Heal the Bay’s ‘Top’ Honoree

As founder of Over the Top Productions, an event planning firm, Luann Laval Williams knows how to throw a really big party. On Thursday, May 20, Heal the Bay will throw her a party when they honor the longtime Pacific Palisades resident for her invaluable assistance and expertise in mounting large-scale events for the nonprofit. This year’s ‘Bring Back the Beach,’ its 25th anniversary fundraiser, will also honor actor Nicolas Cage (‘Kick-Ass’), businessman Jack Baylis, and The Walt Disney Company. It wasn’t long ago that Williams helped mount Heal the Bay’s 20th anniversary fundraising gala. ‘Development is where I’ve focused at Heal the Bay,’ says Williams. The 2005 event was the tipping point. ‘Every year, the dinner got bigger and better. With the 20th, [Heal the Bay became] competitive in that world of fundraising.’ In 2003, Williams started Over the Top Productions, which plans parties for private individuals and nonprofits in Pacific Palisades and beyond. She has coordinated festivities on a ranch in Paso Robles, and at the Ojai Valley Inn. Here in the Palisades, she once staged a dinner party for 20 inside a barn. ‘It’s pretty much word of mouth,’ says the party coordinator, who does not even have a Web site to publicize her business. Williams has had her share of moments gone awry on the job. But it comes with the territory. ‘We did a party at the Bel-Air Bay Club,’ she recalls. ‘We had thought they were providing individual cakes that were supposed to come out with the waiters. At the beginning of the event they asked, ‘When will you be bringing in your cakes?’ I said, ‘You’re kidding!’ Their people and our people ran all over town looking for small cakes. It was a nightmare, but it turned out fine. But there’s always something.’ Her first event was at the Bay Club: a surprise party for pop singer Richard Marx, thrown by his wife, on the occasion of his 40th birthday. This happening, Williams says, put Over the Top on the map. ‘We had fireworks,’ she recalls. ‘It set the bar [for Over the Top’s productions].’ At Marx’s party, Williams coordinated a band to perform. Of course, Marx and other high-profile musicians in attendance leapt on stage to join in. Over the Top brings out her creativity. For a luau-themed party (also at the Bay Club), ‘I sent a pineapple as an invitation. I like to find an element that’s different.’ Business, she says, has slowed since 2009, due to the economy. ‘Even if they can afford it, they’re not [throwing parties like they used to],’ Williams says. ‘We’re on the rise now, but certainly people have been more hesitant and conservative.’ Williams saw the need to expand the fundraiser’s scope and scale when she coordinated the 20th fundraiser at Casa del Mar Hotel in Santa Monica. ‘We had two large tents in the parking area, one for the guests, one for the stage,’ Williams says. ‘Hootie and the Blowfish performed. More than 1,100 guests came. It raised more funds because certainly we had more people attending and more media attention. [Celebrities and board members such as] Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Amy Smart have brought a lot of attention. ‘I have enthusiasm for Heal the Bay and it has never waned,’ she says. ‘My good friend [actress] Julia Louis-Dreyfus brought me to an event. I joined the board in 1998. ‘I didn’t want to sit on a board and be just a name only. I wanted to be on a board where I could get my hands dirty. All of the people on that board do the same thing. They welcomed me with open arms.’ It’s easy to see why Williams is involved with Heal. ‘I love the ocean,’ she says. ‘I see it every time I drive down Chautauqua. When I realized that the ocean is so beautiful on the outside and not on the inside, I wasn’t thrilled by that. The ocean, in fact, is what brought Williams and her husband, Bob Williams, from Berkeley, where Bob finished law school, to Pacific Palisades as residents. Bob, owner of Conversive Software, a customer-service software company, no longer practices law. ‘He’s in lawyer recovery,’ his wife jokes. ‘We wanted to be near the ocean and as remote as an L.A.-based family can be, so we found the Palisades to have the charm we couldn’t find anywhere else,’ says Williams. Williams grew up in Fresno, where her mother was a high school teacher and her father founded Claude Laval Corporation, a water filtration company. Married for 22 years, Luann and her husband have lived in the Huntington for 20 years. They have two teenage boys attending Windward School: Nick, 18, and Chase, 15. ‘Heal the Bay started out in the back room at Dorothy Green’s home,’ Williams says, ‘and every cent of every dollar earned goes to what they do. That’s why development was such an issue with me. We really needed to get [their message out].’ Ticket information: healthebay.org/events/bbb/2010/about.asp