Remove an incorrect AKA title

Disclaimer: I'm not an IMDb employee. I'm just a contributor.

You mentioned you tried to create a new page for The Cause of Progress but it has not been processed. When was the update submitted? If you can provide the 18-digit reference number, which is located in your personal Update History page or your email correspondence from IMDb, an IMDb representative can view the submission to see if there were any issues.

I suspect that after the new title page is listed, then you can submit a deletion of the AKA with an explanation that the subtitle was submitted by mistake.

Please write back if you have any more questions.

Hi Chris,

According to Sheffield Doc/Fest the title was originally aired under the name of The Cause of Progress and as such we will not be removing the AKA on the title. It is our policy to list titles as they were first released. 

Hi there,

thanks for your suggestion, the reference number is 170607-133036-417000 submitted on the 7th of June (almost a month ago).

The Cause of Progress is a different film, with different participants, different crew, different soundtrack than A Cambodian Spring. What was shown at Sheffield was a rough cut of The Cause of Progress, it had nothing to do with A Cambodian Spring. They are different, and I have tried to explain this it feels like a thousand times, and it is falling on deaf ears over and over again.

The two films were shot over the same period of time, and have shared some promotional materials, and some of the same crew (ie me and a producer) worked on the films, but they are entirely different films. Having an AKA is misleading, harmful and inaccurate, making it more difficult for me to promote the finished film or raise funding for the unfinished one when people think they are the same film. The Cause of Progress is still a work in progress and A Cambodian Spring is now complete. I would like my entry for The Cause of Progress to be processed asap in order to hopefully resolve this issue. I have the synopsis and other materials ready for it.
This has been the most frustrating and stressful interaction i have ever had with a so-called customer services and i find it staggering that there are more than 20,000 similar threads on this forum, it reflects so badly on IMDB and is a side to the website I had no idea existed.

Chris

I can see that you now have 'The Cause of Progress' as the original title and the original release as 2016. This is completely inaccurate and just plain false information!!! This could not be more misleading.
This whole problem only happened because instead of creating a new page for A Cambodian Spring I thought it would be easier / faster to change 'The Cause of Progress' page to A Cambodian Spring and then create a new page for The Cause of Progress later. 
I have since submitted a new page request for The Cause of Progress and I want any reference to that film removed from A Cambodian Spring immediately.  I would appreciate if someone at IMDB could actually do their job and get the TCP page activated as soon as possible, it has been submitted weeks ago (again submitted today).
This is the most unprofessional service I have ever come across and seems more of a harmful hindrance to the industry than any kind of useful service. If I was able to delete both of my film entries I would do so immediately and have nothing more to do with this awful website

I also see that you have now changed the release date from May 2017 to June 11th 2016? THIS IS WRONG!! it was first shown in May 2017 at Hot Docs. (as was previously listed??)
The Cause of Progress was shown as a rough cut on 11th June 2016, so this information needs to be moved to the The Cause of Progress entry. This is ridiculous, please sort this out asap. is there any kind of management level that I can talk to?

I also see that you have now published a copyrighted image that you do not have permission to publish. I will have my lawyer write as normal communication does not seem to be working.

Chris:

As documented on our site (http://www.imdb.com/help/show_leaf?titleformat), we list films/shows using the title of their first public screening of release. Based on the information in our possession which is also confirmed by past correspondence between you and our editors, the film was originally made under the title "The Cause of Progress" and shown at the Sheffield Film Festival in 2016 under that title, so that is the primary title used on IMDb to identify the film.

The film was later re-titled "A Cambodian Spring" and has been screened at other festivals and events under that title: these events are listed in the film's release history page at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5704606/releaseinfo (if we are missing any screenings, please let us know and we will make all appropriate corrections).

When a film is screened and subsequently undergoes further changes/edits and then released under a different title, we do not create two separate listings (again, please refer to the rules listed at http://www.imdb.com/help/show_leaf?titleformat). 

Differences between the two versions can be listed on the film's page under the "Alternate Versions" section -- if submit an entry with all the details describing how the film was changed between the first screening and the later ones, we will be happy to list it. But it is our strict and longstanding policy not to create separate listings for different versions of the same work. 

I hope this clarifies the situation and the reasoning behind the decision to list the film as it appears now on the site. If you are aware of specific omissions or errors that need to be rectified re: the listing at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5704606/ please contact us directly via the form located at http://www.imdb.com/helpdesk/contact_form and we will be more than happy to make all verifiable applicable corrections.

 

Hi Giancarlo,

Thank you for your informative reply. I will try once more to explain this situation, as i feel like it is still not been fully understood by IMDB.

These are two different films, with different characters, different storylines, different content. To say that one is simply a re-edit of the other is entirely misleading and simply false.
when i decided to enter A Cambodian Spring into IMDB, rather than create a new entry, i thought it would be quicker to change The Cause of Progress to A Cambodian Spring, and then create a new entry for The Cause of Progress later. That was a mistake on my part.
The film shown at Sheffield in 2016 was The Cause of Progress, this film is not yet finished, nor was it finished in 2016 (it still had guide music in the soundtrack, it was ungraded, without proper credits at the end) it was shown as a rough cut. I am still working on this film, and hope to release it later next year. I would appreciate if my IMDB entry for this project reference 170607-133036-417000 could be processed asap so that I can fill out the synopsis and other materials. This listing is not for a version of A Cambodian Spring, it is for a totally different film, but I cannot fill out the details because no one will process the request.

A Cambodian Spring is a totally different film, it was first shown in 2017 at Hot Docs. Both films have used similar press materials in their publicity, because they share similar themes and subject matter and were filmed over the same period of time. However they are simply different films, and that seems to be the issue here, that IMDB will not recognise that there are in fact two separate films.
The potential loss of sales caused by the actions of the IMDB staff is troubling, not to mention the emotional stress caused to me and the team who have worked on these films for so long. I have passed this onto the film distributor lawyers and they will be in contact with IMDB directly.

as for 'specific omissions or errors' if you would like to rectify them, here is a short list for you;
you currently have the film release listed as june 2016, when it was finished in march and premiered in may 2017. This would be the first factual inaccuracy that you could correct.
you have a copyrighted image on the photos page that you do not have permission to publish http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5704606/mediaviewer/rm1980640768 you could remove that.
you have the original title of this film as 'The Cause of Progress' you could remove that.
you could process my page for The Cause of Progress so that I can fill out the details.

kind regards,

Chris

Chris:

As previously stated, at this time there is evidence of the existence only of one film (which was originally screened under one title and later under another). As per our rules, we will continue to list this as one entry, with a release date of 2016 (as this was the earliest known screening). 

You are saying that "The Cause of Progress" is a separate title that is still in production and will be released next year. If that is the case, we will be happy to re-examine a submission when the second film is completed and screened, and there is sufficient information to allow our editors to determine whether "The Cause of Progress" should be listed as a separate entry based on differences between the current title and the new one. Please feel free to resubmit it as a new title addition once it is finished and has been shown at an eligible festival or event, at which point we will revisit the issue and determine if and how to create a second title.

Hi Giancarlo,

Would you care to provide that evidence please? as I am the filmmaker, and have spent more than nine years of my life working on these projects, I think I would be the authoritative voice on how many films are in existence.

You mention your rules, could you also point to the rule that states that you will only look at my submission when the film is complete and screened? I am not allowed t submit work in progress to your website is that what you are saying? You and other IMDB staff seem to be making the rules up as you go along, based more on some kind of unknown personal grievance than any actual rulebook. And as the film industry actually exists as a real thing, not just something you read about on the internet, your decisions unfortunately can have real-world (and financial) implications for those films.

If you want evidence you actually already have it (as I have stated innumerable times) The Cause of Progress screened as a rough cut in Sheffield (so it has already aired, although in unfinished form). A Cambodian Spring (a different, completed film) was finished in 2017 and first screened at Hot Docs that year. Is that not the evidence that you are asking for?
here is the trailer for A Cambodian Spring https://vimeo.com/209625471
and for The Cause of Progress https://vimeo.com/24126538 as you can see these are completely different, they share none of the same content, (although they do share similar themes - please remember this is not drama its documentary) and since the screening at Sheffield, TCP will now only focus on this character https://vimeo.com/29668480 however you will not give me the opportunity to fill out that information as you seem to be quashing that process (making fundraising difficult)

I feel it is ridiculous that I have to explain in such frustrating detail the work that I do, and all I am trying to do here is have my work listed accurately on your website. As I have said before, both projects have shared publicity materials in the past while they were being developed, perhaps this is causing you some confusion. Is there someone that I can actually talk to on the phone about this? Or is the above sufficient?

Thank you for removing the copyrighted image.

Chris

Dear Giancarlo,

I refer you to the letter from IMDB legal representatives attached to this message. Amazon lawyers are claiming that we should have the ability to change this incorrect information anytime we wish online, however you and your staff have prevented us from doing so so far. I would hope that you can now correct the title information or we shall be forced to continue legal proceedings, and as you are my only point of contact, you will also be brought into proceedings.

This can be very simply rectified by correcting the original release date to May 2017 & correcting the UK premiere to November 2017 as can be seen here https://www.leedsfilmcity.com/news/uk-premiere-of-a-cambodian-spring-plus-director-qa/ and removing the AKA title 'The Cause of Progress' from this title and actually allowing me to open up the separate 'The Cause of Progress' IMDB page for that film (as I have said many times these are two separate titles). I have been blocked from setting up that page as well for reasons that are beyond me.

best,

Chris

This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled Remove an incorrect AKA title.

I have been trying to remove an incorrect title for a long time and IMDB staff are seemingly intent on refusing to do so. I tried posting about it on here and IMDB staff closed the thread and hid it from the community - what the hell is going on with IMDB? can someone with some authority actually look into this issue? I am sure if I post the thread it will be removed again