(ATLANTA, Ga.) – Gallery 63 on Roswell Road in Atlanta – one of the Southeast’s premier auction houses – will be the focus of a new reality series on The Discovery Channel. The new show will be called Auction King and is set to debut sometime in May. Filming began on Feb. 25 at Gallery 63’s showroom, at 4577 Roswell Road, in preparation for their Mar. 7 auction.
“Anyone with a quality item, estate or collection can become part of television history by bringing what they’ve got here to the gallery,” said Paul Brown of Gallery 63. “We’ll be receiving merchandise, and the cameras will be rolling, between February 24th and March 5th, Monday through Friday, from 9-4. For larger pick-ups, people can call us, at 404-252-2555.”
Mr. Brown said he thought it was a crank call when The Discovery Channel phoned him five months ago to see if he’d be interested in the project. “I thought they were trying to sell me something,” he recalled with a laugh. “I get calls all the time, from people coming at me with all kinds of pitches. I cut them short, told them I wasn’t interested and pretty much forgot about it.”
Luckily for Paul, Discovery wasn’t so easily spurned. They called him back about a week later and explained that they were serious about the possibility of featuring him and his auction house in a reality show. “When I realized they were on the level, I got excited,” Mr. Brown said. “Discovery Channel is a great network, with a great lineup of shows. I can’t wait to get started.”
But before they committed to Gallery 63, Discovery asked Mr. Brown to jump through a few preliminary hoops. First he had to send in photos of himself and the staff to make sure everybody was telegenic (they were). Then he had to keep an ongoing journal – a diary of day-to-day activities – to make sure the company was a good fit for the producers’ vision (it was).
After that, Mr. Brown was sent a camcorder by Discovery and asked to shoot some in-house footage, which was sent in and reviewed. And finally, a team from Discovery visited the gallery, mike’d everybody up and shot some footage of their own. But even then, the idea had to be pitched to the Discovery braintrust. They liked what they saw and green-lighted 13 episodes.
Auction King will star Paul Brown and his staff as they interact with consignors and customers and explore the varied and wondrous treasures that turn up at the gallery. “Of course,” Mr. Brown pointed out, “the real stars of Auction King will be the consignors who bring us their treasures, and the eclectic mix of types who show up on auction day to bid. There’s nothing quite like an auction. Auctions are like people – no two are alike. Strategy and egos come into play when two or more bidders hunker down and compete for the same prize. It’s all very exciting.”
Discovery Channel is home to some of the most popular programs on cable, shows like Deadliest Catch, Dirty Jobs, American Loggers, Cash Cab, Ghost Lab, Mythbusters, Pitchmen, Raging Planet and Storm Chasers. “Ideally, we’d like if if Auction King came on right after one of the higher-rated shows, like Mythbusters, Dirty Jobs or Deadliest Catch,” Mr. Brown said.
Gallery 63 is always accepting quality consignments for future sales, including the Mar. 7 event that will be on the season premiere of Auction King. To consign an item, estate or collection, you may call them at (404) 252-2555, or e-mail them at [email protected].
To learn more about Gallery 63 and its calendar of upcoming events, log on to www.gallery63.net
