at the piano or work his band into nearly any configuration for event spaces that will not allow for large-scale production set-ups.

Empire Entertainment, Inc. is a leading provider of upscale entertainment for corporate conferences and special events. We know that budgets are a primary concern and we are always able to suggest the best possible performer in any specified price range.