Please don't copy the IMDb cast/crew to TMDb. They are not the bible, and from the movies I watched (even US ones), they are not correct! Please just watch the credits on Netflix or something and manually add them. If you can't do that, orit's not accessible in your country, just add the main ones from press releases. Like Director, Screenplay/Writers, and maybe DoP and Editor.

This bears repeating and emphasis though; please don't copy the IMDb cast/crew to TMDb., or anything else really.

First let me state that I am an avid fan of all movie listing databases, and have no quarrel to pick with any. Each have their inherent flaws and room for improvement.

I've been a IMDb member for quite a few years and I agree there can be errors. I have found them and when I do I submit corrections. I certainly do not considering them "the bible." I'm sorry the entries for the movies you have watched did not have correct entries, but you can't throw the baby out with the bath water. I, and others have worked long tedious hours entering our information on IMDb to make sure it is correct for the our films. I'm sure many most other production companies have done the same. In bulk I can feel safe in saying there is more accurate information than inaccurate listed there.

I just picked at movie at random on today's main page..... https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/363088-ant-man-and-the-wasp/ I don't think the artwork, etc. including the 58 cast members and 46 crew members listed weren't just added by some guy sitting in the dark with a notepad jotting down the rolling credits. I don't think just plopping in a few main credits like the DoP from a press release and ignoring the rest is a viable option either. While I've only been on TMDb a couple of years, if the bulk is being manually populated by people freeze framing credits then I can see why I spot a lot of errors with artwork and titles that I haven't had a lot of time to spend correcting ---- yet. I just need to sprout a few more fingers first. :) I love TMDb's look and feel. That's why I take the time to rate a movie I go that extra step to rate in on IMDb, TMDb, and Letterboxd as well.

At to the issue at hand.......

For the movie that prompted me to ask this specific question, the director and his staff worked for hours entering all the information to make sure it was correct on IMDb. Any suggestion that a I could be more accurate by sibling it down as the credits rolled frankly seems like a recipe for typos, when I have the source material in front of me. As I know the information for this movie on IMDb is correct, my question simply was there an api, or something, available to save me from having to manually retype it. If not so be it, I will just need to set aside more time to manually re-enter the same information that was used to populate IMDb.

Hi, there is no way that I know of to mass-import data from IMDb to TMDb. It has to be entered manually.

I think @alltimemarr was not aware that you were a movie producer. From my own experience I have often come across incorrect data even on supposedly verified complete entries. My guess is that many times the final credits are not the same as the list of those that actually worked on a movie and at times mistakes are made. So if you plan on doing a full contribution (adding all credits to a movie), make sure that those match the actual credits in the movie.

Two more notes: We don't have support for uncredited Crew credits at this time, which means any such credit listed on IMDb should not be added here. And not all jobs are available yet on TMDb. Good luck!

Thanks for the response. My thought on credits there is a) the full credit listing - that every department is going to need especially payroll. and b) what ends up on the screen in the rush in post to get done with it, including song credits all your industry association logos, area film industry logos, and some stuff just doesn't make it in due to time, and in some cases I suspect supervision. (Sometimes Binky the dog gets left out, but Lord help us if his handler or the ASPCA isn't credited ). There are obvious things that not going to be on the screen, like award wins, or nominations. Hopefully your timing is lucky enough it will be your distributor that will add those if they are available when they press DVDs. I'm glad IMDb has fields for that, but I'm not concerned basically with what I call a films "afterlife."

I like your point about uncredited crew, fortunately I don't have that to deal with. I don't want to demean uncredited crew but I really don't have any interest a/o time for the back of some guys head down the street that happened to wander into a shot. If it turned out later that guy's head was Orson Welles, my bad, but it will be up to him to add himself to IMDb or wherever. But it's good to know that all jobs are not listed in TMDb. One instance I noted is where I have a credit for a "Film Editor" but TMDb will refer to that by another term.

Fortunately I don't have anything that is not straight forward, and nothing like trying to add the hundreds of different credits for the visual effects team like on a Transformer movie whew. I only really thought that there might be an import tool, because I had surgery on my arm and an embolism developed in the end of my index finger of all places making typing literally a pain LOL, but I am getting better hunting and pecking everyday.

But thanks again - that there is no import tool is exactly what I needed to know!

One instance I noted is where I have a credit for a "Film Editor" but TMDb will refer to that by another term.

That's a simple one. We only use "Editor". If you are unsure about a job, take a look at a few popular movies and you will notice what the main jobs in use are. There are also a few job help topics and a complete list of all jobs somewhere, but I don't have those links handy now.

Thanks!

It would be ideal to be able to mass-import data from IMDb to TMDb so as to populate missing data without the need for tedious data entry by hand. It seems like a high-value functionality that the site should have.

e.g., When creating a new movie/TV entry in TMDB, it would be great if TMDb had the ability to auto-populate key fields using the IMDb identifier. These fields could then be checked and edited as needed.

Are there any plans to add this kind of functionality in the future? If not, are there any obstacles preventing us from doing so?

Thanks

We don't want massive import from IMDB. The reference should be the on-screen credits, not the credits listed on IMDB. IMDB is only another database edited by users.

@zinkyzinkerson as @superboy97 said, there is no functionality for that, nor will there ever be plans for it. We’re building our own database, not simply a copy of some 3rd party.

I can understand and appreciate the desire for accuracy and precision ahead of efficiency and scale. At the same time, it might also make sense to remove some barriers to entry so as to maximize the degree to which the site is populated, and thus able to carry out its intended primary function (i.e., being a singular source for accurate information about various forms of media).

Perhaps there is a middle ground here. For example, perhaps IMDb (or some other trusted source) import could be employed in a limited fashion for fields such as titles (e.g., multi-entry instances like episodes), cutting down the amount of labour needed to generate new entries while still keeping the risk of poor quality data low. Could limited instances of this kind of functionality be considered?

Thanks