When an international beverage & food company sought to convene their global management of many divisions in Puerto Rico for four days of business meetings, activities and entertainment, they turned to Empire Entertainment to manage the complex series of events, the wide variety of talent and the issues of producing meetings & performances in Puerto Rico.The conferences were ably managed by Kaleidoscope Productions but the entertainment which included performances by Harry Belafonte, Jon Secada and Celia Cruz with the José Alberto Orchestra were managed by Empire Entertainment.

The Harry Belafonte and Jon Secada shows were staged at the Hyatt regency Cerromar Beach but the focus of the engagement was an event staged outdoors in Old San Juan in a the Quartel de Bellaja, a colonial era building featuring a large indoor courtyard.For this engagement, Empire worked closely with the client, the caterer, the designers and a variety of production vendors and talent to deliver a seamless event with state of the art sound, lighting and staging in the unpredictable outdoor weather of Puerto Rico.Empire brought in massive staging, fully self-sufficient electrical power systems, a lighting system that included a huge number of instruments to light the historic architecture of the courtyard, state of the art sound that served the needs of both the CEO who addressed the audience and the series of bands who led the international guests in dancing late into the night.

Presented in Dakar, Senegal this year, the 19th Grand Challenges Annual Meeting hosted over 60 sessions across two venues, and over four days, with over 1,400 attendees, promoting the sharing of information across global health verticals. This year’s Grand Challenges Annual Meeting was the largest to date. During daily plenary sessions, delegates heard from the likes of Bill Gates, Senegalese President Macky Sall, Comoros President Azali Assourmani, U. S. Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman, and a wide range of scientific leaders representing various fields of research. Added to this year’s event were several musical and artistic elements, including an evening concert by Senegalese musical superstar and health advocate Youssou N’dour and a performance by the Kanjele Gospel Choir. It was a privilege to be involved in another meaningful and impactful Grand Challenges Annual Meeting.

To learn more and view the sessions visithttps://www.grandchallenges.org/annual-meeting

To celebrate the premier of ABC Television's star-studded version of Annie, Empire was called upon to 'imagineer' an elegant theme. After the screening of the film, over 1,000 guests proceeded to The Roseland Ballroom in New York City, which Empire converted for the evening into the grand and glorious mansion of Daddy Warbucks. The Christmas environment featured at the end of the film was replicated with the use of snow machines that blew snow over iron gates and an antique car that marked the event entrance.Once inside, guests drank eggnog and danced to the sounds of the George Gee Big Band while children decorated gingerbread cookies and opened presents under a giant Christmas tree in the center of the room.

When the world's largest financial services company set out to produce their most important, global management conference for its top 800 executives from around the world, they chose Empire to produce the entire conference including the general sessions, the resource center / technology lounge and the gala entertainment night.This massive event was programmed to appeal to an audience comprised of highly educated and worldly people representing dozens of countries around the globe. The meeting was the first of its kind for the new Chairman and his management team and was conducted in a business climate that was both enthusiastic about the technology boom taking place in the markets and also cautious about the volatile international business climate.

For the two days of business general sessions, Empire designed and fabricated a massive stage that was capable of accommodating keynote speeches, panel discussions and interstitial entertainment elements. Behind this stage in an arc stood five massive screens displaying projection images that had been synced. The general sessions included a speech by globalization expert and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman who had recently released his bestseller The Lexus and the Olive Tree, and an inspirational and motivational program led by musical conductor Ben Zander. At the conclusion of the meeting, a simulated lowering of the ball in Times Square combined with a giant confetti cannon burst and closing music kicked off a simulated celebration of the forthcoming Millennium New Year's Eve celebration.

A massive technology lounge and resource center featured approximately 25 trade show like stations, each constructed with curved rear walls and silver pedestals, that showcased the latest technological innovations from companies and organizations ranging from Microsoft and SONY to MIT Media Lab. Empire designed and created all of the furnishings, provided lighting design, music and special effects and supported the needs for a variety of prototype technologies, some of which were being demonstrated for the first time.

On the final night of the conference, Empire was called upon to create a once-in-a-lifetime entertainment event that would appeal to the all of the participants and provide an element of fun for the guests. Empire created an original show entitled "GLOBAL FUN" that brought together over 100 leading performers from around the world, representing a variety of cultures and performance styles. The show began with a dramatic Japanese Taiko Drumming number and then transitioned to a performance by Argentina's Forever Tango featuring tango dancers and musicians. Then, representing Africa, Tsidii Le Loca, star of Disney's Lion King on Broadway, performed a rousing number with 35 Congolese drummers and dancers. Following this, the Peking Acrobats of China performed a set of their world-renowned routines including the hair-raising chair stacking sequence and a number where 16 acrobats all rode one bicycle. Up next were the Umbilical brothers, a physical comedy duo from Australia who regularly play the Sidney Opera House. They had the audience in stitches with their innovative brand of slapstick humor and their stunning 'Wall' sequence where they create the illusion of impossibly flexible arms & legs.

When Microsoft Corporation planned to give a sneak preview of their Office 2000 Software in conjunction with the PC Expo Trade Show in New York, they wanted to create a fun and interactive environment for the press and their key customers in the New York area.They turned to Empire Entertainment to conceive and design a sneak preview event that would provide both a forum for previewing the product and an enjoyable, interactive party experience.

For this event, Empire created a movie-themed event that consisted of two parts: a 'premiere screening' theater and a working soundstage.As guests arrived on buses organized by Empire, they were greeted by paparazzi flashing their photos on a special red carpet. They were then ushered inside to a movie theater that we had created complete with branded popcorn stands and bags, walk-in music, costumed ushers and ticket takers and a projection screen with curtain warmer uplights and branded gobos. The guests were treated to a brief presentation which featured a hilarious movie trailer that previewed the product. The trailer began with a version of the Motion Picture Association of America green screen that stated "The following preview is approved for all computer users...."

Once the screening was over, the rear wall of the theater was removed with a fly-away curtain that revealed a movie soundstage with three full movie sets in production, each equipped with sound, lights, props and scenery. The sets represented a western saloon, a space-based action adventure with a space ship bridge, model field and alien planet surface, and a jungle-based action adventure complete with a crashed aircraft tail sticking out of the brush. The sets were positioned around a large commissary-style cafe & bar with director chair seating.

On each movie set a director and crew of lighting, sound, clapboard PA, camera man and special effects supervisor actively shot pre-scripted scenes using costumed actors from the Gotham City Improv troupe. As the evening progressed and the drinks flowed, the guests got into the action, directing the scenes and donning costumes as they "acted" in the different scenes.At the end of the evening, each guest walked home with a copy of their own screen test.

Empire Co-Presidents J. B. Miller and David Yamner received the prestigious Emmy Award For Extraordinary Achievement in the News & Documentary Category for their roles as Executive Producers on the feature, documentary motion picture "The Cruise."Shot entirely on digital video and transferred to 35mm film, "The Cruise" was the first feature film to reach national theatrical release that was produced in an entirely digital format."The Cruise" is a black & white documentary about a New York City double-decker bus tour guide named Timothy "Speed" Levitch. Best described by the Village Voice who called him "The guy Woody Allen can only dream of being," Levitch appeared on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" to promote the film.Released nationally in 1998 by Artisan Entertainment, the film received "Two thumbs up" from Siskel & Ebert, an "A" rating in Entertainment Weekly and solid praise in publications ranging from The New York Times, USA Today and Newsweek to the Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Variety and Rolling Stone.This rewarding experience has helped Empire to develop new producing skills to apply to our clients' projects.You can visit the official website for "The Cruise" at http://www.TheCruiseMovie.com/

Empire Entertainment Co-Presidents J.B. Miller and David Yamner recently served as Executive Producers on the motion picture entitled, "The Cruise." Shot entirely on digital video and transferred to 35mm film, "The Cruise" is perhaps the first feature film to reach national release that was produced in an entirely digital format. "The Cruise" is a black & white documentary about a New York City double-decker bus tour guide named Timothy "Speed" Levitch. Best described by The Village Voice who called him "The guy Woody Allen can only dream of being," Levitch appeared on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" to promote the film. Released nationally by Artisan Entertainment, the film received two thumbs up from Siskel & Ebert, an "A" rating in Entertainment Weekly and solid praise in publications ranging from The New York Times, USA Today and Newsweek to the Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Variety and Rolling Stone. This rewarding experience has helped Empire Entertainment to develop new production skills to apply to our clients' projects.

Empire was engaged by one of the world's largest corporations to provide their worldwide management meeting with thought-provoking entertainment for their final night gala.The creative mission laid down by the executive team hosting the meeting was to create 'Something new, young, different, and forward looking...' Because of the global and senior level nature of the audience, the event created would have to appeal to some of the most sophisticated people in the world representing countries from every region of the globe. Accepting this challenge, Empire rapidly mobilized and worked in close creative collaboration with the client for many months to create and produce a 'Circus of the Future.'

This once-in-a-lifetime show included performances by nearly 50 unique artists including Antigravity, Le Clique, Michael Moschen and Penn & Teller. The tented production integrated state-of-the-art lighting, sound and special effects technology and was supported by the efforts of a technical crew of over 100 people.For this grand undertaking, Empire planned, supervised and executed every detail from creative development, site selection, tent construction (using one of the largest free span tents in North America), seating design, decor, and production design to scripting, talent booking, special effects design, onsite direction and production management. The results of our months of work were described by the client as '...the subject of great discussion and acclaim...' and '...One of the most successful events ever staged...'

Empire is a leading producer of original productions and made-to-order, one-of-a-kind events.

Empire's growing theme party division creates company theme parties for a wide variety of audiences — from corporate clients to company employees. This past summer, the Disney Corporation hired Empire Entertainment to produce a party for affiliates of their film "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." The result was a festive event which captured the look and era of the film, featuring medieval characters, organ music, fine cuisine and a venue recalling the interior of the historic Notre Dame.

Site-selection, decor and menu and live entertainment are all a part of Empire's theme party services. When it came to selecting a site for Disney's "Hunchback" event, Empire chose New York's Landmark on the Park, an historic church and party venue that perfectly captured the essence of the film. The interior was illuminated with custom-made lights and banners promoting the movie and Disney's corporate identiy.In keeping with the party's medieval theme, Empire hired actors and actresses from the Renaissance Fair to play roles representative of the film's European era. Actors playing minstrels, jugglers, kings and commoners joined characters from the film to man craft-stations, which enabled children of affiliates to partake in a variety of playful activities including necklace creation to statue painting.

Previous to "The Hunchback of Notre Dame's" successful launch party, Empire worked with Disney to create another theme-oriented movie-launch celebration for the motion picture "Toy Story."