Rob Blackwelder was born in Boulder, Colorado, and moved to Oakland, California, in 1990. He began studying journalism, and decided at a young age that he gained so much enjoyment from working on the school newspaper, that he would pursue it as a career.

After studying on a journalism program at Contra Costa College, Rob Blackwelder began working as a freelance film critic for a small Californian town’s local newspaper. He went on to establish Movieolla, yet the site was shut down due to its similar name with Moviola (an editing company for Hollywood). Blackwelder instead created SPLICEDwire – a one-man website containing his reviews and articles.  

Blackwelder ended SPLICEDwire in September 2005, and began balancing his journalistic skills with app development later in his career.