Jon Leland and Ivan Askwith Launch Fandom First Studio: Popular Demand (EXCLUSIVE)

Jon Leland, former chief strategy officer at Kickstarter, and Ivan Askwith, who previously led Digital Media at Lucasfilm, have teamed to launch Popular Demand, a new studio that partners with creators and fandoms to develop and distribute content to niche audiences.

Popular Demand will develop, finance, produce and distribute film, television, publishing, gaming and live experiences. The company’s first major release is “Fucktoys,” a queer, surrealist dark comedy-drama directed by Annapurna Sriram, who also stars alongside Sadie Scott, Damian Young, Brandon Flynn and François Arnaud. A theatrical release date for “Fucktoys” will be set in the near future.

“We started working with Annapurna on ‘Fucktoys’ because we heard an existing fandom asking what they could do to get the film distributed,” Askwith said. “Fans are constantly expressing what they care about, what they want more of and what they’re willing to support. Popular Demand exists to take these communities seriously, understand what is driving that passion and work with both artists and fans to bring these projects to life.”

While discussing Popular Demand’s process, Leland shared, “We work alongside creators, producers, IP holders and other partners who are actively developing new projects. We identify the right fandoms or communities for the project with them, bring in our team of fandom experts to research those audiences and then help shape the development of the project from those insights. For financing, we bring fans and brands into the project early on to finance as much of the project as possible. That provides the creative team behind it with the most creative control and financial potential possible.”

Popular Demand founding partners also include Daniel Dominguez, head of creative development, and Jacob Robinson. The company’s advisory board includes Kristen Bell, actor and director Alex Winter, president and co-founder of Image Comics Todd McFarlane, music producer Ryan Lewis, Dr. Henry Jenkins, alongside executives from YouTube, Skybound, Artists First, and CAA. Popular Demand investors include TMV and additional private investors.

“Fucktoys” is produced by Timothy Petryni, and executive produced by Petryni and Sriram under their production company Trashtown Pictures, alongside Heather Buckley of Black Mansion, Lizzie Goodman, and Jean Louis Droulers. Sarah Wielusz and Alex Hidago are co-executive producers for Atypical Day.

More projects and creative partnerships will be announced in the coming weeks.