Matt Bielby

Matt Bielby
Matt Bielby in Bath, 2007.
Born1965
Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Alma materBradford Grammar School
OccupationMagazine editor

Matt Bielby is a magazine editor based in the UK.[1] He is best known for launching and editing many successful titles in assorted markets during the 1990s, mostly on the subjects of computer and video games, and film and television. These include .net, Amiga Power, Super Play and PC Gamer.[2]

Biography

Early life

Bielby was born in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, in 1965, and spent most of his early life in Bradford, West Yorks, where he attended Bradford Grammar School.

Career

Developing an interest in journalism, and magazines in particular, he was film editor of the University of Nottingham student newspaper, Impact, before getting a job at Emap in London in February 1988, as staff writer on Computer and Video Games magazine. By the end of 1988 he was deputy editor of Your Sinclair magazine at Dennis Publishing, also in London, and became editor in early 1989.

In 1990 Bielby moved to Bath, when Your Sinclair was bought by Bath-based Future Publishing,[3] and there he became part of Future's growth during the 1990s. There, Bielby launched the computer games magazine Amiga Power (1991), the Nintendo video games magazine Super Play (1992), the computer games magazine PC Gamer (1993), the internet magazine .net (1994), the SF and fantasy magazine SFX (1995),[4] the movie magazine Total Film (1996),[5] the computer and video game magazine Arcade (1998), and the video game magazine Official UK PlayStation 2 Magazine (2000). Most of these titles became the best sellers in their particular markets, with the exception of Total Film, which established itself as the No.2 title in its market, after Emap's Empire. [citation needed]

In addition, Bielby spent six months in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA, launching the US edition of PC Gamer (1994), and some time in Munich, Germany in the late 1990s, helping set up Future's German subsidiary.[citation needed] Further, as Group Senior Editor at the company, he oversaw the launches and relaunches of many other magazines, while in a short stint as an Assistant Publisher he worked on titles such as PC Plus and PC Answers.

After leaving Future in 2001, Bielby worked as a freelance journalist at assorted companies, including Emap, Future, and Highbury House, usually in the development of new projects. One of these went on to become Zoo (2004), EMAP's weekly men's magazine.

Blackfish Publishing

In 2006, Bielby launched his own publishing company, Blackfish Publishing, which published the magazines Death Ray[1] and Filmstar.[6][7] Death Ray was a science fiction and fantasy title,[6] created as a rival to Future Publishing's market-leading SFX. Bielby repeatedly talks positively about SFX throughout the first issue of Death Ray. Death Ray ceased publication in October 2009.

Matt contributed to Future titles again, editing an SFX spin-off called Comic Heroes.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ a b "SFX founder returns to sci-fi". Press Gazette Magazine. 27 April 2007. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  2. ^ Sara Gwenllian-Jones and Roberta E.Pearson (2004). Cult Television. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 9781452905396. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  3. ^ "Your Sinclair Issue 52 Page 4". Future Publishing. 1990. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  4. ^ David Langford (2005). The Sex Column and Other Misprints. Wildside Press. ISBN 9781930997783. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  5. ^ John C. McDowell (2 March 2007). The Gospel according to Star Wars. Westminster John Knox. ISBN 9780664231422. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  6. ^ a b "New movie mag launched in Bath". Thisisbath.co.uk. 28 May 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  7. ^ Reynolds, John (14 April 2009). "May launch for new film mag". Mediaweek.co.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2012.