Docs Go Hollywood : Relief Group Honors Pair of Producers and Raises $500,000

The Brussels-based relief organization Doctors Without Borders crossed a new frontier Thursday with its first full-scale fund-raiser in the United States.

The group adapted well to local customs. Its honorees at the Beverly Hilton dinner were two major show-business figures: producer Lauren Shuler-Donner, best known for “Dave” and “Free Willy,” and her husband, producer-director Richard Donner, whose credits include the “Lethal Weapon” series and the upcoming “Maverick.”

Strong backing from Warner Bros. and the Creative Artists Agency helped make the event a $500,000 evening, part of which went to local earthquake relief.

This mix of a show-business crowd and an international aid organization made for an interesting gathering. There were some foreign medical personnel, but they were outnumbered by talent agents and studio execs. One way to tell the two groups apart is, French doctors rarely greet each other with “Hi, bubbe!”

One strong undercurrent of the evening was the respect the Hollywood contingent had for the work of MSF (the group is known internationally as Medecins Sans Frontieres), in sending volunteer doctors to disaster areas, both natural and man-made. Actor Danny Glover called the members “humanitarians who represent us in the best possible way around the world.” And Shuler-Donner and Donner, who had once considered making a film about MSF, stressed the doctors’ work in trouble spots such as Bosnia, Cambodia and Somalia.

“You watch TV, you see these terrible things and you wonder what you can do,” said Shuler-Donner. “Well, this is what you can do: Support this organization and they’ll provide relief.”

The dinner was done in the traditional manner. Opening remarks were by emcee Dustin Hoffman; then came a meal of grilled breast of chicken.

One guest joked that he liked free-range chicken because “at least you’re giving the bird a running start. It seems more fair.”

After the meal, there was a strong performance by comedian Paul Reiser, a six-minute video on MSF’s work and Linda Eder’s show-stopping performance of “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

She was followed by Daniel Spiegel, U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, who covered the subject of humanitarian diplomacy in detail. MSF secretary Victoria Bjorklund and Dr. Alain Destexhe made the award presentation.

Among the 600 guests were Mel Gibson, Bob Daly, Mike Ovitz, Barbara Hershey, Terry Semel, Mark Canton, James Garner, Susan Harris, Paul Witt, Ed Marinaro and CAA’s Bob Bookman, widely credited as the catalyst who put MSF in touch with Hollywood.

Guests left with bags filled with Warner videos and a pocket atlas from MSF. One man said he saves gala gift bags for his mother in Florida. “That way,” he said, “she thinks I’m doing something with my life.”