Article by Page Ivey, from the University of South Carolina website.
Sumner Bender credits a movie with inspiring her first true career choice.
The film? Sliding Doors, starring Gwyneth Paltrow. The career? Public relations — just like Paltrow’s character in the movie.
“I had taken a gap year and was working full-time in different places,” she recalls. “I watched that movie, saw her running a PR firm, and thought, ‘Oh, that’s what I want to do.’ I’m not even kidding — the next day, I reapplied to USC to be a public relations major.”
It seems only fitting, then, that Bender now leads Columbia’s art house cinema, The Nickelodeon Theatre.
Her journey from PR to nonprofit executive has woven through Columbia’s arts scene for most of her adult life, beginning as a volunteer at Trustus Theatre, the city’s professional live theater company. She later served as publicity manager for the theater, joined its board of directors, and eventually became board president, serving in that role for five years.
Bender’s career has also included directing for a local recreation commission’s children’s theater, teaching high school theater and serving on the affinity board The Contemporaries for the Columbia Museum of Art.
Now, as executive director of The Nickelodeon, she is steering the nearly 50-year-old theater through an evolving entertainment landscape — one shaped by the dominance of streaming, post-pandemic audience shifts and disruptions in film production.
“The movie industry and TV production are down 50%,” she says. “A lot of it is a holdover from the writers’ and actors’ strikes, but it’s also a change in how people consume film.
“The old model — big superhero movies — people are moving away from that. They’re tired of it. They want movies that resonate on a personal level. That’s why book club movies do really well: If you’ve read the book, you’re invested, so you want to see the film.”
Despite industry challenges, The Nick has remained open while many independent theaters have struggled or closed. Bender has helped sustain the theater with a mix of arthouse films and broader commercial fare.
“Sometimes, you have to show the movies that everybody wants to see,” she says. “For example, Barbie — it’s the highest-grossing movie in Nickelodeon history.
“But some people were mad that we showed Barbie because they thought it was too mainstream, too commercial. I’d argue the content was perfect for The Nickelodeon. If we’re a theater for everyone, that means we show content that a lot of people want to see. Just because it’s pop culture doesn’t mean it’s bad.”
Lifelong passion for the arts
Bender’s work in the nonprofit sector began early. As a teenager, she worked for the South Carolina Press Association, where she was introduced to the world of media and public affairs. Her father, retired USC journalism professor and Columbia attorney Jay Bender, spent much of his career helping media outlets navigate South Carolina’s public information laws.
Her love of theater led her to Trustus in 2003, where she started as a Sunday bartender before taking on various roles, including publicist, box office manager and stage manager. She later joined the board during a leadership transition from Trustus’ founders Jim and Kay Thigpen to a new executive director.
Bender credits her USC education — she graduated in 2007 with a major in public relations and a minor in English — with preparing her for her work in the arts and nonprofit world.
“All the while, I was working for an organization I loved and wanted to help. But at the same time, I was gaining so much experience in understanding how an arts nonprofit works — its ups and downs, and how unique that environment is,” she says. “So many people are emotionally invested, which can make it difficult to navigate competing visions for the organization versus what’s actually right for it.”
While serving on the Trustus board, Bender’s career took a turn toward education. She became a high school theater teacher in Chapin, South Carolina, and during that time, she earned a master’s degree in teaching from Clemson University. She also served as vice president of the S.C. Theatre Association.
“I had been directing children’s theater in that area for 10 years before I started teaching,” she says. “Then suddenly, the kids I’d started with when they were 8 were now 18 and graduating. It felt like my babies were growing up — and I was ready for my next chapter, too. So when The Nickelodeon opportunity came up, I thought it would be the perfect fit for the next part of my journey.”
Leading through change
Bender was well-prepared for the leadership role at The Nickelodeon, having already led the executive director search at Trustus and serving as interim leadership during the transition.
“What’s interesting is that, although my background is in live theater, all that experience as board president and interim director — making sure the organization was running smoothly when we didn’t have an executive director — was invaluable to running this cinema,” she says.
Under her leadership, The Nickelodeon has focused on revitalizing Main Street as a thriving arts corridor. Her work in the arts has earned her recognition, including being named one of The State newspaper’s “Top 20 Under 40” and appearing on the Free Times Power List in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Bender is a firm believer in the power of the arts to foster community growth and meaningful change, though she acknowledges that leading an arts organization comes with challenges.
“When you come in and try to make changes in an organization that people feel so passionately about, you’re going to get pushback — for better or worse,” she says. “That’s something we deal with as a society: How do you move forward when people are attached to the way things have always been?”