Toby Venables

Current

Freelance Writer and Editor at infinitemonkey

Past

Creative Director and Editor at RealCity Magazine
Creative Director and Editor at adhoc publishing ltd
Associate Editor at The Cambridge Insider

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Education

Anglia Ruskin University
Anglia Ruskin University

Recommended

2 people have recommended Toby

Connections

37 connections

Industry

Writing and Editing

Websites

Toby Venables’s Summary

My mission is simple: to turn ideas into words that inspire positive actions. I see breadth of understanding and the ability to tell a story – no matter what the audience – as the key to powerful and compelling copy.

Formerly Editor and Creative Director of weekly entertainment magazines in Cambridge, Oxford and Bristol, I assembled and managed editorial teams, wrote regular features, developed in-house PR and wrote ads for radio and print.

Freelance work quickly followed. This has involved the creation of concepts, copy and ads for a wide range of media, including print, web, radio, TV, mobile phones and the back end of a bus.

Previous clients have included Thomas Cook, Baufritz Homes, Agellus Hotels, Marshalls, Cambridge Film Festival, 3 Mobile, Play.com, Cambridge Folk Festival, Newmarket Races, Side UK (a West End based audio production company), Audiomotion (UK leaders in motion capture) and BAFTA nominated composers Bob and Barn, who were kind enough to describe my input as ‘the best PR we have ever had’.

In 1999 I was a recipient of a radio advertising award, and in 2001 won the Keats-Shelley Memorial Prize for prose.

As a scriptwriter, I am represented by MBA Literary Agents, London, UK.

Over to you.

Toby Venables’s Specialties:

I am an award-winning copywriter, scriptwriter and editorial consultant, regularly working in the areas of ad copywriting and PR, but also active as a BFI Associate Tutor and a lecturer on film journalism and screenwriting in Cambridge.

I also specialise in 'rescue' missions - saving copywriting projects when the client's previous copywriter has failed them.

Toby Venables’s Experience

Freelance Writer and Editor

infinitemonkey

(Writing and Editing industry)

June 2003 — Present (6 years 6 months)

Copywriter, scriptwriter and editorial consultant, regularly working in the areas of ad copywriting and PR, but also active as a BFI Associate Tutor and a lecturer on film journalism and screenwriting in Cambridge
Creative Director and Editor

RealCity Magazine

(Publishing industry)

May 2002 — May 2003 (1 year 1 month)

Responsible for editorial and production of a 72 page weekly entertainment and lifestyle magazine based in Cambridge, UK. Also a contributing writer, producing regular features, reviews and interviews (the wide range of interviewees included Chuck Palahniuk, Gunther Von Hagens, and Cate Blanchett). I also worked on advertising and PR for the company, creating ads for print and radio.
Creative Director and Editor

adhoc publishing ltd

(Publishing industry)

November 1999 — March 2002 (2 years 5 months)

Ultimately responsible for editorial and production over the range of products, including 72+ page weekly entertainment and lifestyle magazines based in Cambridge, Bristol and Oxford. I planned the publications and recruited the teams, as well as working on PR and advertising for the company. I also contributed numerous features, reviews and interviews (interviewees included Eddie Izzard, Billy Bragg, Ray Davies, Bill Bailey, Richard Rodney Bennett and Kevin Spacey).
Associate Editor

The Cambridge Insider

(Publishing industry)

November 1997 — November 1998 (1 year 1 month)

Responsible for writing regular features and reviews, sourcing interviews, liaising with freelance writers and illustrators, commissioning new works, and design and layout of key pages.