Blumhouse TV President Chris McCumber Exits After 3 Years as Layoffs Hit Company

Chris McCumber, the president of Blumhouse Television, has left the company. The well-respected leader was president of the division for three years.

Current president of production Jeremy Gold will step in as interim head of the company. Gold is not expected to take over the position long-term, and the search for a new president is ongoing. During this transition, Blumhouse TV will also rely on scripted head Chris Dickie.

McCumber’s exit has happened as layoffs have impacted the creative and business affairs departments of Blumhouse TV. Fewer than 10 employees were laid off, TheWrap can confirm. Altogether, there are roughly 100 people in the company.

The unscripted division of the company remained intact as did Blumhouse’s shared services groups. Those include production, casting, HR, marketing and finance.

“I want to thank Jason Blum and the entire team at Blumhouse for their incredible partnership and support,” McCumber said in a statement. “I’m so proud of what we accomplished in growing the business and producing a slate of terrific projects. Even as our industry continues to go through massive change, I truly believe that disruption breeds opportunity and growth – especially when it comes to great storytelling.”

“We’ve always thrived by delivering what the market needs. So as the television marketplace evolves, we’re evolving too so we can focus on our existing projects and continue to do what we do best, and that’s producing great programming responsibly,” Blumhouse president Abhijay Prakash said in a statement. “I want to thank Chris McCumber for his great leadership over the past three years, building the team and the business, including getting two of our largest series orders ever on the board, with ‘The Bondsman’ and ‘Scarpetta.’ He laid a great foundation for the company’s next phase. We are also very grateful to Jeremy Gold and Chris Dickie for stepping up to lead the division.”

Prior to joining Blumhouse TV, McCumber worked for USA Network. Under his guidance, USA was the No. 1 cable entertainment network for 14 years. Beloved series such as “Suits,” “Mr. Robot,” “Queen of the South,” “Psych,” “Chrisley Knows Best” and “The Sinner” were developed and launched under his watch. McCumber was also instrumental in USA’s “Characters Welcome” brand campaign and for rebranding Syfy in 2017.

As for Gold, the studio head joined Blumhouse TV in 2016 from Endemol Shine Studios. Before that, Gold served as the senior vice president of comedy at Fox Broadcasting Company where he helped develop shows such as “American Dad,” “The Bernie Mac Show” and “Arrested Development.”

Though Blumhouse is best known for its films, the studio’s television division has had several breakouts over the years. The TV branch of the company has been responsible for Netflix’s “Worst Roommate Ever,” Syfy’s “The Purge,” FX’s “A Wilderness of Error” and HBO’s “Sharp Objects, among others.

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