Netflix’s “Buying Beverly Hills” reality television show will make its debut Nov. 4, and the stars of the series held a cast party the previous night at one of their sets; the Beverly Hills headquarters of real estate brokerage The Agency.
With drinks flowing and DJ Mer Bear spinning tunes, Mauricio Umansky, The Agency’s CEO and star of the series, teased cast members about opening night jitters.
The Beverly Hills headquarters of real estate brokerage The Agency (Courtesy of Netflix)
“You have no idea what you are in for. Tomorrow you’ll wake up and see a lot more followers and all kinds of crazy shit. People will love you. People will hate you. People will have an opinion on everything you do from now on,” he said.
He also told his staff and cast he was not interested in starring on a reality show just for the sake of being on TV. He wanted a show that would lift the visibility of his already prominent firm.
“I wanted this to be super real. I wanted to show amazing real estate. I wanted to have a show that showed real estate transactions,” he said.
In a talk with The Real Deal, Umansky said that the show does not get into pedestrian real estate tasks, such as inspection reports, but it also does not make the real estate agent’s job look like a non-stop party.
Mauricio Umansky (Photo by Andrew Asch/The Real Deal)
“We don’t edit anything out. The cast is vulnerable. They put themselves out on the line. We watch them make mistakes,” he said.
He also was mindful that it was the show’s job to have a good time.
“There’s amazing real estate porn on the show,” Umansky said. One episode features a trip to La Fin, the $139 million mansion located at 1200 Bel Air Road.
Circulating among the party guests were cast members Farah Brittany, Allie Lutz Rosenberger, Melissa Platt, Santiago Arana, Brandon Graves, Jon Grauman, Ben Belack, Joey Ben-Zvi, Sonika Vaid, Allie Lutz, and Alexia Umansky.
One of the series’ main storylines depicts Alexia Umansky’s progress at The Agency. Alexia, daughter of Mauricio and his wife Kyle Richards, frequently appeared on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”
“More than half of my life is on TV. But not like this.” she said. “With ‘Housewives,’ I was on the sidelines. We were comforting our mom. Now we have all of this focus on our career and our drama. It’s not comfortable. But I did my best to be vulnerable and be honest,” she said.
Alexia and Mauricio Umansky (Photo by Andrew Asch/The Real Deal)
Umansky said while the show will be a boost for the Agency, it doesn’t guarantee success in the real estate business. He told his cast members that television is a side hustle.
“Don’t let it get to your head,” he explained. “Your job is selling real estate.”
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