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.

For a private client's 50th birthday party, Empire staged an elaborate and lavish full-day murder mystery at one of the world's top five resorts, and former Rockefeller country estate, The Point Resort in Saranac Lake, NY. The mystery was based on "Gosford Park" and entitled 'Foul Play at the Point.' A cast of 10 professional actors, 20 guests (who each had their own custom-written role), dozens of authentic period costumes and the use of many historically accurate props such as a working Victrola & original 78's, classic cars, lake boats, as well as live performances of 20's jazz, set the scene convincingly in the 1920s. The 12 hour murder mystery included a shooting party, a luncheon, a 'murder' and a surprise-filled dinner at which nothing was as it seemed and the mystery was solved.

When client J. P. Morgan held a special family premiere event at SONY Lincoln Plaza cinemas for the release of the first Harry Potter film, Empire was contracted to create a magical, thematic reception at the adjoining Reebok Sports Club for 600 people. For this parents & children event, Empire created a custom entry façade of THE HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY. Once inside Empire designed, produced and staffed a series of children's craft & magic areas which included a "Design your own Magic Wand," station and an area where children could learn to do sleight-of-hand magical illusions themselves. Thematic Buffet Decorations that included clusters of magic wands, wizard hats, volumes of books, owls, golden chalices, eyeglasses, quidditch, broomsticks, the Invisible Cloak, and the Sorting Hat. Empire also provided an entry façade that guests passed through on their way into the movie theater.

Empire often works with clients like J. P. Morgan to create exciting and innovative customer loyalty events that have a real, positive impact on our client's bottom lines.