Empire Entertainment, PeakXV Global Merge
New York, July 17, 2019 — J. B. Miller, presidentand CEO of Empire Entertainment, Inc., and Mark Poncher, president of PeakXVGlobal Events, today announced the union of their two global event production agencies.After many years of collaboration, Empire and PeakXV agreed to merge in order toexpand their capabilities and global footprint to best serve the mission-drivenneeds of existing and future clients. The combined entity will now be knownsimply as Empire.
Miller and Poncher have more than 60 years of live andbroadcast event production experience combined, bringing clients’ brands and storiesto life with lasting impact. The companies they’ve built have each becomeindustry leaders in the design, planning and execution of global media andexperiential events worldwide.
“All of us at Empire are thrilled to welcome Mark Poncher and his team to ourfamily,” says Miller. “From our first collaboration in 2007 on the ClintonGlobal Initiative Global Citizen Awards at Carnegie Hall, it was clear that Mark and his team were consummate professionalsand extraordinary producers who share Empire’s commitment to excellence andclient service. We know that combining our two stellar teams into oneorganization will provide all our clients in the corporate, private, governmentand not-for-profit arenas with unparalleled capabilities to create and produce eventsthat matter.”
Poncher, now COO of the company, added, “I’m reallyexcited, as is everyone on the PeakXV production staff, to join forces with thegreat team that Empire has built. Together we look forward to strengtheningcapabilities across the organization and expanding our West Coast team to supportcurrent and future clients.”
Empire recently marked its 25th anniversarywith another consecutive year of record growth. The New York, Tokyo, LosAngeles and Hong Kong-based firm has executed projects in over 100 countriesincluding high-profile events like the TIME 100 Gala, Tribeca Film Festival,the Black Ball and the Grand Opening of Palm Island Dubai. The union with PeakXVwill contribute greatly to increasing momentum and growth. And with Ponchertaking on the role of COO, Miller, long recognized as one of the eventindustry’s top executive producers and creative visionaries, will dedicate substantiallymore time to client management and creative direction.
“Our plan is to leverage our respective strengths andprioritize three areas with great growth potential for us,” says Miller. The Empireplan calls for:
1. Increasing focus on noteworthy thought leadership programs, summits, conferences,and exhibitions of international stature and gravitas.
Empire’s experience on projects like Bill & Melinda Gates FoundationGoalkeepers, Eurasia Group’s GZero Summit, and Smart Cities NYC, is nowsupplemented by the team behind the Clinton Global Initiative, C40Johannesburg, Solve at MIT, and others.
2. Expanding Empire’s West Coast presence with full, local productioncapacity from Seattle, Portland & the Bay Area to Los Angeles & LasVegas.
Empire has long served West Coast clients in the technology, media,entertainment, automotive, digital and fashion/lifestyle industries. This move immediatelytransforms Empire’s existing West Coast team into a large-scale operationcapable of full-service client management, creative development and executionfor all types of projects.
3. Expanding capabilities to produce large scale sporting & civicevents, particularly surrounding the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Poncher and his team bring unrivaled experience in large scale sportingevents to supplement Empire’s work with sports brands that include FOX Sports, SportsIllustrated, Nike and Adidas. Poncher’s deep experience in the sports spaceincludes the Pan Am Games Opening & ClosingCeremonies in Rio and Guadalajara, the Pyeonchang handover during the Closing Ceremony of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, TheParalympic Games, the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the European Games inBaku, Azerbaijan, and serving as Executive Producer for the Opening &Closing Ceremonies of the Special Olympics at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
This expansionalso serves as an important step in Empire’s long-term global growth plan,which includes creating a formal presence in Europe, Middle East and Africawhere both Empire and PeakXV have extensive capabilities and pastexperience.
J. B. MILLER, PRESIDENT & CEO
J. B. Miller founded Empire Entertainment in 1993 andhas grown it into a dynamic, full-service, New York City and Tokyo-basedexperiential and entertainment production agency that designs and producesprojects for corporate, government, association, not-for-profit, and privateclients.
Led by Miller, long recognized as one of theindustry’s leading executive producers and creative visionaries, Empire hasexecuted projects in over 100 countries. These events have included,broadcasts, parties, conferences, launches, festivals and awards programs suchas the White House U.N. General Assembly Head of State Reception, the TIME 100Gala, The Tribeca Film Festival, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue launch,The Webby Awards, The Clinton Global Initiative’s Global Citizen Awards, TheGotham Awards, the Film Society of Lincoln Center Chaplin Award Gala, the FitchRatings Why? Forum, the Robin Hood Investor Conference, the Keep a Child AliveBlack Ball, Microsoft Connect Developer Conference, Internet Week and the GrandOpening of Atlantis, Palm Island in Dubai.
Empire projects have also included participation byartists and leaders such as Adele, Jay-Z, Bono, Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake,Bruce Springsteen, Alicia Keys, Prince, Sting, David Bowie, Andrea Bocelli,Kanye West, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Rihanna, Jerry Seinfeld,Billy Crystal, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, President BarackObama, President Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas,Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama, Blue Man Group, andDavid Copperfield among others.
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MARK PONCHER, COO
PeakXV was formed at the beginning of 2017, as apartnership between Mark Poncher and Chris Wayne (who passed away in January2019). Their clients include the Clinton Global Initiative, the Peter G.Peterson Foundation, Third Way, Solve at MIT, the Soufan Foundation, theGeneral Entertainment Authority of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, HuffPost, andthe Above the Noise RecoveryFest Concerts.
Prior to PeakXV, Mr. Poncher spent more than 30 yearsproducing events, creating experiences and managing environments for audienceslarge and small. He has served as the Executive Producer of the Clinton GlobalInitiative conferences worldwide since 2006, C40 Annual Meeting inJohannesburg, the Bloomberg Tobacco Awards in Abu Dhabi, and the U.S. - AfricaBusiness Forum.
Mark was also the Business Producer for the ceremoniesfor 2007 Rio and 2011 Guadalajara Pan and Parapan American Games, Rio Réveillon(New Year’s Eve), and the Cinco De Mayo 150th Anniversary broadcast special. Hewas Head of Production for the Baku 2015 European Games Ceremonies and theExecutive Producer of the 2014 and 2015 Rose Parade Opening and ClosingSpectaculars. He produced the Handover Ceremonies for the Sochi 2014 OlympicWinter Games and Paralympic Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies as well as theExecutive Producer for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the 2015 SpecialOlympics World Games in Los Angeles.
For more information, contact:
J. B. Miller
President & CEO
jbmiller@empireentertainment.com
Mark Poncher
COO
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
