I’m Editor-At-Large for Empire, the world’s biggest movie magazine.

I’m also a regular contributor to The Sunday Times Culture, have written a couple of Esquire cover stories and popped up in the LA Times, The Independent and The Guardian, amongst others.

I also write films. My screenplay RAHAB has just been shot, starring David Oyelowo. A sci-fi short, it will emerge from its CG-intensive post-production period later this year.

This is what I did beforehand:

My first job in journalism was at the North Devon Journal, in the summer of 1997, between years studying journalism at Bournemouth University.
I turned up for a week’s work experience… and stayed for three months.

It was a terrific apprenticeship, including everything from court reporting and investigating animal cruelty to writing film reviews and a front-page scoop on how smoking could, er, kill you.

After graduating (with a 2:1 and all the relevant NCTJ qualifications), I was elected as Communications Officer of BU Students’ Union. I spent a year editing its fortnightly paper The Nerve, learning about every aspect of publishing, from advertising to design to how long the human body can go without sleep when on deadline (58 hours, in my case).

In 1999, a week of work experience at Total Film lead to my becoming a regular freelance contributor, which continued during my time as production editor on Third Way, the prestigious current affairs magazine.

As the dotcom bubble expanded, I joined Popcorn.co.uk as reviews editor and spent a year developing an excellent movie website, watching
too many films and wondering how Carlton Communications could continue pouring millions into the web without any plausible hope of a return.

In 2001 Popcorn closed.

I returned to magazine journalism, contributing to FHM, Uncut and Total Film, before joining the latter as production editor. I spent a great year there, but left after being offered the chance to finally make my parents proud, by taking a job with the BBC.

I joined the corporation as news editor and chief reviewer for the film section of bbc.co.uk, the most popular website in Europe. I wrote daily news reports, a weekly column and reviewed many movies.

Despite having a face for radio, I also provided reviews for the BBC’s then-fledgling interactive TV service and produced and presented online reports from the Cannes Film Festival in 2004. The cameraman is still in therapy.

In September 2004, I returned to Total Film as Reviews Editor, before becoming Deputy and, in July 2006, Editor. During my two-year tenure, I secured several world exclusives, including becoming the only journalist to visit the sets of David Fincher’s Zodiac and The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button.

I also interviewed the likes of Mel Gibson and Brad Pitt and annoyed the market-leading magazine Empire enough for this to happen.

From September 2008, I’ve been Empire’s Editor-At-Large, chatting to filmmakers and stars in places as far-flung as Burundi and Cardiff.

During a decade of keyboard-clacking and actor-interviewing, I’ve also reviewed films on Sky News, as well as Radio Two, and popped up to talk about movie news on Radio Five and other stations.

I served on the juries for the 2009 and 2010 BAFTA Orange Rising Star Award and for the 2009 Athens Film Festival. I also contributed to Richard T Kelly’s excellent book 10 Bad Dates With De Niro.

I live in Tavistock, in Devon, with my wife, children and OTT DVD collection.