Colin Needham (born 26 January 1967)
is a British computer engineer who is known as the founder and CEO of
IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, p ...
.
He has been general manager of IMDb since its acquisition by
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...
in 1998.
Early life
Needham was born in
Denton, Lancashire,
and grew up on Stockport Road. He attended
Audenshaw School and
Clarendon Sixth Form College in
Hyde. He graduated from the
University of Leeds
, mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased
, established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds
, ...
with a
BSc (Hons) in
Computer Science
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includin ...
in 1988.
Career
IMDb was started in 1990 while Needham was working as an engineer in
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...
at
Hewlett-Packard (HP).
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
An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it att ...
(for ''
Independence Day''), Needham had quit HP to work on IMDb full-time as a paid employee.
In 1999, he collected two
Webby Awards for IMDb.
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".
Personal life
Needham married Karen Gaskin in 1989. They have twin daughters and live in
Filton
Filton is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, north of Bristol. Along with nearby Patchway and Bradley Stoke, Filton forms part of the Bristol urban area and has become an overflow settlement for the city. Filton Church d ...
,
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
. He is a fan of early 20th-century classical Russian composers, particularly
Dmitri Shostakovich.
References
External links
*
Col Needhaminterview – The Open Mind, 21 February 2015
{{DEFAULTSORT:Needham, Colin
British Internet celebrities
Businesspeople from Manchester
Amazon (company) people
1967 births
Living people
People from Denton, Greater Manchester
People from South Gloucestershire District
Alumni of the University of Leeds