Not at all live, from New York, it's BXTV!
The madcap group at Blackstone has dropped its fourth annual holiday video on YouTube and the first since the alternative investment firm created its BXTV, an internal channel to facilitate communication with staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year's humorous entry maintains the vibe of the NBC sitcom "The Office" that it took on in last year's video but adds a bit of Hollywood flair. Spoiler alert: Oscar-winning actress, producer and entrepreneur Reese Witherspoon makes a cameo appearance in the short flick. In August, Ms. Witherspoon's media company, Hello Sunshine, inked a deal to sell a majority stake to a newly formed Blackstone-backed company.
Jonathan D. Gray, Blackstone's president and chief operating officer, appears to be BXTV's show runner, producer and biggest fan. But the rest of the staff, playing their part, are decidedly unimpressed with BXTV segments such as "Wayne's World" in which Wayne Berman, Blackstone's global head of government affairs, explains the path of a bill through Congress; a weather report in the rain by clearly drenched Joe Dowling, global co-head of Blackstone Alternative Asset Management; and Nicholas Galakatos, global head of Blackstone Life Sciences, as the science guy.
Blackstone's rank and file plot to end BXTV by giving Mr. Gray an Emmie award. (Not to be confused with the more formal Emmy Awards.)
Spoiler alert No. 2: BXTV wins the award for the best weekly internal Zoom call at an alternative asset management firm in a red plush screening room that could double for a micro version of the Samuel Goldwyn Theater, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' theater in Los Angeles.
But Mr. Gray's shining moment, his acceptance speech, is upstaged by the boss, Blackstone Chairman, CEO and co-founder Stephen A. Schwarzman, who Zooms in from a cozy room to thank Blackstone's employees. (Hankies abound.)
Will the Blackstone employees' ploy work? Will Mr. Gray put aside BXTV now that he got the big Emmie award? For the answer to that question and others, check out Blackstone's 2021 holiday video "What Is BXTV?" airing on YouTube.
