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Companies data


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Overview

The easiest way to create a new company is to attach it to a piece of information already on the site, this could be either:

  • Clients 
  • Employees
  • Filmography credits

If the company doesn't have any of the above, you'll need to reach out to our customer support team who should be able to help further.

Please also keep in mind that:

  • The company name should always include the country code in square brackets after the company name - e.g., Company [us].
  • A list of the attributes currently being used can be displayed by clicking on the gray list icon (  ) next to the attribute field.


How to add a new company using clients or employees


Important - You'll not be able to add a new company using the IMDbPro app.

If the company has employees or clients who are already listed on IMDb, you can use these to add a new company page to the database.

The best way is to submit the information is:


Step 1

Find the name page for the person connected with the company and at the very bottom click either the  or  button. 

(If the page is your own claimed page then as an extra step you'll need to choose Contact info & representation followed by + Add contact)


Step 2

Choose Add 1 item from the drop-down based on what you're trying to achieve (i.e. representation or employers) followed by 


Step 3

Enter the company information and hit  you'll be prompted to create the company like below:

 

 

Step 4

Submit the request!


This may take some time for an editor to review and approve the information - after which your company will appear on IMDbPro.


How to add a new company using a title credit


Production Companies
Distribution Companies
Visual Effects Companies
Miscellaneous Companies
Sales Agents
Regional Company Pages

The easiest way to create a new company is to attach it to a piece of information already on the site. If your company has a credit on a title, you can add your company via the title’s page. 

  • For a series, company information can be present for both the series and episode page(s). 

To attach a new company to an existing piece of data (such as a title), you’ll need to start on that title’s page. For example your company is a new Product Placement company and just signed a contract to provide product placement services for a new James Bond movie. Start by going to the title/movie, scrolling to the bottom and clicking Edit Page. On the next page, scroll to the Company Credits section. Currently, there are 4 specific types of companies as well as “Miscellaneous Company” listed in this section. Please choose to Add 1 credit (or more if you need) to the appropriate section. Note: All companies that are not Production Companies, Distributors, Sales Reps or Special Effects companies fall into the Miscellaneous Companies bucket (such as the product placement company in this example). Scroll to the bottom and click on continue.

On the next page, you will type in your company’s name and include the country code in square brackets. Let’s call the company Hollywood Real Products. Since it is based in the United States, it will have [us] listed at the end like this: Hollywood Real Products [us] .

See our Company Naming Conventions submission guide.

See the full list of country codes we use.

If you chose Miscellaneous Company, you will now choose a role describing what your credit is for. Or you can type in the role (such as Product Placement).

Click Check these updates.

On the next page, you’ll see either green, yellow or red boxes.

If you see green boxes, it means your company is already in the database and you can follow the remainder of the on-screen instructions. 

If you see red boxes, there is a problem with your submission. Most likely you’ve not added the country code in square brackets (see above and feel free to copy the brackets in our example if you don’t know what they are).

If you see yellow boxes, there are additional questions for you to answer. Most often, you will see a list of potential matches for your company name. If you see a match, please choose it. If you don’t see a match, the last option on the list is: “Add this as a new company”. Please choose that option.

Click Re-check these updates.

You should now see green boxes meaning the data is ready to submit. If you see yellow boxes, please read the questions on the screen and clarify/verify what it needs. Click Re-check these updates.

At this point, all the boxes should be green and you can click Submit these updates.

Once you submit the change, you will be taken to a Thank You screen which will have your Contribution Number listed for future reference. This reference number will also be sent to your email address and will always be available in your contribution history.


Viewing companies

Company pages can only be viewed on IMDbPro. 

Industry Insider? Join IMDbPro to view & add company information


Production companies


  • Please do not add distributors to the production companies section.
  • The company name should always include the country code in square brackets after the company name - e.g., Company [us].
  • Production companies include all financing entities. Common variants, like "in association with" or "participating" can be noted as attributes. Attributes can also be used for the usual things such as year ranges for television series or alternate spellings of company names.
  • Production services or facilities companies belong in the miscellaneous company list; copyright holders belong in the copyright holder list.
  • A list of the attributes currently being used can be displayed by clicking on the gray list icon next to the attribute field.
  • For TV Series, as a Production company may change throughout a series run - the company should be added to the individual episodes (even if the company was the same throughout).  


Distribution companies

  • The following are not classified as distributors (and generally should not be listed at all in the database):
    • A retailer that does not provide the title to a significant number of other retailers.
    • A packager of a public domain title.
    • A festival screening, i.e. a title merely as part of the festival (the festival name should appear as a release date attribute). However, it can be listed as a distributor if it creates a "best of" DVD or similar post-festival distribution.
    • We formerly listed sales agents in this list, but they should now be added to the sales representatives list.
  • Companies should no longer have separate IMDb pages for each region they have distribution credits in. Please see regional company pages section below
  • For more information, please see the in-depth Distributors guide


Visual Effects Companies

  • This list currently records both visual effects and special effects companies, because many companies work in both areas.
  • The company name should always include the country code in square brackets after the company name - e.g., Company [us].
  • A list of the attributes currently being used can be displayed by clicking on the gray list icon next to the attribute field.

 

Miscellaneous companies

  • This section records companies other than distributors, production companies, sales agents, and special/visual effects companies. It is also used to list other entities, such as towns and government organizations, most commonly found in the "thanks to" portion of credits (note that individuals listed under that heading should go to the thanks list).
  • As with all companies, the name should include the appropriate country code in square brackets after the company name - i.e., Company [us]. This is the country where the company or organization is based.
  • Copyright holders belong in the copyright holder list.
  • A list of the roles currently being used can be displayed by clicking on the gray list icon next to the role field. A similar browser is available for the attribute field.

 

Sales Agents

  • A sales representative is a firm that works on behalf of the producer of a film or television project to sell distribution rights in given media and territories. In the industry, these firms are sometimes referred to as international sales agents or producers' reps.
  • The sales representative section records past and present sales representatives, in all media and territories. However, the absence of a sales representative for a given combination does not necessarily mean there was none; we may simply lack the relevant data.
  • The company name should include the country code in square brackets after the company name - i.e., Company [us].
  • We formerly listed sales representatives in the distributor or miscellaneous company lists, but have since created the sales representative list. While some sales representatives also distribute films in select territories, representation and distribution are distinct functions on a title and are therefore listed as separate credits on IMDb.com.
  • We do not remove a sales representative after it stops selling a title; rather, we modify the year range to reflect the end of the firm's agency over the film.
  • The "order" field can be used when more than one sales representative is listed, to control the order in which they are listed; the first one to appear on a given title should be 1, then 2, etc.
  • Sales representative information is displayed on IMDbPro only.
  • Companies should no longer have separate IMDb pages for each region they have sales credits in. Please see section below.


Regional company pages


Companies should no longer have separate IMDb pages for each region they have distribution or sales credits in. If a certain company has distribution or sales credits in more than one region, then those credits should all appear on a single page.

Cases in which there should be more than one separate company pages:

  •  When two companies are completely different companies and are not affiliated in any way.
  •  When two companies are different but affiliated companies. For example, Lionsgate [US] (registered as Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.), is an American entertainment company, currently headquartered in Santa Monica, California. There is a different company called Lionsgate UK [GB], (formerly Redbus Film Distribution, and briefly known as Helkon SK between 2001 and 2003), which is a British subsidiary of Lionsgate [US].

Cases in which there should be only a single company page:

  •  When there is more than one page for the same company. This includes when a company has multiple pages that simply represent the fact that the same company once distributed or sold in that region. For example, Lionsgate [US] distributed A Simple Favor (2018) in Ireland, so this credit should be listed on Lionsgate [US] and not a separate page called Lionsgate [IE].

Tracking your contribution


You can now track the status of your Company Credits submission and if it has not been approved, we'll tell you the reason why.

If you are using the mobile apps, mobile website or desktop website you can access this feature via the 'Track your contribution' button, which has been added to the submission email receipt. Additionally, if you are using the desktop website, you can also use the 'Track Contribution' button now found in your contribution history page.

Clicking this button will take you to IMDb Contributor, our new contribution specific site where you will be shown the status of your request.







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