Gunpowder & Sky is a Los Angeles–based independent studio that produces feature films, series, short-form content, and podcasts. The company was founded in 2016 by

Van Toffler Van Toffler (born December 5, 1958) is the CEO of digital media production and distribution company Gunpowder & Sky, which he co-founded in 2016. He was formerly the President of Viacom Media Networks Music & Logo Group at Viacom from March 200 ...

and Floris Bauer. It runs DUST, a sci-fi streaming service featuring short films, series, and behind-the-scenes content, and ALTER, a horror brand that streams on selected TV platforms.

History

In January 2016, Van Toffler (former CEO of Viacom Media Networks Music Group), Floris Bauer (formerly global head of strategy at Dutch entertainment company

Endemol Endemol B.V. (stylized in all lowercase) was a Dutch-based media company that produced and distributed multiplatform entertainment content. The company annually produced more than 15,000 hours of programming across scripted and non-scripted gen ...

, and

Otter Media Otter Media Holdings, LLC was an American digital media company owned by AT&T. The company was founded in April 2014 by AT&T and The Chernin Group as a holding company of the anime streaming service Crunchyroll, in which the latter invested in ...

), formed Gunpowder & Sky as an independent studio. The name "Gunpowder & Sky" comes from a lyric from the

Aimee Mann Aimee Elizabeth Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released ten studio albums as a solo artist. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyrics about dark subjects, often d ...

song, "4th of July." In February 2016, Gunpowder & Sky, along with

Comcast Ventures Comcast Ventures is a corporate venture capital firm headquartered in New York, NY. History In early 2011, Comcast and NBCUniversal combined their two venture arms, Comcast Interactive Capital founded in 1999 and the Peacock Fund, to form Comcas ...

, invested in Cut, a creator of digital video content. In March 2016, Gunpowder & Sky invested in viral video producer Shareability. In September 2016, the company acquired independent film distribution company Filmbuff. In November 2016, Gunpowder & Sky launched DUST, a sci-fi streaming service featuring short films, series, and behind-the-scenes content. In January 2017, the company acquired production company Supergravity Pictures. In August 2018, Gunpowder & Sky launched DUSTx, a free streaming sci-fi service on

Roku Roku ( ) is a brand of consumer electronics that includes streaming players, smart TVs (and their operating systems), as well as a free TV streaming service. The brand is owned by Roku, Inc., an American company. As of 2024, Roku is the U ...

. In April 2020, Gunpowder & Sky formed a joint venture with talent manager and production company Circle of Confusion to produce sci-fi and horror projects. In March 2021, the company signed a two-year first-look deal with the

WarnerMedia Warner Media, LLC (Trade name, doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational corporation, multinational mass media and show business, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 ...

cable network to provide documentaries and docuseries from Gunpowder & Sky's library to

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

and

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

. In September 2021, the company announced the launch of the DUST Channel on streaming service

Tubi Tubi (stylized as tubi) is an American over-the-top ad-supported streaming television service owned by Fox Corporation since 2020. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California. In 2023, Tubi, Credible L ...

. In May 2022, the company announced its horror brand ALTER was also launching as a

free ad-supported streaming television Free advertising-supported streaming television (FAST) is a category of streaming television services which offer traditional linear television programming ("live TV") and studio-produced movies without a paid subscription, funded exclusively by a ...

(FAST) channel, on connected TV platforms including

Samsung TV Plus Samsung TV Plus is a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service owned by Samsung Electronics that was introduced in 2015. The platform was designed to provide free, live streaming content for users with Samsung devices. As of 2022, the ...

, STIRR and

Redbox Redbox Automated Retail, LLC was an American video rental and streaming media company, based in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois west of Chicago. Redbox specialized in automated DVD rental kiosks, and operated transactional and ad-supported streamin ...

Business

Gunpowder & Sky is a production company that produces feature films, series, short-form content and podcasts. Notable productions include the feature films ''

Her Smell ''Her Smell'' is a 2018 American drama film written, co-produced and directed by Alex Ross Perry. It stars Elisabeth Moss, Cara Delevingne, Dan Stevens, Agyness Deyn, Gayle Rankin, Ashley Benson, Amber Heard, Dylan Gelula, Eka Darville and ...

'' (2018), ''

Hearts Beat Loud ''Hearts Beat Loud'' is a 2018 American musical comedy-drama film directed by Brett Haley, from a screenplay by Haley and Marc Basch. It stars Nick Offerman, Kiersey Clemons, Ted Danson, Sasha Lane, Blythe Danner and Toni Collette, and follows a ...

'' (2018), ''

The Little Hours ''The Little Hours'' is a 2017 black comedy film written and directed by Jeff Baena and loosely based on stories from the third day of ''The Decameron'', a 14th-century collection of novellas by Giovanni Boccaccio. It stars an ensemble cast fe ...

'' (2017); documentaries ''Everybody's Everything'' (2019), ''Last Exit: Space'' (2022), ''Sometimes When We Touch: The Reign, Ruin and Resurrection of Soft Rock'' (2023), ''Sheryl'' (2022), ''Call Me Miss Cleo''; series ''

50 States of Fright ''50 States of Fright '' is a horror anthology television series that debuted on Quibi on April 6, 2020, for pre-signed up users and on April 13 for the general public. Premise The series features self-contained scary stories, each located in a ...

'' (2020); and the DUST podcast (2019–2021).

Brands

Gunpowder & Sky's main brands are the sci-fi channel DUST and the horror channel ALTER. The channels are available on a variety of paid and free streaming devices and services.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunpowder and Sky Film production companies of the United States Entertainment companies based in California Companies based in Los Angeles Entertainment companies established in 2016 American companies established in 2016 2016 establishments in California