Editing Col Needham (section)

==Career==
Needham started the [[IMDb|Internet Movie Database]] (IMDb) in 1990 while working as an engineer at [[Hewlett-Packard]] (HP) in [[Bristol]].<ref name="nyt 1"/><ref name="imdb bio 1">{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1000000/bio|title=Col Needham Biography|publisher=[[Internet Movie Database|IMDb]]|date=|accessdate=18 October 2012}}</ref><ref name="Variety">{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2025/digital/news/imdb-col-needham-ceo-nikki-santoro-1236277656/|title=IMDb Founder Col Needham Steps Aside as CEO, COO Nikki Santoro Promoted to Chief Exec|first=Todd|last=Spangler|website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=21 January 2025|access-date=21 January 2025}}</ref> The site evolved from what was initially his personal film database which became an online bulletin board made from simple records, kept on a succession of early computers and contributed to by several people, all of whom Needham outlasted.<ref name="imdb name 1">{{IMDb name|1000000}}</ref>

By 1996, with the success of IMDb's first film-related [[advertising campaign]] (for ''[[Independence Day (1996 film)|Independence Day]]''), Needham had quit HP to work on IMDb fully as a paid employee.<ref name="LAW 1">{{cite web|url=http://www.laweekly.com/content/printVersion/38770|title=Do You IMDb?|work=[[L.A. Weekly]]|first=Nikki|last=Finke|date=5 August 2004|accessdate=19 October 2009}}</ref><ref name="imdb 2">{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/user/ur1000000|title=Col Needham's user profile – Internet Movie Database|publisher=[[Internet Movie Database|IMDb]]|date=|accessdate=26 October 2014}}</ref> In 1998, IMDb was acquired by [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]].<ref name="guardian 1">{{cite news|url=https://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/may/12/six-degrees-col-needham-imdb |title=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 |first=Catherine |last=Shoard |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=12 May 2013 |archivedate=14 May 2013 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514020714/http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/may/12/six-degrees-col-needham-imdb |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1999, Needham won two [[Webby Awards]] for IMDb.<ref name="WA 1">{{cite web|url=http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php?season=3#webby_entry_movie|title=3rd Annual Webby Awards Nominees & Winners|publisher=[[Webby Awards]]|date=|accessdate=19 October 2009}}</ref>

In 2017, Needham removed message boards from IMDb, stating that they "are no longer providing a positive, useful experience for the vast majority of our more than 250 million monthly users worldwide".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pulver |first=Andrew |date=2017-02-06 |title=IMDb shuts down its message boards |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/feb/06/imdb-shuts-down-message-boards |access-date=2024-11-20 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> In 2025, he stepped down as the CEO of IMDb and handed over to Nikki Santoro, then shifted to the role of executive chairman.<ref name="Variety"/>