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APA Citation and Formatting: Films and Videos

Attention Students!

This guide is a starting point. For full details on correctly citing resources and creating references, please consult
the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th Ed.) (2020), or Cites & Sources (6th Ed.) (2021).

Please Note! Library staff do not teach APA, and cannot evaluate or correct work. If you need help with APA Style, please contact your instructor.

A Note About Authors for Films & 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, 7th ed, shows who should be included as an author for different types of media.

Media Type 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 other streaming video Person or group who uploaded the video
TED Talk Speaker

How Do I Cite Films and Videos?

An image of a video’s page on a streaming site. The title of the film is “The Spirit of Annie Mae”. The director is listed as Catherine Anne Martin. The date of production is given as 2002. The production company is listed as the National Film Board of Canada. Blue arrows point to the title, director, date of production and production company.

Reference List Entry: Format (10.12)
Director, D. (Director). (Date). Title of work [Description]. Production company.

Example:
Martin, C. A. (Director). (2002). The spirit of Annie Mae [Film]. National Film Board of Canada.

Parenthetical Citation 
(Director, Date), e.g.: (Martin, 2002)

Narrative Citation
Director (Date), e.g.: Martin (2015)

An image of a video’s page on a streaming site. The title of the film is “L'abri”. The director is listed as Fernand Melgar. The date of production is given as 2014. The production company is listed as the National Film Board of Canada. Blue arrows point to the title, director, date of production and production company.

Reference List Entry: Format (10.12)
Director, D. (Director). (Date). Title of work [Translation of title] [Description]. Production company.

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).

Example:
Melgar, F. (Director). (2014). L'abri [The shelter] [Film]. National Film Board of Canada.

Parenthetical Citation 
(Director, Date), e.g.: (Melgar, 2014)

Narrative Citation
Director (Date), e.g.: Melgar (2014)

An image of a television series’ page on a streaming site. The title of the series is “The 8th Fire”. Blue arrows point to the title and to the link to the show’s credits, along with a note indicating that the credits will have more information.

Reference List Entry: Format (10.12)
Producer, P. (Producer). (Date). Title of work [Description]. Production company. 

Remember! A director, host, or producer can be listed as an "author" (10.2).

Please Note! 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).

Example:
Walker, C. (Producer). (2012). The 8th fire [TV series]. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Remember! Look at the material itself to get all of 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.

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)

An image of a page for an episode of a television series on a streaming site.The title of the episode is, “New Times, New Ways”. The title of the series is “Canada: A People’s History”. The date of production is 2017. The director of the episode is listed as Denis Paquet. Blue arrows point to the title of the episode and the series, the date of publication, the director and producer, and the production company.

Reference List Entry: Format (10.12)
Director, D. (Director). (Date). Episode title (Season or series number, Episode number) [Description]. In P. Producer (Producer or Executive Producer) Title of work. Production company. 

Example:
Paquet, D. (Director). (2017). New times, new ways, part 1 of 2 (Series 5, Episode 1) [TV series episode]. In N. Dubois (Producer), Canada: a people's history. CBC Radio Canada.

Parenthetical Citation 
(Director, Date), e.g.: (Paquet, 2017)

Narrative Citation
Director (Date), e.g.: Paquet (2017)

 A page for a Ted Talk video on the Ted Talks website. The speaker is Eman Mohammed. The title of the talk is, “The courage to tell a hidden story”. Blue arrows point to the name of the speaker and creator, the date and title of the presentation, and the name of the website.

Reference List Entry: Format (10.12)
Speaker, S. (Date). Title [Description]. Production company. URL

Example:
Mohammed, E. (2014, March 2). The courage to tell a hidden story. [Video]. TEDTalks. https://www.ted.com/talks/eman_mohammed_the_courage_to_tell_a_hidden_story

Please Note! TED Talks can be found on both the TED website and on the TED YouTube channel. If the video being cited was watched on the TED YouTube channel, cite the source as a YouTube video with all of the information as it appears on the YouTube upload, e.g.: Mohammed, E. (2014, September 24). The courage to tell a hidden story. [Video]. TEDTalks. YouTube. https://youtu.be/9Eobo04R7-Y

Parenthetical Citation 
(Speaker, Year), e.g.: (Mohammed, 2002)

Narrative Citation
Speaker (Year), e.g.: Mohammed (2015)

A page for a video on YouTube. The title of the video is, “What is a copyright?” The video was produced by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. Blue arrows point to the name of the video and the organization that produced it, the date of production, and the name of the website.

Reference List Entry: Format (10.12)
Uploader. (Date). Title of work [Description]. Host Site. URL.

Example:
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (2016, September 7) What is a copyright? (Canada) [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/ljNS5p3cqls

Parenthetical Citation 
(Uploader, Year), e.g.: (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, 2016)

Narrative Citation
Uploader (Year), e.g.: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (2015)

Please Note!

This guide is based on the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed. (2020). Library staff have reviewed the information in this guide, and to the best of our knowledge, it is accurate. However, mistakes do occur. Students bear sole responsibility for ensuring that their citations are correct, and that their assignments meet the criteria laid out by their instructor. Students are encouraged to contact Peer Tutoring or the Writing Clinic for assistance.