Help Center

How to get your title listed

We contacted you because our title managers have already examined your title, but there was not enough information to show it is eligible for a listing on IMDb. The data is being held until you are able to send us more information to help verify the title. The more information which is supplied for a title, the easier it is for us to process, verify and add it.

A reminder that the eligibility rules are described on the new title submission page. In order to add your title, we need evidence that it meets our criteria for inclusion as described on that page. For feature films/shorts/etc this generally means either a theatrical release open to the public, a screening at a qualifying selective/competitive film festival or a showing on non-local TV. For made for video titles and video games this means distribution by an established retailer (self or online distribution does not qualify by itself). For made for TV titles including TV series, TV movies and pilots this means a broadcast on a non-local TV station. Additionally we do include some titles which are not yet complete, but such listings are only accepted on the basis of an established high profile track record of previously produced eligible titles already in IMDb (more details).

You have been directed to this page because we were unable to determine whether your title was eligible from the information originally provided. Here's how to proceed in the more common cases:

  • If your title has been completed and screened then please (re)send the release date and indicate the name of the festival, TV station and/or cities where it was shown. Please also supply the URL of either a film festival schedule showing the date of your screening or of an online TV schedule or other similar evidence. We need URLs that lead directly to the information. The home page of the site is usually no good since the relevant data is not there. We have no time to search the whole site to find what we are looking for. If the navigation of the site allows no direct link we need precise directions how to get to the information from the URL you submitted. You may find search engine sites such as Google helpful in locating these URLs (try the name of the title plus the name of the director). In the cases of older film festival screenings where the festival does not have any archive listings, the Internet Archive often has snapshots of previous versions of sites; for Australian festivals, try PANDORA. We need to see evidence of the screening on a third party site in order to verify your title and information. An official site provided by the title's production company is not considered third party evidence. Please see the guide to providing additional URLs.

  • If your title is available from an established online retailer, such as Amazon.com then please send the URL of the product detail page (guide).

  • If your title is of historical interest and has not screened anywhere recently then festival/schedule information can be hard to locate. However please still try a general web search and see if other sites can independently confirm the existence of the title and send those URLs instead (guide).

  • If your title is a rumored sequel to a current major title then we have probably decided not to list it yet until the project is definitely going ahead.

  • Third party evidence can prove particularly hard to find for unreleased, lower budget and/or short films. If your title falls within these categories it is unlikely that we will be able to include it until it has been completed and screened. If this is the case, please wait until supporting evidence (as described in the previous points) is available online.

  • If your title screened in some other form of public showcase, or you believe it meets our eligibility rules for some other reason, please explain the circumstances by selecting the option to provide an additional explanation on the new title form.

  • If your title is a TV movie spin-off from a regular TV-series we've probably been unable to determine if it's genuinely a separate title or just an extended episode which is already part of the series. For example a double-length season premiere or final episode would not normally be eligible as a separate TV movie title. Please explain in a comment if you have submitted what appears to be a TV movie spin-off yet still believe it is eligible in its own right.

If you still believe your title is eligible for a listing now, please return to your update history and locate the original submission. Clicking the reference number will reload the form and you should try and provide as much additional information as possible, bearing the above points in mind.

To clarify further: We are not trying to answer the question "does your title exist?" we are trying to answer the question "does it meet our listing criteria?" (specifically, why is it of interest to the general public -- people other than the cast/crew/friends?) The data you send needs to address these questions directly, and if you can't express it in the data for some reason, please explain in the optional explanatory comment section.

In a small number of cases it is possible that your title has already been added to the IMDb through another submission by someone else using a slightly different spelling or with different year of release. Please search IMDb first to make sure this has not happened. If your title is present, please use the "Update" button on the title's main page on IMDb to add any missing information.

The new supporting data needs to be supplied via the IMDb additions interface in order to be considered alongside that submitted previously. To send more information, please return to your update history and locate the original submission. Clicking the reference number will reload the form and you should try and provide as much additional information as possible.

For other questions on the submission process we recommend sending a request through our contact form and our staff will do their best to help out.

A final reminder that the more data you submit for your title, the easier and faster it is for us to verify the existence and eligibility.

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