New York -- American Movie Classics cut a deal withChristie's auction house to run the network's first live event, agreeing totelevise Christie's sale of more than 55 lots of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia Wednesday(Oct. 27).
AMC won't pay Christie's a license fee, but thenetwork agreed to run promos for the event and to buy ads in New York-area consumerpublications to publicize the auction, AMC executive vice president and general managerNoreen O'Loughlin said.
"We'll give it as much exposure as we can. Thetiming is not ideal," she said, noting that the auction runs the same week asAMC's "MonsterFest," which the network is heavily promoting.
AMC also plans to bid on an unidentified"mystery" lot at the auction, and it will offer the Monroe memorabilia in anonline sweepstakes though its Web site.
The network will run an original documentary aboutMonroe's life during the auction, and it will cut from live auction shots to thedocumentary throughout the night, O'Loughlin said. AMC on-air personality John Burkewill host the event.
"I'm hoping that this is a huge success and thatwe will do additional live events," she added, explaining that AMC will gauge thesuccess of the Monroe auction before planning similar programs.
