Gunpowder & Sky’s sci-fi label DUST announced today that it has begun production in Albuquerque and Edgewood, New Mexico on a new sci-fi series, “ALT”, directed by Trevor Stevens (Rock Steady Row) and starring Catherine Parker (“The Haunting of Hill House”, Lapham Rising), Sam Anderson (Forrest Gump, Water For Elephants), Joseph Lee Anderson (Harriet, “American Soul”), Travis Hammer (“Godless”, “Ray Donovan”), Shiva Negar (American Assassin) and Jan Uddin (“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”, “Injustice”). The production for ALT will last 23 days in the area, has employed 68 New Mexico residents, and will utilize an Albuquerque production office for nearly three months.

“ALT” is a sci-fi spin-off series based on the award-winning short film, Glow, created and directed by Douglas Jessup, which premiered on Gunpowder & Sky’s sci-fi channel DUST.  ALT, the 10-episode series starts production in New Mexico on November 10th.

DUST has quickly become a breeding ground for the best creative minds in sci-fi, and it’s exciting to be working with DUST talent and developing their ideas into longer-form series and films.” said Jude Harris, SVP of Development & Production, Gunpowder & Sky.

While treading heavily into the paranormal, everything in “ALT” is rooted in reality. It’s a story of ordinary folks pulled into an extraordinary situation. Taking place in rural Appalachia in a one-stoplight town populated by salt-of-the-earth-type townsfolk, the series follows a young heroine Val, played by Parker, who returns home to investigate her father’s bizarre disappearance. As she follows the clues further down the rabbit hole, Val and her friends will need a crash-master-course in advanced scientific theory and spiritual mysticism to solve the mystery.

The project is being produced by Barry Barclay, Tara Billik and Jude Harris at Gunpowder & Sky with Nick Phillips.

DUST, a division of global content studio Gunpowder & Sky, is the first premium sci-fi entertainment brand that reaches fans across all platforms, giving voice to both emerging and established filmmakers.

DUST presents thought-provoking science fiction content, exploring the future of humanity through the lens of science and technology. From timeless classics to cutting-edge movies, series, short films, and podcasts, DUST acquires, produces and distributes all content types.

In 2018, DUST released the Zach Strauss directed short film Bad Peter at Tribeca – a cautionary tale about an overbearing AI assistant – starring Golden-Globe nominee Frankie Shaw (“SMILF”). DUST also premiered the feature film Prospect starring Pedro Pascal (“Narcos”, “Game of Thrones”, Equalizer 2), which recently debuted in the U.S. on Hulu, and internationally on Netflix.

In 2019, DUST released ZERO, a post-apocalyptic story of survival and hope, directed by the Brothers Lynch and starring Bella Ramsey (“Game of Thrones”).

With more than 15M monthly uniques, DUST operates its own channels that are available on multiple platforms including YouTube, Facebook, VRV, Pluto, Xumo, Samsung Plus, Sincalir’s STIRR, Sinclair’s TBD, NBC Watchback, and Vizio. Through its partnership with USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, DUST premiered the George Lucas 1967 short film, Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB, followed by premieres of legendary filmmaker Robert Zemeckis’ 1972 student short film The Lift and Star Wars: The Last Jedi filmmaker  Rian Johnson’s student short film Evil Demon Golf Ball From Hell.

DUST also hosts podcasts and special events such as “The Future Is Female” screening that celebrates female sci-fi directors in film, as well as ‘Represent: Diversity in Sci-Fi’, an art show and panel celebrating and examining multicultural voices in the sci-fi genre.

On August 18th, 2018, DUST launched DUSTx on Roku, a new sci-fi channel featuring timeless movies such as A Scanner Darkly, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Star Trek: First Generation, Paycheck, and The Running Man, as well as series such as “Mystery Science Theater 3000”, “Ray Bradbury’s Science Theater”, “Beyond Westworld”, and the original “Roswell”; in addition, DUST 500+ short films by the talent of tomorrow, including Rise, Jonah, and Automata.

On August 19th, 2019, DUST launched the DUSTx mobile app on both iOS and Android, with a launch on AppleTV soon to follow.

Gunpowder & Sky is a fast growing independent global entertainment company, creating premium content unrestricted by format, as well as genre-specific destinations for the streaming generation.

Since its inception in 2016, Gunpowder & Sky has released more than  30 feature films and series, as well as hundreds of short films theatrically, on TVOD as well as in partnership with leading platforms such as  HBO, Netflix, MTV, Hulu, Sky, Showtime, DirecTV, Amazon, Facebook, YouTube, and soon Quibi and HBO Max.

With in-house development, production, marketing and distribution capabilities, the company operates as a full 360-studio and oversees a library of more than 1500 titles. Notable films and series include The Little Hours, Cam, Hearts Beat Loud, Lords of Chaos, Her Smell, Tragedy Girls, Summer of 84, Villains, Hounds of Love, “50 States of Fright” and “Drawn and Recorded.”

With an audience of more than 50M monthly unique visitors, Gunpowder & Sky’s current streaming networks include DUST, a sci-fi brand that presents thought-provoking visions of the future; ALTER, a new horror brand that explores the human condition through warped perspectives; and CUT, an unscripted comedy brand that is home to “Truth or Drink” and “Grandmas Smoking Weed”. DUST, ALTER and CUT are presently distributed on HBO, Vizio TV, Comcast FLEX, Roku, YouTube, Facebook, AT&T, DirecTV, Sinclair, Samsung TV Plus and Instagram.

Headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in New York and London, Gunpowder & Sky was founded by Van Toffler and Floris Bauer, in partnership with The Chernin Group and AT&T.