I am a freelance journalist who contributes to Esquire, the Los Angeles Times and
The Independent, among others.

I am also Editor-At-Large for Empire, the world's biggest movie magazine, where I manage special assignments for the editor and write features and reviews.

I served on the juries for the 2009 and 2010 BAFTA Orange Rising Star Award and for the 2009 Athens Film Festival.

This is what I did beforehand:

My first job in journalism was at the North Devon Journal. I went there for a week's work experience during the summer of 1997, between years studying journalism at Bournemouth University. I stayed for three months, paid a princely £100 a week to work as a reporter. It was a terrific apprenticeship, including everything from court reporting to investigating animal cruelty, writing a column on film 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 Bournemouth University Students' Union. I spent a year editing the Union's fortnightly paper The Nerve, learning about every aspect of publishing, from advertising to designing, to how long the human body can go without sleep when on deadline (58 hours, in my case).

In 1999 I started contributing freelance reviews and features to Total Film, which continued during my time as production editor on Third Way, the prestigious current affairs magazine.

As the dotcom bubble continued to expand, I joined Popcorn.co.uk as reviews editor, spending a year developing an excellent movie website, watching too many films and wondering how Carlton Communications could continue pouring millions into the internet 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 a weekly column on film and reviewed many movies, as well as producing and presenting reviews for the BBC's then-fledgling interactive TV service. Despite having a face for radio, I also produced and presented downloadable video 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, produced a much-praised magazine and interviewed everyone from Mel Gibson to Brad Pitt. I also appeared regularly as a reviewer on Sky News.

Then, in 2008, this happened.