Refinery29, the leading digital media and entertainment company for young women, today announced the appointment of Chris Sumner to Senior Vice President, Business Development & Strategy. Sumner will lead business strategy and business development for Refinery29 from its Los Angeles office, with a focus on the company’s rapidly growing live events business including 29Rooms, the annual immersive festival of style, culture, and creativity, as well as expanding distribution for the company's video offering including the upcoming launch of Refinery29's OTT channel. Sumner will report directly to Refinery29’s Chief Operating Officer, Sarah Personette, and work closely with the leadership teams to continue to advance existing and new strategic partnerships to drive revenue for the company.
“Chris is a strategic thinker and a brilliant leader with a proven track record in building teams that are curious, nimble and compassionate towards each other and their partners,” said Personette. “As Refinery29 continues to scale and develop new revenue streams, Chris’s deep expertise in the entertainment space will be invaluable as we expand our video and direct to consumer offerings, creating meaningful experiences for young women wherever they are spending time.”
Prior to Refinery29, Sumner led business development & operations at Live Nation's award-winning creative agency & production studio, Greenlight. During his tenure, he also oversaw Live Nation's original content venture with Vice Media, Live Nation TV, and helped to build Live Nation's film and TV business. Prior to Live Nation, Sumner held a variety of senior corporate and business development roles at Sony Music, EMI Music, and The Chernin Group, starting out his career as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company.
“With Refinery29’s mission to help women see, feel, and claim their power in the world, brought to life through compelling assets such as 29Rooms and its incredible video library, there really is a no more culturally relevant media brand right now,” said Sumner. “I could not be more thrilled to work with the amazing team at Refinery29, to continue to build upon the company’s success, and help us to forge new partnerships to further our mission and reach. It’s an exciting time to be working in digital media, and even more exciting to be working with a cultural powerhouse like Refinery29.”
Sumner joins the company at a time of significant growth for its on- and offline offerings. Refinery29’s video business, including Shatterbox, the award-winning short-form video initiative created to support female filmmakers, has grown exponentially in the last year with time spent on Refinery29 video reaching 3.5 billion minutes, 58 million hours, 2.4 million days and 6,673 years. Additionally, video has seen a 309% increase in watch time on YouTube, as well as a 36% rise in audience engagement on Instagram. Refinery29 also recently announced a new partnership with award-winning studio NEON, marking its first foray into feature films. Since its inception in 2005, the 29Rooms franchise has grown into the company’s most expansive offline activation, selling out nearly 75,000 tickets to date and reaching one in two Instagram users last year while working with brands such as Samsung, Clinique and Planned Parenthood. Sumner will join a growing team charged with diversifying and scaling Refinery29’s business.
About Refinery29
Refinery29 is the leading next-gen media and entertainment company focused on women with a global audience of 425 million across all platforms. Our mission is to be a catalyst for women to feel, see, and claim their power by providing optimistic and diverse creativity, storytelling, and unconventional points of view. We deliver style and substance to a highly engaged audience with our original video, editorial features, live experiences and social storytelling. Please visit
www.refinery29.com,www.refinery29.uk, andwww.refinery29.de for more information and to browse content.
