Toffler resurfaces for new studio

Former Viacom veteran Van Toffler has launched a digital-first global content studio with Otter Media, the joint venture between The Chernin Group and AT&T.

Van Toffler

Gunpowder & Sky (G&S) is billed as a global studio that creates and distributes “innovative, edgy and narrative-driven content independent of form, genre or platform.” The company said its content will range from 90 seconds to 90 minutes in length.

Otter senior advisor Floris Bauer, former head of strategy at Endemol, is also a co-founder of the joint venture and becomes president.

The news comes less than a year after Toffler announced he was stepping down as president of MTV Networks Music and Logo Group at Viacom. He was at the firm for 28 years.

“I’m like my 19-year-old, rebellious self being able to once again regress by making content free of format, genre or even a platform,” said Toffler, founder and CEO of G&S.

“Peter Chernin, Jesse Jacobs, Sarah Harden, AT&T and the entire Otter team are on the cutting edge of digital media. Partner that with the leadership of global content executive Floris Bauer, and G&S is poised to be the next great disruptor of popular culture.

“We consider ourselves to be the defiant lovechild of YouTube, the MCNs and Netflix, mixed with the subversive spirit of those independent creative misfits who altered the planet from their very wired garages.”

G&S has also entered coproduction and partnership deals with UK-based film and digital production studio Realm Pictures, film studio Supergravity Pictures and producers including Bona Fide Productions and Adaptive Studios. More partnerships will be announced in the coming weeks.

Projects are already underway, including a four-minute animation series, a slate of digital-first horror movies, 45-second viral videos featuring global sports superstars and a theatrical film about a high-school trip to the White House gone wrong.

Financial terms of Otter’s investment in the new entity have not been disclosed.