Welcome! Since 1990, an incredibly diverse range of people across the globe have been adding, refining and correcting the data on our pages. It’s an ever-evolving process and we invite you to become a part of it. You do have to be registered first, but it’s free and it’s painless. After you’ve registered please check out the 'Step-by-step guide' and ‘What is a contributor’ links on this page to start submitting. Thank you for your interest in IMDb!

What is a Contributor?

Quite simply, a contributor is anyone who submits information for display on the site. There is a huge variety of data that can be added, such as a new Title (i.e. Movies, TV shows, Video Games etc.), Names (actors, writers, film crew, celebrities etc.) and numerous other categories such as directors, producers, trivia, goofs, soundtracks, quotes, release dates. Please see our Contributors' Charter for more information on how we work together.

Adding Data to the IMDb

Adding information (we call it 'data') is a very simple process, and we always welcome new Contributors. Below, you'll find all the info you'll need to start updating the site.
Contributors Charter
Clarifying how we work with our contributors
 
Getting Started
A step-by-step guide for adding data to IMDb.

How to Add a New Title
Add a movie, short, documentary, TV series/special/mini-series or videogame.
 
Adding/Correcting Names
How to add, correct, split and merge names. 
 
Submissions Guides
All of our guides to submitting data.
 
How to Correct Existing Data
We welcome all valid corrections.

  
Contributor Tips & Tricks
Cool tips for making things quicker + easier.
 
Frequently Asked Questions 
Everything you always wanted to know about adding data (But were afraid to ask!) 
 
Get Help from the Community
Question or problem? Get help here.
 
Contributors Help Board
Where IMDb's most active and senior contributors work together to develop policy recommendations.
 
Processing Times
Keep track of processing progress.
Sign up to become a Data Contributor »

Data Priorities

Every piece of data submitted to the IMDb is checked by the Database Content Team before it goes live. The team is split into three project groups, each with a specific area of responsibility. These responsibilities are:

Contribution - Improving all aspects of the contribution process.

  • We plan to make it much more engaging for users to contribute valid, accurate, quality content to IMDb.
  • We also want the various submission systems to support our contributors (prolific, new and potential); encourage them to contribute to our site, and allow them to have their contributions recognized on the site (If they wish to opt into such a feature).

Coverage - Filling data gaps and expanding our content coverage.

  • One of the challenges we recognize here at IMDb is that the entertainment content world is continually evolving, and it is important that we have the content our users want when they want it.
  • There are some content types that we have not 'supported' historically which would, if we included them, actually assist in completing content coverage in some areas.
  • From discussions with people in the entertainment industry (for whom IMDb is the de facto resource for detailing their filmography history), the omission of music-videos, internet-series and audio-books (for example) is perceived as an inaccuracy from an individual filmography perspective.
  • Is every missing piece of content an inaccuracy? This is debatable, however we strive to be an authoritative source, so we want to ensure any gaps of missing content are filled. Additionally, we want to assist anyone who has familiarity with content to fill such a gap.

Smart-Processing - Improving our internal processing workflows.

  • We want to ensure that our extremely valuable content vetting processes are Smart (i.e. quick, accurate and efficient), and can be applied to all content types. We also want to ensure that anyone contributing content to IMDb has the best user experience possible, an experience that does not assume a level of knowledge of our processes prior to the first submission.
  • It is not through choice that there are delays in the processing systems (only publishing to our sites and contribution imports once per day, for example) - this is a result of the site being over 20 years old. We want to be smart about our content workflows, and we want to ensure that we process your contributions as quickly as we can (retaining our quality bar), but we also want to provide feedback on the status of submissions.