The Producers

Their Story: A year ago, both Carl George and Rich Morrissey were holding down high-level jobs where they got to take on events, but not quite in the capacity they would have liked. Then a mutual friend—knowing both were hungry for similar changes in their careers—introduced them, sparking the birth of their event production firm, Luxevents, last October.

George brings creative expertise to the team, having headed Los Angeles-based event production company Stylebrokers and, before that, the New York-based Carl George Designs, where he created events for clients such as Estée Lauder, Fendi, and the Museum of Modern Art. He left his most recent position, as director of special events at the Hollywood & Highland complex, because, as he puts it, “For me, it was an administrative post. I wasn’t creating or designing.” Meanwhile, Morrissey has both business savvy (he has an MBA from Pepperdine University and managed a vocational consulting company for 18 years) and knowledge of events. After getting involved with charitable organizations on the side and taking on responsibilities for benefits, he found that role more enjoyable than his full-time job. “I had to do my pro-bono events because it was what I really enjoyed and loved,” he says.What They Do: In their former positions, the duo tackled premieres, product launches, corporate events, fashion shows, and publicity events, and they continue to take on such projects, offering everything from design to budgeting services. Recent gigs include the Paws/LA Pet Art 7 auction and the opening-night event for the Los Angeles-Italia Film Festival, where the team mounted an exhibition of photographs from the Centro Sperimentale di Fotografia in Rome. “I worked in the underground art scene in New York for 20 years, and I’m still extremely involved with that,” George says. “I stay in touch with all of my friends, I travel a lot—you pull from all of those sources.”

New Projects: Luxevents is working to launch the Fur Ball, a two-day fund-raising event for Paws/LA and the Los Angeles Unified School District, as well as Illuminations, a 10-day festival slated to debut in December 2008 that will feature 100 designers’ interpretations of global holiday traditions and an opening-night gala with a live auction to benefit local literacy and education programs. “[Illuminations] is going to have a very California flavor to it,” George says. “Santa will arrive for the kids in surfer shorts, and he’ll come in a hybrid vehicle.”