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Filmography Credits

Adding Filmography credits


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Getting started


IMDb is centered around titles (e.g. movies, TV series, video games, etc.) and all associated information. A huge part of a titles' production is the Cast & Crew which we list under a section called 'Filmography' 

Anybody with a free IMDb account can submit credits to the database -- this article provides guidance into the type of credits we allow, along with how to submit them to the database.  



Guidelines

contains - eligibility - cast crew | credit verification  

 Eligibility

There are many ways credits can be applied to titles on IMDb - you'll need to make sure a credit you're contributing is eligible before beginning the process. 

Generally accepted credits

From a high level, we allow credits to be contributed to almost any type of content:

Films (features / shorts) TV Movies
Made for video movies TV Specials
TV / Web series / miniseries Online videos
Video games Apps
Music videos DVD extras
Commercials  and more*

* See the Title formatting guide for full details on the types of titles currently accepted on IMDb.


Credits we can't accept

There are certain types of credits that we do not list unless specifically credited on-screen: these include work on:

Marketing elements of a title (e.g. work on key art, trailers etc.)

Non-theatrical versions (e.g. DVD authoring, supplemental materials, captioning, trailer work etc.)

Localized releases (e.g. dubbing, dialogue translation/editing on foreign versions etc.) 

   

These details can instead be added to the other works biography section, or alternatively IMDbPro members can add these to the additional credits section of the name page.


Adding Cast / Acting credits

If you're looking to add cast / acting credits, you can find more information in our Cast / Acting guidelines for eligibility and submission topics for:

  • Character naming
  • Motion capture
  • Voice / dubbing credits
  • and more...


Adding Crew credits

If you're adding a crew credit to the database, make sure to check for our policies and guidelines before you submit your request.

Our other Crew guide articles can be found in the Submission Guides A-Z.



 Verifying credits

Our aim is to be the most complete and reliable source of movie, TV, and entertainment information on the web - in order to achieve this, we can only accept submissions which are accurate & verifiable at the point of submission. 

This means you may need to provide enough evidence along with your submission to help us confirm the credit is factual - the requirement for verification will increase with the rank of the title. 

 Evidence likely to be accepted

Third-party news articles Link to title on streaming platform
Screen grab of end credits Pay stubs 
Call sheets Contracts
Receipts    

If you're unable to provide sufficient supporting evidence, your request may be rejected - you would then need to re-submit with additional evidence. 

Instructions on how to add supporting evidence is explained below in the How to section. 





How to

contains - where to contribute | adding name / title | cast credits | crew credits | verification | warnings & errors  | tracking update 

Anybody with a free IMDb account can submit credits to the database.

If you're looking to add credits to multiple episodes of a TV Series - please instead review our article titled How do I add an episodic credit?

For all other credits, please see below.




 Where to contribute

Credits can be contributed to either a name page or title page, but once approved are the exact same (i.e. they will be linked to both the name, and title page).

The guidance is:

  • If you're adding a single credit, submit via either a name or title page.
  • If you're submitting more than 1 credit to a title, submit them from the title page.
  • If you're submitting more than 1 credit to a person, submit them from the name page.

The process is similar between the two methods, with slight visual changes.

Step 1
Navigate to the name or title page on IMDb - if you don't know the URL, you can use the search bar in the header to search for it:

Using search on IMDb

  • If the name isn't listed on the database, you can create a new page for it when submitting a credit through the title page.  

  • If the title isn't listed, it may not have been added to the database - you can add a new title yourself.


Step 2
Once on the name or title, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Edit page button button to enter the contribution form. 


Step 3
Now on the list of contributable information, find the type of credit you're looking to add and choose from the drop-down the number of those credits you'd like to add. 

(If you're hoping to add different types of credit, you can select numbers from multiple sections.)

Contribution form for name page


Step 4
Once you're ready - scroll to the bottom of the page and hit Continue button


 Adding the person, or title.

Depending on where you're submitting your credit from, you'll either need to find the person or title to complete the pair.

Added via Name page (need to find the title) Added via Title page (need to find the name)
Example of adding credit from name Example of adding from Title

Choose where you're adding the credit from for more information:

Finding the title


Step 5
In the Title field, enter the name of the production you're adding the credit for and choose the right title in the suggested list that appears.

Adding a title name


What if the title isn't listed in the suggested list?

There are a couple of reasons why the title may not be in the list:

  1. The title hasn't been added to IMDb yet - if this is the case, you can submit it as a new title page and can include the credits at the same time.

  2. There are too many titles that share the same name - If this is the case, use the 'Results not shown' option at the bottom of the page to expand the list.

    Showing the 'results not shown' option
    Alternatively, if you know the titles URL - you can use it's unique identifier in the field. For example Top Gun (2021) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1745960 the unique identifier is tt1745960

    Using the tconst unique identifier

Finding the person


Step 5
In the Name field, enter the name of the person you're adding the credit for and choose the right name from the suggested list that appears.

Adding a person name

 

What if the person isn't listed in the suggested list?

There are a couple of reasons why the title may not be in the list:

  1. The person hasn't been added to IMDb yet - if this is the case, you can create the name during your submission. Use the 'Results not shown' option at the bottom of the page to expand the list and find the option to create a new name. 

    Create new name option.

  2. There are too many people that share the same name - If this is the case, use the 'Results not shown' option at the bottom of the page to expand the list to find the name. 

    Alternatively, if you know the persons page URL - you can use it's unique identifier in the field. For example Tom Cruise - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000129 the unique identifier is nm0000129

    Using the nconst unique identifier


 If submitting Cast / Acting credits

If you're submitting a Cast credit, you'll have the option to include some more information:

Cast credit addition example

  • Character - The character played by the cast member in question - if the character name is unknown it can be left blank. If the person is appearing as themselves (i.e. in an interview or a documentary), then 'Self' should be entered here 

  • Attribute - This is usually left empty, but there are a number of attributes for edge cases (e.g. uncredited, voice, archive footage, etc) - this is explained in more detail in the Attribute guidelines. You can use the Occupation expander icon to select from a longer list of available attributes.

  • Order number - If known, you should always populate where in the end credit role the person is credited. 

For the greatest chance of having your request approved, please visit our supplementary article for Cast / Acting guidelines which goes into more depth around topics such as:

  • Character naming
  • Voice / dubbing credits
  • Motion capture
  • Background / extra roles
  • Cast ordering
  • Documentary / talk shows
  • Re-used footage
  • and more...
  • Group credits


 If submitting Crew credits

If you're submitting a Crew credit, you'll have the option to include some more information depending on if the credit type. You'll have the option for either both 'Occupation' and 'Attribute', or just 'Attribute':

Minor crew:

Minor crew credit addition example

Major crew:

Major crew credit addition example

  • Occupation  (Minor crew only)- This must be populated, if the the drop-down doesn't list the specific roll - you can use the Occupation expander icon to select from a longer list. 

  • Attribute - This section is usually left empty, however there are some exceptions mentioned in our Attribute guidelines or the crew specific help articles. You can use the Occupation expander icon to select from a longer list of available attributes. 

Our other Crew guide articles can be found in the Submission Guides A-Z.



 Providing verification

You may need to provide supplementary information to help our data editors verify the credits are factual and should be listed on the database.

This is important and your credit additions may be rejected if you're unable to provide sufficient supporting information.

You can include evidence by ticking the 'Provide an explanation to assist in processing this submission' at the bottom of the contribution form:

Adding credit evidence example

Additionally, you can upload and submit a file as evidence for our data team to review. This is explained in our additional verification guidelines

The type of verification you can provide will vary depending on if "credited" or "uncredited".

  • Credited - This means a name was involved in a titles production and was listed in the closing credit roll.
  • Uncredited - This means a person was involved in the titles production, but was not listed in the closing credit roll


For more information on how providing credit verification, please visit the article How can I submit additional verification for a credit submission?



 Handling errors or warnings

Once you've finished populating the form, head to the bottom of the page and click  to review the submission.

If there are any problems, the form will re-load with either yellow or red sections highlighted.

These should include reasons for the problems and explain how to correct them - for example:


Example 1:

Credit missing occupation

Example 2:

Already part of cast error

Example 3:

Cast already complete

Example 4:

New credit for name


To resolve these, read the warnings / errors provided and make any necessary changes to the submission details.

You can then scroll to the bottom of the page and click re-check your update button to refresh the page. 

  • If there are still problems, the page will come back with more warnings which you'll need to review and rectify. 

  • If everything is OK, the window will turn green.

If the latter, you should now be able to submit your request by clicking Submit button.



 Tracking your submission

After submitting your request, it should take between 12 - 48 hours to appear on the website.

You can track your request from your contribution history to find it's current status and estimated completion time.




Frequently asked questions


Below are the most common questions we hear from users when trying to add a new title to the database - if your question isn't answered here, you can always ask a member of our friendly community over at Sprinklr.


When will my update be added?
It's been ages but my update hasn't appeared on IMDb, what's happened?
The credit shows as approved but it's not on the page
My credit keeps being rejected, why?


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