I'm an Exec Producer/Writer of a short film. My piece is so short none of the five characters have names but descriptive names. One of the actors decided to not only remove their descriptive character name but the names of all the other actors. And they also changed the orders in which the actors appear on the IMDB, favoring their character first (which is debatable).
My question is in the area of 'how does this all work?' at the IMDB. If one actor can arbitrarily change so much, what's stopping another from doing the same? Shouldn't the IMDB check with the likes of me before ANYTHING is changed? Or can I put a lock down of sorts to prevent further edits without my permission? Again -- how does this all work?
Thank you.
My question is in the area of 'how does this all work?' at the IMDB. If one actor can arbitrarily change so much, what's stopping another from doing the same? Shouldn't the IMDB check with the likes of me before ANYTHING is changed? Or can I put a lock down of sorts to prevent further edits without my permission? Again -- how does this all work?
Thank you.
Posted 7 years ago
Emperor, Champion
Greetings Emperor and Champion of all things IMDB: I may have not been clear and so some of your responses are not clear to me.
so first, here's a linkee -- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3399568/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
In the blue box is where character description 'names' once lived. Funny Boy, Sad Girl, etcetera. The actor decided to remove these names. I presume I could put the descriptions right back, but then, what prevents the actor from removing them again? How is this resolved is my question.
In the orange box I see the actors are also in a new order. Is that something the actor who eliminated the character description names changed?
so first, here's a linkee -- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3399568/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
In the blue box is where character description 'names' once lived. Funny Boy, Sad Girl, etcetera. The actor decided to remove these names. I presume I could put the descriptions right back, but then, what prevents the actor from removing them again? How is this resolved is my question.
In the orange box I see the actors are also in a new order. Is that something the actor who eliminated the character description names changed?
(Edited)
PLEASE IGNORE THAT FIRST BOTCHED RESPONSE AND READ THIS INSTEAD --
Greetings Emperor and Champion of all things IMDB:
I may have not been clear and so some of your responses are not clear to me.
so first, here's a linkee -- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3399568/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Where the actors are listed? They used to be in a different order. The actor in question changed this somehow.
Also, to the right of the actors, used to be their description names like Funny
Boy, Sad Girl, etcetera. The actor in question removed all of them.
So you have an actor who has elected to remove character names from their fellow actors. This works out fine for the actor but not their fellow thespians. I could go back and change it again, but so could they, and so --
-- how is this resolved?
Greetings Emperor and Champion of all things IMDB:
I may have not been clear and so some of your responses are not clear to me.
so first, here's a linkee -- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3399568/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Where the actors are listed? They used to be in a different order. The actor in question changed this somehow.
Also, to the right of the actors, used to be their description names like Funny
Boy, Sad Girl, etcetera. The actor in question removed all of them.
So you have an actor who has elected to remove character names from their fellow actors. This works out fine for the actor but not their fellow thespians. I could go back and change it again, but so could they, and so --
-- how is this resolved?
(Edited)
Emperor, Champion
I may have not been clear and so some of your responses are not clear to me.
OK. I'll simplify.
The key question is: Are there credits on your video?
How we move forward depends on the answer to that.
Thanks for your help, by the by.
Giancarlo Cairella, Official Rep
The 'final call', so to speak, is determined by on-screen credits. For guidelines on how cast credits should be ordered, see: http://www.imdb.com/updates/guide/order
For guidelines on how to determine character names/role descriptions, see: http://www.imdb.com/updates/guide/characters
As far as I can see, the short does have on-screen credits:
So you should submit the order numbers matching the same order as they appear in the credits (e.g. Romano, Penaranda, Cooper etc.) -- since there are no onscreen character names, you can and should add them based on the names of the characters they play or their role, as listed in the above guide.
For guidelines on how to determine character names/role descriptions, see: http://www.imdb.com/updates/guide/characters
As far as I can see, the short does have on-screen credits:
So you should submit the order numbers matching the same order as they appear in the credits (e.g. Romano, Penaranda, Cooper etc.) -- since there are no onscreen character names, you can and should add them based on the names of the characters they play or their role, as listed in the above guide.
Thank you Giancarlo. It's amazing that such a simple situation is so surprisingly complex. This is what I've concluded from this back and forth. Please tell me if I have it right.
1. We use that actual film as a guide in this circumstance. And so the order the actors appear in the film credits is the official order.
2. "Names are usually enough, and the character name shouldn't be descriptive, unless
absolutely necessary to identify the actor (i.e., if a role doesn't have a
name, someone may be identified as "Man in Van" or "Woman with
Umbrella")." In my case, descriptions are therefore warranted.
3. Here's the thing. Suppose I put them back. And then the actor that removed them REMOVES THEM again. My only recourse is to site IMDB rules on this situation. And so really it sounds to me like I need to resolve this with the actor offline to ensure that whatever I correct... urm... stays corrected.
Is that about right?
1. We use that actual film as a guide in this circumstance. And so the order the actors appear in the film credits is the official order.
2. "Names are usually enough, and the character name shouldn't be descriptive, unless
absolutely necessary to identify the actor (i.e., if a role doesn't have a
name, someone may be identified as "Man in Van" or "Woman with
Umbrella")." In my case, descriptions are therefore warranted.
3. Here's the thing. Suppose I put them back. And then the actor that removed them REMOVES THEM again. My only recourse is to site IMDB rules on this situation. And so really it sounds to me like I need to resolve this with the actor offline to ensure that whatever I correct... urm... stays corrected.
Is that about right?
DavidAH_Ca, Champion
1. We use that actual film as a guide in this circumstance. And so theNot just in this circumstance. The cast credits are always supposed to be in the same sequence as the on-screen list. Note that this means, for example, that Elijah Woods, who plays Frodo, is listed 38th in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) well below less major parts.
order the actors appear in the film credits is the official order.
2. In my case, descriptions are therefore warranted.Yes, if a name is not shown on screen, then a description is quite acceptable. There are actually a number of films in which the decision was made to put a description in the on-screen credits rather than just a name; therefore, it is particularly appropriate for you (rather than another contributor) to make the choice.
3. Here's the thing. Suppose I put them back. And then the actor thatThis is one of the drawbacks to IMDb's 'crowdsourcing' method of handling data. There is no way to guarantee that such a thing will not happen again, but if you include an Explanation in the appropriate field with each credit update, it is less likely to happen again. If you know who the person who removed the Character Names is, it might be a good idea to indicate to that person that IMDb does like to have the Character specified, even if it is not shown on screen.
removed them REMOVES THEM again. My only recourse is to site IMDB
rules on this situation. And so really it sounds to me like I need to
resolve this with the actor offline to ensure that whatever I correct...
urm... stays corrected.
IMDb is primarily a database for the fans of film, not the business, and people looking up information on a film or person want to know what part the person played, so IMDb wants the information.
Thank you and all.
LuvsToResearch, Champion
Once the changes you have submitted are effective and the page appropriately reflects the cast and crew, click the page's edit button, go all the way to the bottom of the page and select Cast/Crew Verification and select the appropriate box(es), once that has been submitted and accepted it should, presumably, lock the credits from being changed without IMDb Staff intervention.
Emperor, Champion
There is no way to guarantee that such a thing will not happen again,
but if you include an Explanation in the appropriate field with each
credit update, it is less likely to happen again.
Also include a link to this thread in the explanation, so staff processing this know you are making the edits on the advice of a range of people, including other staff. I might be wrong, but I believe staff now have easier access to the submission history, so this should prevent too much back and forth on this issue especially if you are clear (and link here) in the explanation.
