Gunpowder & Sky, the roughly one-year-old digital studio founded by former top execs from Viacom and Endemol — Van Toffler and Floris Bauer, respectively — have acquired Supergravity Pictures, which is behind films like The Chosen and Gayby Baby, for an undisclosed sum.
Gunpowder & Sky initially tendered an equity investment in Supergravity in July 2015 via Otter Media, a joint venture between AT&T and The Chernin Group, which helped co-found Gunpowder alongside Toffler and Bauer. Gunpowder and Supergravity also announced plans to co-produce a slasher film called Skate Or Die last June. The two companies are also teaming on a project called Team Nocuous about the world of competitive gaming in collaboration with the Fine Brothers and others.
“Since making the investment, Supergravity has made great progress; building the team, developing, selling, and producing more series and films, and launching Antigravity, their marketing arm,” Bauer said in a statement. Antigravity has helped market several YouTube Red originals, including The Thinning, Fight Of The Living Dead, and Vlogumentary. In May, Supergravity also formed Red Sun Entertainment, a talent management division.
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“Gunpowder & Sky is the perfect home for Supergravity and the combined teams and capabilities will no doubt lead to even greater success,” said founders Max Benator and Marc Hustvedt, who are shifting from executive to production roles across several existing projects. [Full disclosure: Hustvedt is also a co-founder of Tubefilter.]
Gunpowder & Sky is on an acquisition and investment spree, having purchased FilmBuff, an indie content sales and distribution company, in September. Gunpowder has also tendered investments in Cut, Shareability, and Realm Pictures. Other projects on tap at the studio include the launch of a multi-platform sci-fi brand called Dust, a new comedic brand in partnership with Caviar called WeatherFrom, and the development of three films: Eat, Brains, Love; DC Trip; and Paperchase.
