Content production studio Gunpowder & Sky has launched a free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel based on its horror-themed Alter service.

The studio’s Alter FAST service will initially launch on distribution outlets Samsung TV Plus, STIRR and Redbox, with more deals pending, according to the company. The Alter brand currently has more than 6 million subscribers across social media services Facebook and YouTube.  

The Alter FAST launch follows the studio’s FAST launch of sci-fi channel Dust, which is currently in front of 100 million homes, according to Gunpowder & Sky. 

“Alter is committed to bringing viewers the best quality horror content in the world, from the freshest voices in the genre,“ Alter Senior Manager of Acquisitions Sophie Carroll said in a statement. “We are excited for an Alter FAST channel to bring more attention to our extensive catalog of originals, as well as highly-curated films and series. It’s a channel for horror fans, by horror fans.” 

Gunpowder & Sky was founded in 2016 by former MTV exec Van Toffler and Floris Bauer, in partnership with The Chernin Group and AT&T.

Studio Gunpowder & Sky’s Dust science fiction label said it is developing Moreau, a TV series based on H.G. Wells’ classic novel The Island of Dr. Moreau.

Zack Stentz, who worked on X-Men: First Class, Thor, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, has been signed to write the series.

Moreau focuses on world-renowned scientist Dr. Jessica Moreau, whose pioneering work in genetic engineering catches the eye of a billionaire willing to stop at nothing to reach the next step of human evolution.

“Zack took a time-honored classic and brought it into the 21st century,” said Eric Bromberg, senior VP at Gunpowder & Sky. “Together, we’re creating a story that’s scarily befitting of today’s world, filled with seemingly limitless, and oftentimes alarming, scientific advancements. Frankenstein and Doudna have nothing on Jessica Moreau.”

Stentz is repped by Circle of Confusion, a leading management and production company that partnered with Gunpowder & Sky in April to develop and produce feature films and series that are sourced from writers, directors and producers who have had their work released on Dust or Alter, Gunpowder & Sky’s sci-fi and horror brands, respectively.

"The double helix wasn’t even a twinkle in Watson & Crick’s eye when H.G. Wells first wrote The Island of Dr. Moreau, but his 1896 novel proved astonishingly prescient about how unlocking the secrets of DNA would open the door to humanity playing God with the natural world in strange and frightening ways,” said Stentz.

“And now, in the shadow of the CRISPR revolution, it felt like the perfect time to revisit Moreau and bring it into our own 21st Century world of transgenic animals, designer babies and other scientific advances Wells never could have dreamed of, Stentz said. “I'm delighted to be working with Eric, Geoff & the Gunpowder & Sky team to welcome a whole new generation to the good doctor's terrifying island.”

Add “Dust” to a growing group of multiscreen services that is focused on short-form sci-fi fare from both emerging and established filmmakers.

Dust, a service from Gunpowder & Sky, is launching today across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and the web.

The offering, billed as a “destination for binge watchable sci-fi featuring short films, series and behind-the-scenes content,” is launching with an exclusive debut of a thriller called Where The Shadows Fall that’s directed by Kate Phillips and written by Will Welles.  DUST has also begun production of Product Wars, its first original.

Dust, which has tapped the help of producer Steve Tzirlin (late of Lucasfilm and Fox Filmed Entertainment), said it is starting off with a curated selection of more than 100 sci-fi films. It’s also producing factual programming around sci-fi and technology topics.

Dust is just the latest multiplatform OTT focused on the genre. Last month, a service called Recursor launched with a focus on short-form, “hard” science fiction fare developed by independent filmmakers and content creators.

“Sci-fi shorts, as well as the overall sci-fi culture, is reminiscent of the renaissance in music videos at the dawn of MTV in the 80s,” Van Toffler, CEO of Gunpowder & Sky, said in a statement. “Dust is yet another great avenue for Gunpowder & Sky to partner with emerging as well as established filmmakers paving the way in the sci-fi genre.”