Gunpowder & Sky Announces 6 New Hires From YouTube, MTV, And Otter Media

Digital studio Gunpowder & Sky has announced six new hires from companies like YouTube, Meerkat, and MTV as it rounds out its Los Angeles team. The new hires include: VP of development David Harris (above left), director of development Laura Prangley (above right), creative exec Sama’an Ashrawi, VP of finance and operations Pietro Moro, business development manager Lotte Van Der Veer, and VP of content strategy Ryan Nugent.

The new hires were announced a week after Gunpowder & Sky said it had acquired FilmBuff — an indie content sales and distribution company — in order to form its own in-house New York-based distribution arm aptly titled Gunpowder & Sky Distribution.

“Hiring a diverse group of restless, passionate souls, untethered innovators, and former criminals was all part of the Gunpowder & Sky master plan to launch an innovative risk-taking content studio,” said CEO Van Toffler. Added president Floris Bauer: “We’re very excited that this talented and diverse group of people have chosen to be part of our new studio.”

Prior to joining Gunpowder & Sky, Harris served as a VP of development at MTV, Prangley served as creative strategy director at Meerkat, and Nugent most recently served as global head of creator trends and research at YouTube, where he authored the first-ever Creator Playbook. Ashrawi joins Gunpowder & Sky from Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ Revolt TV, while Moro was a senior director of strategy and business development at Otter Media, and Netherlands-born Van Der Veer previously worked for Holland’s number one entertainment news show RTL Boulevard.

Feature projects on deck for Gunpowder & Sky include a skater-slasher co-produced alongside Supergravity Pictures and a film adaptation of the zombie road trip novel Eat, Brains, Love.