Marriott Content Studio, Above Average Debut Niecy Nash-Starring Series (Exclusive)

Marriott Content Studio has premiered its latest branded series, a Niecy Nash-starring soap opera parody titled As The Fire Pit Burns, which follows two competing tech companies preparing for a conference.

The four-part show serves to promote Marriott’s Residence Inn brand of extended stay hotels, and As The Fire Pit Burns is mostly set around an actual fire pit — a notable amenity, Marriott says, at most of its Residence Inn properties. “We’ll be bringing fire, passion, fierce competition, and maybe even some bcc’s gone wrong,” Nash, an Emmy nominee, said in a statement. “It’s going to get crazy and I can’t wait for viewers to tune into each episode.”

Marriott, which has made online video a major component of its marketing efforts, created As The Fire Pit Burns in collaboration with Above Average, an online comedy distributor that’s also a subsidiary of Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video. Marriott Content Studio, established in 2014, has also recently premiered Do Not Disturb

, a talk show hosted by online personality and singer Taryn Southern, and Two Bellmen Two, a short film starring Freida Pinto that serves as a sequel to 2015’s Two Bellmen.

Check out the premiere episode of As The Fire Pit Burns below:

Future episodes will live on the Residence Inn website and the brand’s social channels as well as on the YouTube channel of Above Average — which raised a $15 million funding round from Turner and Advance Vixeid Partners, the independent investment arm of Advance Publications, in July. “We’re excited to continue to work and partner with Marriott and for viewers to experience the genuinely funny and amazing talent in Niecy Nash,” said Above Average president Jen Danielson in a statement.