When will my update be added?

Note: the information on page refers to credit/filmography submissions. If you have submitted a new title for inclusion in the database and want to know the status of your update, please see this page instead.

The information in the database is not updated in real time. Additions and updates to existing data on average take 2 to 14 days to appear online, but may take substantially longer in some cases, depending on a variety of factors. Please also be aware that the IMDb reserves the right to reject or delete information from the site at any time at its sole discretion. The following information only applies to filmography updates (i.e. film credits). Other types of data may require additional processing and take longer. For current specific processing times by section, and detailed info about backlogs/delays, see this page.

A very important factor in our processing is whether a credit is being added to an already existing title or filmography or not. Adding a new name to the database (i.e. submitting a credit for someone who does not already have a filmography listing) takes longer than adding a credit to a pre-existing filmography; similarly, adding credits to an existing title is faster than submitting a new title for inclusion in the database.

The following table should help you estimate the minimum processing times for filmography credits submissions based on their status (i.e. whether the title or name they refer to are new or already present in the database). Please note that these are just approximate times. There are several other factors that may substantially delay processing of a credit (e.g. if the person received on-screen billing or not, if the film has been released or is still in production etc.).

Existing Title
New Title
Existing Name
1 week
2 weeks
New Name
2 weeks
4 weeks

If you submitted new credits or titles, please be patient and try to avoid resubmitting the data or contacting us about your update before the minimum times shown above have elapsed.

Due to the huge volume of data our staff has to process, it's extremely time-consuming and inefficient for us to locate individual submissions and look into specific "where's my credit"-type requests, and there is nothing we can do to speed up the process anyway. If you received an email confirmation after submitting your data, it means that we have received it and you just need to wait until our staff can process it.

Assuming there are no backlogs or delays, data that hasn't been added after 4 weeks has probably been rejected by our editors. There can be several reasons for this:

  • You may have failed to provide enough information for us to verify whether the title or credit you supplied is eligible for inclusion in the database. Simply entering a title with little or no cast/crew information may not be enough: for new titles, we need as many details as possible to verify it meets our criteria for inclusion (such as distributor name, screenings on non-local TV, dates of screenings at film festivals, etc).
    For cast or crew credits, we may have been unable to verify the presence of that person in the film. This typically happens when we receive credits for a film which is still in production or yet unreleased or otherwise hard to obtain.
    Whenever possible, please try to add as much information as possible about the credit, such as the name of the character portrayed by the actor, its billing order in the cast etc. A crew credit on a TV series may be rejected unless you specify the title of the episodes, or at least the years or seasons, in which that person worked.

  • Your credit may have been submitted to the wrong filmography section. For example, we list only main film editors in the Editor credits section: other types of editing jobs (such as sound editor or assistant editors) need to be added under the proper data section (e.g. Sound Department or Editorial Department).
    We list only acting roles in the Cast section of a film, so other types of performances need to be added under the proper data section. For example: voiceovers, looping, ADR work, stand-ins, photo doubles and puppeteers belong to the Miscellaneous Crew; stunt performers and stunt doubles belong to the Stunts section, etc.
    When in doubt, check how similar credits are already listed on the page of another film.

  • We could not verify the presence of the credit in the film. This typically happens when we receive credits for a film which is still in production or unreleased or hard to obtain. If the credit you submitted belongs to you, we'll be glad to add it if you can help us verify it meets our eligibility requirements. Any evidence of your work on the film will help, such as a copy of your contract or payment stubs, or press/magazine reviews mentioning your role/name.

  • You may have submitted new credits for a movie whose cast or crew are marked complete. Please remember that we list credits as they appear on screen. If the cast or crew member did not receive a screen credit, you need to specify this by including the attribute "(uncredited)" in your submission. For more details about the eligibility of uncredited work click here. Additionally, unless the uncredited appearance is easily verifiable by watching the film (i.e. a cameo by a high-profile recognizable actor), we may need further information to verify it (as described above).

  • You didn't provide enough information for us to verify the credit: simply submitting a name/credit may not be enough. Whenever possible, please try to add as much information as possible about the credit, such as the name of the character portrayed by the actor, its billing order in the cast; a crew credit on a TV series may be rejected unless you specify the title of the episodes, or at least the years or seasons, in which that person worked, etc.

  • The content of your submission may have been incorrect. Everyone makes mistakes and sometimes people think they've recognized a familiar actor in a film, or maybe have heard rumors about the cast or crew of an upcoming film that later turn out to be incorrect. We are careful about the data that is posted on our site and tend to err on the side of caution.

Cast/crew additions for upcoming/unreleased films are the hardest to to verify, especially if you're trying to add credits to a name that currently isn't listed in the database yet. If you are submitting credits for an unreleased title, you need to provide as much information as possible in order to help us verify them. If you provide additional information for your data that supports the view that it's eligible for inclusion in the Internet Movie Database, your chances of getting the info quickly into the database are much better.

If you feel your rejected submission should have been accepted (and you have verified that it's not already listed in the Internet Movie Database), you're welcome to resubmit it. Please make sure you include a comment to provide the additional information that may help us verify it (as described above).

While a subscription to IMDbPro can, in limited cases, reduce processing times by moving you to the front of the line, it does not affect whether we accept a title or credit.

IMDb retains the right to reject any submission whose eligibility according to our rules is dubious or/and not verifiable. That includes data for titles that are in their very first development stages. They may be rejected at that stage but accepted later on when they are actually finished. IMDb retains the right to change and adapt eligibility rules as circumstances require.

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