Dust Hires Michael as Head of Audio Division

Gunpowder & Sky’s science fiction brand Dust announced that it has hired Stephen Michael as head of audio and is set to create season two of its podcast Seat 14C.

Michael had been a producer at Gizmodo and Fusion Media Group.

Seat 14C, created by Dust and XPrize, will feature Dan Stevens, Danny Trejo, Alfred Molina, Keth David, Reid Scott and Suzy Nakamura as voice actors. It will be written by Sheila Finch, Daniel H. Wilson, Charles Yu, Kathleeen Ann Goonan, Chen Quifan and Justina Robson.

“After overwhelming requests from our audience to give them audio stories, and the success of our first series, we are doubling down on building out our podcast efforts, led by Stephen Michael,” said Floris Bauer, president of, Gunpowder & Sky. “Our next season, consisting of multiple mind bending stories by some of the most talented writers in the genre, perfectly exemplifies what Dust is all about.”

Season two of the series Seat 14C revolves around the tales of passengers on an ANA flight that mysteriously lands in San Francisco 20 years in the future.

The launch of Dust Audio comes on the heels of Dust’s channel expansion across OTT platforms, including its recent launch on The Roku Channel.

Gunpowder & Sky, a studio and entertainment company, was started in 2015 by former MTV executive Van Tofler and is backed by The Chernin Group and AT&T.

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.