It’s been quite a while since our last blog and there are a lot of exciting developments to report. We’ve completely immersed ourselves and the company into Television production, partnering with Mike Ousley productions on the local production of “Lucky Break”, currently hosted by Brad Perry at Lone Butte Casino. I (Jeff Lowy) and Associate Producer Aimee Schwierjohn have hosted live auditions on Wednesday nights, along with the “world’s most dangerous DJ”, Rob Shakmanwith great turnout and response. I continue to function as one of the three judges along with Jan Ziff of Successes.com and CBS Radio and Linda White Wolf of White Wolf Productions, a platinum Grammy recipient/producer. The show airs on CBS (KPHO) 5 in Phoenix…and we’re hoping to renew next season at Lone Butte shortly. If not, we’ll be finding a new venue from which to air the locally popular show. You can find it on Facebook (become a fan!) and complete episodes at www.wingilariver.com.

Really exciting news-we’re in talks with Cecil Chambers, award winning record and film producer, and CEO of Triumphant Pictures on creating a Spanish language show for Univision and a “Teen Idol” show, possibly beginning in March at a local Valley mall….and potentially nationwide in partnership with a very large management company.

On the event side, we’ve produced videos for the grand opening of the new Wild Horse Pass Hotel and Casino along with a charitable effort on behalf of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Arizona. I’ll post those very soon…if not today! We also produced a completely outrageous and high quality Las Vegas-style “Showgirl” review for a promotion at Jobing.com. Check out the videos here soon….along with some pictures in the slideshow below. Thanks to Darcy, our choreographer, Kirsten and Andrea, our costume designers, and all of the crew-Todd, Chad, and the rest of the gang for implementing an on-site dressing room, security, stage and decor, and soundstage. As always, Georgia Varela, operations manager, handled all of the coordination with aplomb. If you get to work with her on your event…you’re in great hands.

The grand opening of the new Wild Horse Pass Casino and Resort provided us with three days of constant events and production. Thanks to motivational speaker Mike Miller, author of Sales at Combat Speed, and CEO of PrimoSolutions, LLC, Emil Miller of Phoenix Sound Labs and countless others for their support and superb efforts.

Andrea Vote, our floral designer, and her team, have been cranking out hundreds and hundreds of outrageously creative and stunning arrangements for numerous events. Pics are attached….check them out!

Our new showroom and foray back into the social markets have been extremely successful and special thanks go out to Goodwill Industries for giving us great opportunities to work with them on events, Scottsdale Health Care, who now asks us to organize their health fairs and the Novak, Blumenthal, and Dortwiler families for giving us the chance to demonstrate our wedding coordination expertise and creative input into their events-from linens and chair covers to centerpieces, entertainment and floral arrangements, candles….anything needed for a great event.

Lots more to come….we’re doing all types of printing in-house, created ATM machine covers for several local casinos, and are producing a spectacular Jazz Brunch in Chandler, with local luminaries like Alice Tatum, Sherry Roberson, Jerry Donato and Augie Mendoza, Tim Downs, and soon-Bridget Maynes, Delphine Cortez and Margo Reed (tentatively).

The Encore Band is making a resurgence, displaying it’s 30 years of experience and “chops” at a recent event with long-time members Greg Anderson, Randy Walker, Joe Schofield, Dave Schmidt, Claudia Maynes-Burkland and new rising local star Jermaine Johnson-discovered at the Lucky Break competition. Lots of old stand-bys but also a new Michael Jackson set, some Jason Mraz, Counting Crows, Journey, and pop hits by Coldplay, Sara Bareilles, and lots more. Corporate and social clients should definitely check out the new look and playlist.

Again, a lot more has gone on…and I’ll follow up soon with video and photos of events for local companies like ReBath, Clean Cab, and large corporate events for Genentech, Marsh (on the road in Dallas) HP, and many more. Stay tuned….we’re going to return to a weekly (or more blog) to entertain you over the holidays.

Finally, a shout-out to my son Sam Lowy, who is directing the ASU improv troupe, Barren Mind, participating in the university’s sketch comedy troupe, Farce Side, and working on his own projects, “Marvin’s Room”, Tempe’s first independent Improv group, with shows at the Madcap Theaters every other Friday night, getting his stand-up skills honed at ASU’s Comedian’s Club, and, like all young performers, working in the Encore warehouse in his “spare” time. Check out Marvin’s Room on Facebook and become a fan!

Last year we started working with Lone Butte Casino and Mike Ousley Productions out of Birmingham, Alabama on the production of a television show called “Lucky Break” as a promotional tool for the casino and an opportunity for local talent to compete for weekly prizes and a grand prize audition with record producers in Las Vegas or Nashville.

Encore worked closely with the casino, transforming their Cascades Lounge into a full-blown television studio. We helped obtain the proper lighting and sound equipment and designed and built a great stage set for the backdrop to the performers appearing on television. The lounge now serves as a television production facility on Wednesday and Thursday nights. I was asked by the marketing department to serve as one of three judges, and as it turned out, I was the consistent weekly judge, appearing in 24 of 26 episodes including the semi-finals and finals.

The show turned out to be very successful on a number of levels. Hosted by Chris Parker, morning drive-time DJ at Mix 96.6 in the Phoenix market, there were hundreds and hundreds of contestants who signed up to perform Karaoke, provided by killer DJ Rockin Rob (Rob Shakman) and be judged on a scale of 1-7 (21 being a perfect score-go figure!) by the three judges. Chris Parker was a great host and the post-production handled by Ousley’s team did a more than respectable job.

Working through a couple of production issues, and in an effort to improve the viewer’s loyalty and the content of the show, we proposed several new ideas in conjunction with the marketing team at Lone Butte, led by “Chaz” Fowler and including Lananh Tran and Larry Lynch. The improvements included “auditioning” contestants, interviewing the weekly winners and creating a human interest angle which would provide the viewer with insight into the contestants and changing the show from a talent show to a full blown “reality” show. Encore now produces the Wednesday night portion, bringing people into the lounge and taping the performances. In addition, we select the contestants for Thursday night tapings, and do the on-air interviews. Aimee Schierjohn, our newest hire and recent graduate of University of Arizona’s Business School handles all of the contestant contact, organization, confirmation, and interviews.

The first week went extremely well….great turnout in the lounge on both Wednesday and Thursday, with local singer/actress/writer/publisher, Laurie Fagen handling the hosting duties and Jeff Lowy, Jan Ziff (returning from last season) and last season’s overall Finals winner, Becky Witter, handling the judging duties.

Follow this blog for more information, which will keep on coming. We have great advertising rates and sponsorship opportunities available, so please contact us for some great deals on airtime as well as product placement and on show mentions, etc. It’s a great way to get your company’s name out in the local market on a show that is watched by locals, that has great ratings in the market and great overall exposure.

Pictures, videos, etc., will follow. In the meantime, you’ll note that our homepage is also serving as a landing pad for contestants to pick their artists and songs for the competition. Here’s a clip from one of last season’s shows:

If you’re in marketing at a casino outside the Valley area, this show could be produced in your market as well and bring you great returns on a very reasonable investment. Contact us for more details. It’s a turn-key marketing product and tool that your audience and your community will LOVE! Encore Creative helped Lone Butte Casino and Mike Ousley Productions is now marketing the production throughout the west coast U.S. for night clubs, casinos and other venues interested in driving traffic and creating brand and customer loyalty. Themed shows, like “You Wanna Be A Country Star” or other themes applicable to your market are also available.

Check out Lucky Break on Saturday nights on KPHO, channel 5, at 10:35pm!!!

One of the most unique characteristics of Encore’s business is our costume/fabric shop, headed up by our lead seamstress Kirsten Gilbert and new floral designer/seamstress Andrea Vote.

In addition to building a “wow” inventory of linens, overlays and chair covers, along with a wide assortment of stage-related fabric treatments and backdrops, our talented team has created an assortment of showgirl costumes.

Wild Horse Pass Casino and Hotel came to us with a public relations event for which they wanted to showcase their brand new property at an MDA Fundraising event. This called for a “showgirl” in costume for promotional and press purposes. The only catch: this costume had to have the essence of Las Vegas showgirls, but had to be somewhat “conservative” given the atmosphere and the presence of families and children.

Our team was not daunted by this, and beginning from scratch, designed and built a beautiful costume, which, in tandem with a lovely model, was a huge success. Below are pictures in slideshow format showing the process and the final result.

The most exciting piece of this story is that our team is now in the process of building a similar costume for promotional purposes AND we’re also building traditional and sexy showgirl costumes for an upcoming promotional event at Jobing.com arena (which will also include several custom choreographed dance numbers both outside the arena and on the ice between periods) as well as the grand opening events at the casino. For this application, we’ve applied the use of the casino’s logo colors into the design….so we have a beautiful set of burgundy and gold costumes for ongoing uses.

Encore Creative is a full-service production company, and these types of projects, mostly for the Native American casino market enable us to show our ability to build a “Vegas” style show from the ground up….including scenic design, choreography, dancers, talent, music, staging, etc. In the future, we hope to have the opportunity to create several “production” shows for a host of casino and cruise ship lines.

Check out how the costume was built and how it turned out….

Thanks to Melody Wolcott and the P.R. Team at Gila River! Stay tuned for more of Kirsten’s work….coming up in future production blogs.

Every now and then we get awfully lucky and one of our great clients calls upon us to help create an event that’s fun, interesting, challenging and makes it all worthwhile (albeit a bit on the nervewracking side).  At Encore Creative, any time a client needs a custom solution for a fun event, and is willing to let our team loose to find the answers to make an event a great one, the excitement starts to build.  Everyone from our CAD designers to our fabricators, seamstresses and our tech team is challenged to come up with something that is “out of the box” and really fun despite all of the challenges.  AZA Events is one of those clients….and their client, Honeywell is always up for something that involves their associates and families in an interactive and fun way.

Below are a collection of videos (more to come, along with some great still photos) that just start to scratch the surface of the final phase of an event….the installation.  Anyone in the industry, especially in Arizona knows that this is where the rubber meets the road.  There is often a limited amount of time to achieve all of the “looks” and “effects”, blistering daytime heat, absolutely NO rehearsal time (it has to be perfect the first time every time) and a host of unforeseen challenges.

This is why Encore takes such great pride in its team members, from the salespeople (in this case Gary Walton) to the Operations Department (headed by Michael Saam), the Ops Manager (Georgia Varela-the best in the business) and the great crew…headed up by Todd Niklas and  Chad Holland with a lot of help from seamstress Kirsten Gilbert, lighting tech, Skip Carbis and about 20 of Phoenix’s best install team.

Check out the videos…they’re in no particular order and we’ll bring you a slicker package in just a few more days

Encore Creative -Harry Potter-style Event for Honeywell from Encore Creative on Vimeo.

Encore Creative Install Video from Encore Creative on Vimeo.

Encore Creative Honeywell Installation Video from Encore Creative on Vimeo.

Check back soon for more video and photos of the actual event! Our thanks to AZA Events, Honeywell, and Marriott’s Desert Ridge Resort and Spa.

Encore Creative was named Event Sponsor of the Year at the Meeting Professionals International (MPI) Arizona Sunbelt Chapter’s Membership Rock in’ Awards Concert & 30th Anniversary.

Encore Creative’s President Jeff Lowy was on hand to receive the award while also wearing the hat of emcee.  Encore Creative’s sales manager Jean Cadwell was one of the event co-chairs that helped transform the annual awards program to a rock-and-roll concert themed event.

The Event Sponsor of the Year award acknowledges a company for commitment, creativity and stepping up support the organization throughout the year.

You can find this post at swmeetingsmag.com.

Encore has been working in the Indian Gaming market since its entree 15 years ago when it procured the entertainment contract with Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino and Resort.   That relationship lasted well over 10 years during which Encore provided entertainment from the pre-opening until the construction of the resort and hotel.  During that time, Harrah’s Ak-Chin provided entertainment its lounge for two shifts every day 365 days a year.  The Encore team worked closely with the local marketing department as well as the advertising agency and P.R. firm to promote ambient entertainment on the casino floor for “celebrations” and, ultimately, large-scale outdoor concerts and special events in the hotel ballroom.  Along with the marketing team, Encore Creative helped to develop a weekly series of concerts cleverly and with tongue-in-cheek, called “SeniorFest” during which a number of legendary performers including the likes of Mickey Rooney to the Modernaires and a host of “Big Bands” and vocal groups entertained the senior audicence with afternoon concerts.  Encore Creative developed and managed the schedules for all of the performers, negotiated the contracts, riders and provided all of the production and backline equipment in addition to stage managing all of  the casino’s events.
Since October 2008, Encore has re-entered the market, working with Gila River Gaming Enterprises on the production of two major concerts, the grand opening of the Lone Butte Casino featuring Natalie Cole, the National Indian Gaming Association with Gladys Knight, and casino floor ambient entertainment. In addition,  Encore has assisted Lone Butte Casino in producing the American Idol/Gong Show-like “Lucky Break” television show, with company president,  Jeff Lowy, serving  as one of the regular judges.  In helping Lone Butte to prepare for the production of Lucky Break, Encore was enlisted to assist in the purchasing of lighting and sound equipment, and ultimately, in designing a permanent promotional stage “set” designed to display the casino’s logo in all of the prime camera shots during the taping of the hour-long show.

Encore has now returned to its roots by being given an opportunity to book and manage the schedule for Lone Butte’s Jazz Happy Hour and Brunch.  Bringing live jazz to the casino market in Arizona is quite forward thinking of the Lone Butte marketing team, making it one of the few high profile venues for Jazz in the east valley of the Phoenix market.  The booking of local and national jazz luminary Judy Roberts along with local favorites Ken Wain at piano and vocals and Jerry Donato and John Knowlton being reunited on sax and guitar for the brunch shift makes for a diverse bit of entertainment and a great addition to the local jazz and entertainment “scene”.

In the next installment of this blog look for pictures and video clips of Encore Creative’s other participation and contribution to the Casino market-scenic installations, specialty signage and custom fabricated casino promotional tools.

Client Details
Dan Quayle’s Stars and Stripes Classic
Hyatt Gainey Ranch, Scottsdale, AZ

Supporting the troops and the families they left behind

Raising money to support our troops and the families they left behind is the reason for Dan Quayle’s Stars and Stripes Classic – an annual two-day event held in November. Decorated war heroes, Army generals, PGA golfers, sports celebrities, actors, musicians and other stars gathered in Scottsdale for a red, white and blue evening – A Salute to America’s troops – a patriotic event that was televised to the troops in Iraq and featured on E! TV.

To create the perfect red, white and blue evening for 500 guests, we set the scene with a simple, but elegant red-carpet entrance hung with bunting and flanked by two gold-edged flags. The entire design for the event was based around the American Flag. We designed the stage to reflect a more modern style of the American Flag. The screen surrounds were painted with an angled red and white design. We used white velour drape around the stage with blue and red uplighting and the room was decorated with large white stars.

We used the FogScreen on one side of the stage to honor injured soldiers from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. As each name was announced, their face was shot onto the FogScreen – then they walked through it.

Inside the ballroom, guests were seated at red, white and blue tables covered in spandex linens, and arrayed in front of a raised stage, a podium, and three large screens. To further the flag theme we set up the tables in a pattern to reflect the colors of the flag so that from a top perspective, it looked like a flag.

To compliment the patriotic, military theme 10’x10’ banners of the official Military Mascots, donated by Mascot Licensing, surrounded the room. In addition, Mascot Licensing donated a special custom coin from the National Mint that was given out to every guest.

In a brief video take a brief look behind the scenes with us as we take you through the “load-in” and set up of a concert/event held on April 14, 2009, at Gila River Casinos’ Wild Horse Pass.  Georgia Varela, one of our operations managers and producers led a team of 50 or more people in a project that included the installation of staging, lighting, sound, backline gear and multiple decor and design elements.

Encore Creative booked the artist, negotiated and worked through the “rider” and was responsible for the event from beginning to end.  In addition to the “tech” side, Georgia and her team organized hotel rooms, airport transfers, dressing rooms, RV’s for special dressing room needs and the construction of a “quick change” booth for Ms. Knight.

In addition, Gila River Casinos’ Corporate Director of Marketing, Arlene Alleman, tasked Encore Creative with “branding” decorative elements including glowing bars, color changing “glow cubes” giant spandex sculptures with the casino and N.I.G.A. logos, and, to great effect, Encore’s FogScreen.  Guests entered through the FogScreen which displayed a host of sponsor logos and entered the venue which seated 1500 Indian Gaming Association members, executives from Indian Gaming facilities across the United States.

This video is most definitely not a professional video, but, nevertheless, meant to depict the great amount of equipment, manpower and organization necessary to produce a corporate entertainment event as well as how much attention is paid by the Encore Creative team to the hundreds of small details required for a successful live entertainment/concert production.  One of the major advantages of working with Encore Creative on an event such as this is that everything from the staging to the lights, sound, production elements, and decorative elements, including “branding” and signage are done in house.

In addition, with over 30 years of direct experience in booking and producing major national acts in every conceivable type of venue, Encore Creative is not only capable of procuring the best possible pricing for all of the elements, but works solely on a “cost-plus” basis, making every expense clear and transparent to the buyer.  Encore Creative guarantees that the prices quoted for national entertainment will be the lowest available regardless of the destination or venue.

Enjoy the video and please call or e-mail  if you have any needs, questions or comments. Contact Jeff Lowy (jlowy@encorecreative.com)  or Stefanie Lerner (slerner@encorecreative.com) with questions specific to the pricing, availability and production costs for any national act.

Encore Creative “Behind the Scenes” Production from Encore Creative on Vimeo.

Encore Create Wins! – Event Supplier of the Year 2009!

The entire team at Encore Creative would like to thank all of its customers, partners, vendors and our peers for both nominating us in two important categories in a competition held annually by Event Solutions Magazine-Rising Star (Female) Reagan Richards, Sales Manager, and Event Supplier of the Year 2009.  Event Solutions takes all of the many nominees and selects the finalists in each category and then industry professionals including meeting planners, suppliers, vendors, and hoteliers vote for the winners in each category.

Reagan Richards and Jeff Lowy attended the final night celebration and awards dinner at a fabulous and unique venue in Las Vegas.  Surrounded by the industry’s top talent, our two representatives were extremely pleased to not only be finalists, but to actually win in the category of Event Supplier of the Year!

We would like to congratulate everyone who was nominated and won, but we would especially like to recognize the superlative companies nominated in the Event Supplier of the Year category.  The competition was extremely tough, as we were nominated along with many extremely talented, well-known and highly professional companies.  Our hats go off to them and we wish them all the best.

Although this is certainly not a professional shoot, we’ve included some fun footage that we were able to take on the night of this outstanding event.  Please enjoy the video, contact us if you have any questions and call us or return to this blog to find out about all the new and exciting things going on at Encore Creative, along with the many incentives we’ve implemented to help “stimulate” the economy and add value to your next meeting or event!

Encore Creative is now offering a host of specialized services, previously available only through our Event Production sales team. Graphic Design, Custom Signage, Florals, Specialty and Custom Linens, Fabric Treatments of all types and many other varied services are now being offered on an A La Carte basis!

Animation for corporate meetings, architects, designers, and theatrical companies is a well kept secret.  Through the use of animation, meeting planners can “fly-through” the custom environments created for their special event, general session or business meeting.  Architects can show their clients photo-realistic renderings or full animations of buildings or more complex projects that can’t be displayed adequately through the use of models or other static techniques.

Mark Kennedy, an Encore Creative associate, specializes in photo-realistic renderings and high-tech animations.  Here is a sample of work done on behalf of an architectural firm in Southeast Asia who proposed building a new and advanced airport in a delicately balanced ecosystem.  Mark used not only his special animation talents, but an array of creative skills that enabled him to depict how this airport could be built in an eco-friendly way, while making the presentation interesting, exciting and captivating.  Let us know what you think and how these services could benefit you on your next project!

Encore Creative-”Event Supplier of the Year 2009!” What Can We Do For You?