Cite a Movie Using MLA Style

Modern Language Association (MLA) style is most often used when writing papers in the liberal arts or humanities fields. To cite a movie using MLA style, use one of the methods below.

Steps

Citation Templates

Doc:MLA Citation for Online Movie,MLA Citation for Movie Showing,MLA Citation for Movie on Television

Online Movie

  1. List the movie's title in italics followed by a period.
    • Jacob’s Ladder.
  2. Add the name of the director, prefaced by "Dir." and followed by a period.
    • Jacob’s Ladder. Dir. Adrian Lyne.
  3. Add the name of the studio or distributor followed by a comma, the year of publication, and a period.
    • Jacob’s Ladder. Dir. Adrian Lyne. TriStar Pictures, 1990.
  4. Add the name of the sponsoring site followed by a period.
    • Jacob’s Ladder. Dir. Adrian Lyne. TriStar Pictures, 1990. Netflix.
  5. Add “Web.”
    • Jacob’s Ladder. Dir. Adrian Lyne. TriStar Pictures, 1990. Netflix. Web.
  6. Add the day, month, and year of access with no commas and followed by a period.
    • Jacob’s Ladder. Dir. Adrian Lyne. TriStar Pictures, 1990. Netflix. Web. 19 March 2012.
  7. If necessary, add the <URL> followed by a period. This is necessary if the site is obscure or if stipulated by your professor.
    • Jacob’s Ladder. Dir. Adrian Lyne. TriStar Pictures, 1990. Netflix. Web. 19 March 2012. <http://movies.netflix.com/andsoforth>.

Movie Recording or Showing

  1. List the movie's title in italics followed by a period.
    • Jacob’s Ladder.
  2. Add the name of the director, prefaced by "Dir." and followed by a period.
    • Jacob’s Ladder. Dir. Adrian Lyne.
  3. If desired, add the name of any key performers, prefaced by “Perf.” and followed by a period. This is not required but can be useful if you reference the performers in the essay.
    • Jacob’s Ladder. Dir. Adrian Lyne. Perf. Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Peña, and Danny Aiello.
  4. Add the name of the film studio or distributor, followed by a comma, then the release year, followed by a period.
    • Jacob’s Ladder. Dir. Adrian Lyne. Perf. Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Peña, and Danny Aiello. TriStar Pictures, 1990.
  5. Add the medium of publication – film, DVD, VHS, laser disc – followed by a period. “Film” is used when the movie is seen in a theater.
    • Jacob’s Ladder. Dir. Adrian Lyne. Perf. Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Peña, and Danny Aiello. TriStar Pictures, 1990. DVD.

Movie On Television

  1. Begin the works cited listing with the title of the television program in quotes. End the title with a period, which goes inside the quotation marks.
    • If citing a made-for-television movie that was part of a series or broadcast as part of another program, list the name of the series or program in italics, followed by a period.
    • If citing a major film that was later aired on television, begin the listing with all the information listed in the first section, abbreviating the original release date to just the release year.
  2. Add the name of the network the program aired on followed by a period.
  3. List the station's call letters, then add a comma, the city the program aired in, and a period. If the program aired on a nationwide network, you can omit this information and list just the network name as directed above.
  4. Add the day, month, and year of airing with no commas and followed by a period. For example: 20 Oct. 2004.
  5. End the listing with the publication medium (in this case, television) followed by a period.

Tips

  • To write the parenthetical citation – i.e. the in-text citation – provide the first element in the works cited entry (usually the movie name). Alternatively, work this information directly into the text, eliminating the need for any parenthetical citation at all. (Ex. “In Adrian Lyne’s 1990 thriller, Jacob’s Ladder, ...”)
  • Both director and actor should be listed first name first. The only exception is if you wish to emphasize a specific performer or director's involvement in the film. In that case, you begin the works cited listing with the director or performer's name, in the format: last name, first name, followed by the appropriate dir. or perf. abbreviation. Then, continue the listing with the film's title, still in italics, and the following information. You have the flexibility to reorder the citation because conventions for film and video citations are more relaxed than those for other types of sources.
  • MLA citation requirements for film and television are more fluid than those for other sources--thus the flexibility to begin a citation with the movie's title, the director's name or the name of featured performers. This same fluidity can leave to confusion or differences of opinion, so if you're unsure about specific requirements for citing this format within a certain class, research field or publication, your only option is to consult with your professor or editor to make sure you're on the same page.

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