How to cite a movie in APA Style
To cite a movie in APA Style, list its director(s) in the author position and the production company as publisher. The title is written in sentence case and italicized, followed by the label “Film” in square brackets.
The in-text citation includes the last name of the director, and the year. If you are referring to a specific quote or scene from the movie, add a timestamp to direct the reader to the relevant part.
| Format | Last name, Initials. (Director). (Year). Movie title [Film]. Production Company. |
|---|---|
| Reference entry | Scott, R. (Director). (1979). Alien [Film]. Brandywine Productions. |
| In-text citation | (Scott, 1979, 0:45:14) |
The citation format for TV shows is slightly different.
Citing movies in different formats
In general, you don’t need to specify the format in which you watched the film. However, if you are discussing a specific version of the film (for example, if you refer to the special features of a DVD), you can specify the version in the citation.
Where to find source information for a movie citation
The source information you need for your citation can usually be found in the movie’s end credits or on the packaging for a physical release. Otherwise, you can check on IMDb.
Information on the production company can be found further down this page, under the heading “Company Credits.”
6 comments
Ali
July 11, 2021 at 11:39 PMWhat do I do if I want to cite the movie, but use specific YouTube clips? (It is for a online course post, so we can share the clips for others to watch).
I don't feel like the typical YouTube citation includes the important information about the film itself.
Jack Caulfield (Scribbr Team)
July 12, 2021 at 5:01 PMHi Ali,
The general principle in APA Style is to cite the version of a source you actually used, so it would still be most relevant to cite the YouTube clips in this situation. Information that is therefore missed out of your reference list but that you feel is relevant to your argument (e.g. the name of the director or other contributors, the year when the film was released) can be incorporated into your main text where relevant.
Marianne Distrajo
May 27, 2021 at 6:52 PMHi, what do I do if I want to cite several timestamps from the same movie? How would my reference entries and in-text citations look like?
Jack Caulfield (Scribbr Team)
May 31, 2021 at 3:48 PMHi Marianne,
Your reference entries wouldn't change, since it's only in in-text citations that you need to use locators like timestamps, page numbers, etc. You'd only have one reference entry for each movie.
In an in-text citation, to include multiple timestamps, just separate them with commas, e.g. (Smith, 2019, 0:51:13, 1:15:37)
Dani Elliot
December 8, 2020 at 8:17 AMWhat if there are multiple production companies?
Shona McCombes (Scribbr Team)
December 10, 2020 at 7:49 PMHi Dani,
In this case, list all the companies separated by semicolons. For example: Chase Films; Brad Grey Television; HBO Entertainment.
Hope that helps!