Empire Produces the 20th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards
"What a night!" shouted John Turturro, flanked by Julianne Moore and Harvey Keitel, as the three members of acting's royal family opened the 20th Anniversary Gotham Independent Film Awards. And what a night it was - the stars came out to celebrate in force: Robert Duvall, Bill Murray, Hilary Swank, Anne Hathaway, Natalie Portman, Paul Rudd, Ethan Hawke, Winona Rider, Rosie Perez, Steve Buscemi -- all there for the intimate dinner wrapped in an elegant awards ceremony that is The Gotham Independent Film Awards. For the third year running, Independent Feature Project (IFP) turned to Empire Entertainment to produce its marquee event, which has kicked off the film industry's Awards season for 20 years, now. The event honors the filmmaking community but with specific objectives: expanding the audience for independent films and supporting the work that IFP does behind the scenes, throughout the year, to bring great films to theaters everywhere.
The Gotham's signature award is the (now classic) "Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You". The winner in this category benefits from a large cash prize, a new marketing campaign and a limited theater release. Every Gotham Awards program also includes "lifetime achievement" award-type Tributes. 2010's Tributees were Hilary Swank, directors James Schamus and Darren Aronofsky, and the legendary Robert Duvall. Because it was the 20th anniversary, Empire made a few key modifications to the event, including bringing the elegant, star-studded step & repeat actually inside Cipriani Wall Street -- right alongside the 80 guest tables -- and building a beautiful, custom-made stage set that changed color and mood throughout the evening. This year's 800-person dinner was hosted by Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson who spent the evening alternately introducing, and making fun of, industry giant after industry giant. Event sponsors included Russian Standard Vodka, Stella Artois and Dunhill.
Empire acted as overall event producer, handling all event design and planning, technical production, set design, video roll-ins & scripting, stage management and talent wrangling, event logistics, budgeting and coordination.Empire is a leading producer of major award shows.
Guests received their first taste of technological innovation at registration, where they were welcomed by name on a reactive LED screen installation covering the full width of the entry wall. A large lunch café was created with a décor scheme that incorporated custom-built, ceiling-high steel LED frames draped with foliage to create smaller, intimate restaurant-style spaces that displayed both technology and nature.
A series of breakout sessions presented content targeted to attendees’ varied interests, while imagery displayed throughout the venue showcased real-life applications of how products designed to empower developers help to unleash the power of data and reimagine possibilities that will improve our world.
Every element of Microsoft Connect(); from registration, breakfast and keynote, to lunch and evening cocktails, were custom-designed to communicate exacting brand messaging and to deliver a high-touch guest experience to this important audience. The keynote and breakout sessions were livestreamed through an onsite studio built for this purpose and content was watched online by millions around the world.
Empire is proud to collaborate with Microsoft on this annual, top-tier business communication event.
To view excerpts of Connect(); 2017, please visit https://www.microsoft.com/connectevent
