Chicago / Turabian Film Citation

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How to reference a Film using the Chicago Manual of Style

The most basic entry for a film consists of the personnel, title, medium, director name(s), distributor, distributor city, and year of release.

Last Name, First. Film Title. Medium. Directed by First Name Last Name. Distributor City: Distributor, Year of Release.

Doe, Jane. BibMe: The Movie. DVD. Directed by John Smith. Los Angeles: Columbia, 2001.

Begin the citation by including any personnel responsible for the content being cited, including composers, writers, or performers. The first person’s name should be reversed, with a comma being placed after the last name and a period after the first name (or any middle name). Titles and affiliations associated with the author should be omitted. A suffix, such as a roman numeral or Jr./Sr. should appear after the author’s given name, preceded by a comma.

For a film with two or more personnel, list them in order as they are credited in the film. Only the first person’s name should be reversed, while the others are written in normal order. Separate names by a comma.

Doe, Jane, and Joe Anderson. BibMe: The Movie. DVD. Directed by John Smith. Los Angeles: Columbia, 2001.

After the personnel are listed, italicize the film title, and follow it with a period. Include the medium of the copy of the film you viewed (e.g. VHS, DVD, Laser Disc), along with a period.

Include the text “Directed by” and then list out the names of any directors. Write a director’s name in normal order – do not list reverse the first and last names. For a film with two or more directors, separate each person by a comma and include the word “and” before the last director’s name.

Doe, Jane. BibMe: The Movie. DVD. Directed by John Smith, and Joe Anderson. Los Angeles: Columbia, 2001.

After the directors, include the city in which the film’s distributor is located, followed by a colon, the distributor’s name, a comma, and the year of release. If film was re-released in a more recent year and you are citing content new to that particular version of the film, use the most recent year of release in your citation.

If you are citing a commentary or an individual scene, cite it like a chapter from a book. Place the commentary or film chapter name, along with a period, in quotations, after the initial personnel and before the film title.

Doe, Jane. “Humble Beginnings.” BibMe: The Movie. DVD. Directed by John Smith, and Joe Anderson. Los Angeles: Columbia, 2001.

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