Col Needham
Col Needham | |
|---|---|
 Needham in 2002 | |
| Born | 26 January 1967 Denton, Lancashire, England |
| Alma mater | University of Leeds (BSc) |
| Spouse |
Karen Gaskin (m. 1989) |
| Children | 2 |
Colin Needham (born 26 January 1967)[1] is a British executive who is known as the founder and the former CEO of IMDb.[2][3] He has been general manager of IMDb since its acquisition by Amazon in 1998.[4][5]
Early life
[edit]Needham was born in Denton, Lancashire,[1] and grew up on Stockport Road. He attended Audenshaw School and Clarendon Sixth Form College in Hyde. He graduated from the University of Leeds with a BSc (Hons) in Computer Science in 1988.[6]
Career
[edit]IMDb was started in 1990 while Needham was working as an engineer in Bristol at Hewlett-Packard (HP).[1] The site evolved from what was initially his personal movie database, which became an internet bulletin board made from simple records, kept on a succession of early computers and contributed to by several persons, all of whom Needham outlasted.
By the summer of 1996, thanks to IMDb's first film-related advertising campaign (for Independence Day), Needham had quit HP to work on IMDb full-time as a paid employee.[7][8] In 1999, he collected two Webby Awards for IMDb.[9] In February 2017, Needham decided to remove the message boards from IMDb, stating that the message boards "are no longer providing a positive, useful experience for the vast majority of our more than 250 million monthly users worldwide".[10]
In 2025, Needham stepped down as the CEO of IMDb, handing over to Nikki Santoro, and shifted to the role of executive chair.[3]
Personal life
[edit]Needham married Karen Gaskin in 1989 and they live in Filton, Gloucestershire with their twin daughters.[citation needed]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Siklos, Richard (28 May 2006). "From a Small Stream, a Gusher of Movie Facts". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 October 2009.
- ^ "Col Needham Biography". IMDb. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
- ^ a b Spangler, Todd (21 January 2025). "IMDb Founder Col Needham Steps Aside as CEO, COO Nikki Santoro Promoted to Chief Exec". Variety. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
- ^ Col Needham at IMDb
- ^ Shoard, Catherine (12 May 2013). "Six degrees of IMDb founder Col Needham This man has seen 8,524 movies. How does he know? Because he invented the Internet Movie Database – the indispensable cinema encyclopaedia – and put Bristol on Hollywood's map". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013.
- ^ Glendinning, Amy (11 January 2011). "I am IMDb: The millionaire film geek from Denton behind the world's top movie website". Manchester Evening News. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
- ^ Finke, Nikki (5 August 2004). "Do You IMDb?". L.A. Weekly. Retrieved 19 October 2009.
- ^ "Col Needham's user profile – Internet Movie Database". IMDb. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
- ^ "3rd Annual Webby Awards Nominees & Winners". Webby Awards. Retrieved 19 October 2009.
- ^ Pulver, Andrew (6 February 2017). "IMDb shuts down its message boards". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
External links
[edit]- Col Needham at IMDb
- Col Needham interview – The Open Mind, 21 February 2015
