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IMDb

IMDb didn't start in Hollywood. It started on an early internet message board, with a thread about actresses' eyes.

Runtime
11:44
Chapters
7
Spans
1980 – today
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the credit card? his own account.

nobody knows who started it00:32

The odd beginning

It started with

a thread about actresses' eyes.

Somewhere tonight, someone will pause a film and ask: where have I seen that actor before? The answer will come from IMDb, the website Hollywood checks to see who has worked on what. But IMDb didn't start in Hollywood. It started in 1989, on an early internet message board, with a thread about actresses' eyes.

A boy in Manchester who wrote down every film he watched, a fan list nobody could search, a joke signed with a line from The Terminator, strangers around the world lending their computers, one advert that paid off a credit card, an email from Amazon, and a fight with a whole American state over one kind of fact: an actor's age.

Frames from the film

A handwritten film diary for 1980, one line per film, with a cinema ticket clipped to the page.
A handwritten film diary for 1980, one line per film, with a cinema ticket clipped to the page.
A green-screen terminal showing a reply in a thread called "Those Eyes". Our recreation, not the real post.
A green-screen terminal showing a reply in a thread called "Those Eyes". Our recreation, not the real post.
A pyramid of computer screens, each holding part of the film list.
A pyramid of computer screens, each holding part of the film list.
A small screen with the IMDb logo beside a map of California.
A small screen with the IMDb logo beside a map of California.

Chapters

  1. 00The List0:00
  2. 01The Film Diary1:05
  3. 02Who's Gonna Care?3:16
  4. 03The Ad5:26
  5. 04The Memory7:38
  6. 05Forget Me8:35
  7. 06The Answer10:25

A note on accuracy

Nobody knows who started the "Those Eyes" thread; Col Needham did not. Col's childhood memories, the credit card, the first advert and the Amazon email are his own accounts, told later. The hundred-visits day is IMDb's own history. IMDb's own price in 1998 was never disclosed; the reported $55 million covered three companies. The actress who sued is not named. Dialogue is dramatised: Col's lines are from interviews (LA Times and The Guardian, 2013), and the court's line is read from the 2020 Ninth Circuit opinion.

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Sources

13 cited
  1. 01rec.arts.movies on Usenet (Google Groups archive), 1989–1990
  2. 02IMDb: "The History of the Internet Movie Database" (archived)
  3. 03IMDb Press Room: About and Leadership
  4. 04Amazon.com SEC filings (1998)
  5. 05IMDb.com v. Becerra, Ninth Circuit opinion (2020)
  6. 06Hoang v. Amazon.com, Ninth Circuit memorandum (2015)
  7. 07Los Angeles Times (2013): Col Needham profile
  8. 08The Guardian (2013): "Six degrees of Col Needham"
  9. 09BBC News (2013)
  10. 10CBS News (2016): "The man behind IMDb"
  11. 11The Independent (2015)
  12. 12TIME (2015): IMDb at 25
  13. 13TechCrunch (2025): founder steps down after 35 years

IMDb and IMDbPro are trademarks of IMDb.com, Inc., an Amazon company; Amazon is a trademark of Amazon.com, Inc. Film titles are named for commentary only. Logos are shown for identification only. This is an independent documentary, not affiliated with or endorsed by any of these companies.

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