APA Style (7th Edition) Citation Guide: Films/Videos/TV Shows

Film or Video

Streaming Video From a Website (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.)

Streaming Video From a Subscription Media Website (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, etc.)

Streaming Video From a Library Database

Television Series Episode

Note: All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference List.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

This Microsoft support page contains instructions about how to format a hanging indent in a paper.

Who to Credit - Film or Video

The director should be credited as the author of a film. If the director is unknown, someone in a similar role, such as a producer and/or writer, can be credited. To clarify what role the person has in the production, their job title such as Director is put after their name in round brackets if the job title is known.

Who to Credit - Streaming Video from a Website

For videos from websites such as YouTube or Vimeo, credit the person who posted the content. If a real name is provided, use that followed by the person's user name in square brackets. If the real name of the person who posted the content is not known, just use their user name without brackets.

Note: It is not necessary to specify how you watched a film or video (e.g. motion picture, DVD, streaming online). 

Books, Journals, Reports, Webpages, etc.: When you refer to titles of a “stand-alone work,” as the APA calls them on their APA Style website, such as books, journals, reports, and webpages, you should italicize them. Capitalize words as you would for an article title in a reference, e.g., In the book Crying in H Mart: A memoir, author Michelle Zauner (2021) describes her biracial origin and its impact on her identity.

Article or Chapter: When you refer to the title of a part of a work, such as an article or a chapter, put quotation marks around the title and capitalize it as you would for a journal title in a reference, e.g., In the chapter “Where’s the Wine,” Zauner (2021) describes how she decided to become a musician.

The APA Sample Paper below has more information about formatting your paper.

When the Director, Producer and/or Writer is known:

Director/Producer/Writer's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if given. (Job Title). (Year film was produced). Title of film: Subtitle if any [Film]. Production Company.

Note: For other countries, list the city name and the country.

Example:

Hallam, J. (Producer, Writer), & Lam, K. (Producer, Director). (2010). Staff relations in healthcare: Working as a team [Film]. Insight Media.

Notes:

• When you have more than one producer, writer and/or writer to credit, separate the names with a comma and put an ampersand (&) before the last person's last name.
• When you have more than one production company, separate the companies with a semicolon. Example:
  • Serling, R. (Executive Producer). (1959–1964). The twilight zone [TV series]. Cayuga Productions; CBS Productions.

In-Text Paraphrase:

(Producer/Director/Writer's Last Name, Year)

Example: (Hallam & Lam, 2010)

Note: This example has two people to credit, so both last names are given)

In-Text Quote:

(Producer/Director/Writer's Last Name, Year, Timestamp)

Example: (Hallam & Lam, 2010, 2:30)

Note: Because the timestamp serves the same purpose in a video as page numbers, paragraph numbers or section headings, you include it in the in-text citation. Include only the beginning timestamp.

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When the Director, Producer and/or Writer is not known: Start the citation with the film title.

Title of film: Subtitle if any [Film]. (Year film was produced). Production Company if Known.

Note: For other countries, list the city name and the country.

Example:

Era of viruses [Film]. (2006). Films for the Humanities and Sciences.

In-Text Paraphrase:

(Title of Film, Year)

Example: (Era of Viruses, 2006)

Note: Italicize the title of the film and capitalize the words for the in-text citation.

In-Text Quote:

(Title of Film, Year, Timestamp)

Example: (Era of Viruses, 2006, 40:00)

Note: Italicize the title of the film and capitalize the words for the in-text citation.

Note: Because the timestamp serves the same purpose in a video as page numbers, paragraph numbers or section headings, you include it in the in-text citation. Include only the beginning timestamp.

When the Poster's Name is known: 

Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial. of person who posted the video if known. [User name that posted the video]. (Year video was posted, Month Day). Title of video [Video]. Website Name. URL

Note: According to APA, for citing purposes the person who posted the video is credited as the author.

Example:

Nye, B. [TheRealBillNye]. (2009, April 8). Bill Nye the science guy on energy [Video]. YouTube. http://youtu.be/0ASLLiuejAo

In-Text Paraphrase:

(Creator's Last Name, Year)

Example: (Nye, 2009)

In-Text Quote:

(Creator's Last Name, Year, timestamp)

Example: (Nye, 2009, 0:55)

Note: Because the timestamp serves the same purpose in a video as page numbers, paragraph numbers or section headings, you include it in the in-text citation. Include only the beginning timestamp.

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When the Poster's Name is not known: 

User name that posted the video. (Year video was posted, Month Day). Title of video [Video]. Website Name. URL

Note: According to APA, for citing purposes the person who posted the video is credited as the author.

Example:

All Aces Media. (2012, January 19). Often awesome the series [Video]. Vimeo. http://vimeo.com/35311255

In-Text Paraphrase:

(User name, Year)

Example: (All Aces Media, 2012)

In-Text Quote:

(User name, Year)

Example: (All Aces Media, 2012, timestamp)

Note: Because the timestamp serves the same purpose in a video as page numbers, paragraph numbers or section headings, you include it in the in-text citation. Include only the beginning timestamp.

Producer's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Producer). (Year of Publication). Title of Video [Video]. Website Name. URL

Note: When you have one producer (Producer) is used after the producer's name. If you have more than one producer use (Producers) instead.

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Example:

Allen, T., et. al. (Producers). (2017). The story of Diana [Video]. Netflix. http://www.netflix.com

In-Text Paraphrase:

(Producer Last name, Year)

Example: (Allen, et. al., 2017)

In-Text Quote:

(Producer Last name, Year, Timestamp)

Example: (Allen, et. al., 2017, 6:45)

Note: Because the timestamp serves the same purpose in a video as page numbers, paragraph numbers or section headings, you include it in the in-text citation. Include only the beginning timestamp.

Name of Company/Organization that Provided Content or Creator's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial. if known. (Year video was created, Month Day if known). Title of video [Video]. Database Name.

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Example:

National Film Board of Canada. (2014). Making movie history: The women [Video]. NFB Campus. 

In-Text Paraphrase:

(Name of Company/Organization, Year)

Example: (National Film Board of Canada, 2014)

In-Text Quote:

(Name of Company/Organization, Year, Timestamp)

Note: Because the timestamp serves the same purpose in a video as page numbers, paragraph numbers or section headings, you include it in the in-text citation. Include only the beginning timestamp.

Writer, Producer and/or Director's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if given. (Job Title) if known. (Year the episode was originally aired). Title of episode (Season No., Episode No.) [TV series episode]. In Executive Producer's First Initial. Last Name (Executive producer) if known, Television series name. Production Company.

Note: For other countries, list the city name and the country.

Example:

Young, R. (Writer, Producer, Director). (2010). Flying cheap (Season 2010, Episode 2) [TV series episode]. In Frontline. American University School of Communication's Investigative Reporting Workshop.

Note: For other countries, list the city name and the country.

In-Text Paraphrase:

(Writer, Producer and/or Director's Last Name, Year)

Example: (Young, 2010)

In-Text Quote:

(Writer, Producer and/or Director's Last Name, Year, Timestamp)

Example: (Young, 2010, 15:38)

Note: Because the timestamp serves the same purpose in a video as page numbers, paragraph numbers or section headings, you include it in the in-text citation. Include only the beginning timestamp.

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Television Series Episode Viewed on a Subscription Media Website 

Writer, Producer and/or Director's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if given. (Job Title) if known. (Year the episode was originally aired). Title of episode (Season No., Episode No.) [TV series episode]. In Executive Producer's First Initial. Last Name (Executive producer) if known, Television series name. Streaming Video Site. URL

Example:

Attenborough, D. (Writer). (2001). Ocean world (Season 1, Episode 1) [TV series episode]. In A. Fothergill (Executive producer), Blue planet: A natural history of the oceans. Netflix. http://www.netflix.com

In-Text Paraphrase:

(Writer, Producer and/or Director's Last Name, Year)

Example: (Attenborough, 2001)

In-Text Quote:

 (Writer, Producer and/or Director's Last Name, Year, Timestamp)

Example: (Attenborough, 2001, 10:12)

Note: Because the timestamp serves the same purpose in a video as page numbers, paragraph numbers or section headings, you include it in the in-text citation. Include only the beginning timestamp.