Nickelodeon EVP Talent, Music & Events Shelly Sumpter Gillyard Exits

EXCLUSIVE: Another longtime senior Nickelodeon executive is departing the Viacom network, which has been revamping its programming team under new president Brian Robbins.

I have learned that Shelly Sumpter Gillyard, EVP Talent, Music and Events and a 19-year Nickelodeon veteran, has left the cable network. I hear a replacement will be named shortly.

She joins Elizabeth Murray, who recently stepped down as EVP Programming and Content Strategy. She was replaced last week by former Disney Channels Worldwide exec Paul DeBenedittis.

Since he took over Nickelodeon in October, succeeding Cyma Zarghami, Robbins also brought in longtime close associate Shauna Phelan in the newly created position of SVP Live-Action Scripted Content, and Oscar-nominated producer Ramsey Naito as EVP Animation Production and Development. Naito replaced Chris Viscardi, who segued to producing.

Additionally, as part of the continuing restructuring at the Viacom cable group, Nickelodeon EVPs Bronwen O’Keefe and Lee Ann Chmielewski-Larsen, were let go shortly before Robbins joined the network. O’Keefe had been with the company for 20 years; Chmielewski-Larsen had been with Nick for 27 years.

Sumpter Gillyard was upped from SVP Talent to EVP in 2017, reporting to Zarghami. She oversaw all talent relations across live TV events, music and live-action programming for all the Nickelodeon brands.

Sumpter Gillyard worked with such tentpole events as the Kids’ Choice Awards, Kids’ Choice Sports and Nickelodeon HALO Awards. Additionally, she worked with such live-action series as Henry Danger, Game Shakers, The Thundermans and Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn.

Sumpter Gillyard initially joined the Nickelodeon talent department as a manager in 1997. Prior to that, she was director of publicity for The Steve Rifkind Company and an account executive at Cathcart Public Relations.