Col Needham, who founded of entertainment info site IMDb in 1990, is stepping aside as CEO of the Amazon-owned property.
Needham has transitioned to the role of IMDb executive chair. Nikki Santoro, who has served as IMDb’s chief operating officer since 2021, has been appointed CEO — becoming only the second chief executive in the site’s 35-year history.
In his new role, Needham will “provide strategic guidance, consult on key initiatives and serve as a global ambassador” for IMDb, according to the company. Needham will continue to be based in the IMDb office in Bristol, England. He also will maintain his roles as a board member of Into Film and Film Independent, while serving as global brand ambassador for the British Board of Film Classification.
In 1998, Amazon bought IMDb — one of its first acquisitions — for $55 million.
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“After founding IMDb and serving as CEO for 35 years, I’ve chosen to transition into my new role as founder and executive chair, passing the torch to Nikki Santoro as our new CEO,” Needham said in a statement. “Nikki’s strategic vision, deep understanding of our customers and products, and commitment to innovation have already delivered impressive business results during her tenure as COO.” He added that Santoro’s “track record of driving growth and enhancing our products and services makes her the ideal person to guide IMDb into a new era.”
Needham has one acting credit listed in IMDb, for the role of “committee member” in Carey Mulligan’s 2015 film “Suffragette.” He was born in Manchester, England, on Jan. 26, 1967, and is 5′ 11″, according to his bio on IMDb — and he was the 1 millionth person to have their name entered into the site’s database.
After starting a computer games software business at the age of 14, Needham earned a computer science degree at Leeds University before commencing a career in technology research in Bristol, according to his bio. IMDb grew out of a personal database of movie information which Needham had created as a teenager, combined with similar data collected on the internet in the late 1980s and early ’90s.
Santoro joined IMDb in 2016, originally serving as head of consumer and advertising product and then GM of IMDb’s consumer division. As COO, she spearheaded strategic development across advertising, content, product, technology and user experience and had profit-and-loss statement responsibility for all IMDb businesses. Prior to IMDb she held leadership positions at Amazon, Microsoft and the Weather Channel.
“Taking on the role of CEO at IMDb is both a tremendous honor and an exciting challenge,” Santoro commented. “I’m committed to leading our global team as we continue to elevate IMDb as the world’s premier entertainment resource, connecting global audiences with the content they love and supporting industry professionals with unparalleled data and insights, all powered by cutting-edge technology and a passionate community.”
To mark the leadership changes, IMDb will host a private industry dinner in Park City, Utah, on Jan. 27 during the Sundance Film Festival.
IMDb, which caters to both fans and industry professionals, claims to have 250 million monthly visitors. The site’s products and services include: the IMDb website for desktop and mobile devices; apps for iOS and Android; and X-Ray on Prime Video, which provides viewers additional information about movies and TV shows. For entertainment industry professionals, IMDb offers the IMDbPro subscription service and Box Office Mojo. IMDb also licenses information from its database to third-party businesses worldwide.