Films and Videos

Jennifer Dupuis

Films and Videos

A Note About Films and Videos 

The “author” for a film, video, or other types of audiovisual resources is determined by the type of media. The chart below, adapted from a chart on page 341 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (the Publication Manual) shows who should be included as an author for different types of media: 

Media Type 

Who is included as the author? 

Film 

Director

Television series 

Executive producer(s) or producer(s) 

Television episode or webisode 

Writer and director of the episode 

YouTube, or another streaming video 

Person or group who uploaded the video 

TED Talk 

Speaker 

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Remember! The way a work was accessed or obtained (e.g.: online, in print, through interlibrary loan), and the format (e.g.: print vs. PDF, DVD vs. streaming), does not change how a resource is cited, either in-text or in the reference list entry.

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Films and Videos

An example of a page from a streaming video platform. This is where all of the information for the reference list entry and the in-text citation is found.

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Reference List Entry: Format (10.12)

Director, D. (Director). (Date). Title of work [Description]. Production company. 

Reference List Entry: Example

Martin, C. A. (Director). (2002). The spirit of Annie Mae [Film]. National Film Board of Canada. 
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Remember! If you are quoting directly from any audiovisual resource, include a time stamp for the beginning of the material being quoted, and include the time stamp in place of the page number, e.g.: (Cuddy, 2012, 2:12).

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Parenthetical Citation  

(Director, Date), e.g.: (Martin, 2015)  or (Martin, 2015, 8:37)

Narrative Citation 

Director (Date), e.g.: Martin (2015) , or Martin (2015, 8:37)
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Remember! For names and titles in Indigenous languages, record them exactly as they appear on the resource. Do not change spelling, punctuation, capitalization, or the order of names and words.

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Foreign Language Film or Video

A screenshot of a film on the National Film Board of Canada's streaming platform. The film is titled, "Le Piano de Louise". Blue arrows point to the title, the name of the production company, the director, and the date of production. — An example of a page from a streaming video platform that features foreign language films. This is where all of the information for the reference list entry and the in-text citation is found.

Reference List Entry: Format (10.12) 

Director, D. (Director). (Date). Title of work [Translation of title] [Description]. Production company. 
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Remember! When the title of a film is in a different language from that of the paper, include a translation of the title in square brackets (9.38). 

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Reference List Entry: Example

Cimon, E.. (Director). (2019). Le piano de Louise [Louise’s piano] [Film]. National Film Board of Canada. 

Parenthetical Citation  

(Director, Date), e.g.: (Cimon, 2019) 

Narrative Citation 

Director (Date), e.g.: Cimon (2019) 

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Television Series

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Reference List Entry: Format (10.12) 

Producer, P. (Producer). (Date). Title of work [Description]. Production company.
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Remember! A director, host, or producer can be listed as an “author” (10.2). 

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Hint! When a series spans multiple years, include both years as part of the date, and separate the years with a dash. If a series is still in production, replace the second year with the word “present”, e.g.: (2012-2018) or (2016-present).  

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Reference List Entry: Example

Walker, C. (Producer). (2012). The 8th fire [TV series]. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 
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Remember! Look at the material itself to get all the necessary citation information. In this case, the name of the producer, the date of production, and the name of the production company are all found in the credits. 

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Parenthetical Citation  

(Producer, Date), or (Producer & Producer, Date), or (Producer et al., Date) for works with three or more producers, e.g.: (Walker, 2012) 

Narrative Citation

Producer (Date), Producer and Producer (Date), or Producer et al. (Date) for works with three or more producers, e.g.: Walker (2012) 

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