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Youtube/Indie series and movies getting deleted - Support Indie Web Series on TMDB
posted by LevelUpBoiiiSTAFFMOD on October 26, 2023 at 12:32 AM
Hi, just wanted to express my concern on this topic. Recently I was notified that some entries on TMDB, in this case talking about web series on Youtube, have been deleted. Reading the guidelines it does say that "YouTube videos, including viral videos and videos created by popular YouTubers or famous actors" are not allowed in here, which I kinda get but there are some examples that shouldn't be deleted, especially indie series on Youtube. Some example may be the now popular Murder Drones and The Amazing Digital Circus, or the amazingly animated Helluva Boss (or other niche indie projects). TADC and Helluva Boss have been added again but some other indie projects have still not be added (and I please beg that they don't get deleted again). My points is, these projects deserved to be known and loved. If it is categorize as just Youtube videos, well that's just sad and disrespectful. These indie movies/shows have the same dedication as streaming or even theoretical movies and shows. We can even label them as web series (something that in TMDB is actually allowed to have), but please just don't deleted them for the simple sake that they are "Youtube videos". They use Youtube as a platform to upload and show this projects, so lets foment that and get more people to support these shows and movies. That's all, I will be forever grateful if these Youtube/web series and movies get the love they deserve :)
Reply by lineker
on October 26, 2023 at 5:20 AM
Hi, in general we have to make sure that only professionally released movies and TV shows are allowed on TMDb. It's not possible from a workload perspective to allow only projects that are 'known and loved'. I have suggested an expansion of YouTube content - the easiest way would be to go by popularity - but so far no decision has been made about that.
Reply by LevelUpBoiii
on October 26, 2023 at 4:34 PM
Oh okey, thanks for caring for this topic! I'll be glad if your suggestion can be approved! For the meantime we'll wait :) (So let's say that the suggestion has been approved, how much popularity does it need to have to be added on TMDB? Just a question that I thought, either way, thanks for the response!)
Reply by lineker
on October 26, 2023 at 4:44 PM
I don't know how much it would take, but probably a lot in a first step. Still, nothing decided and not planned at this point so we'll see what happens.
Reply by LevelUpBoiii
on October 26, 2023 at 6:20 PM
Oh well, thanks for responding! :) have a nice day!
Reply by Cesar Rosas Jr.
on July 19, 2025 at 12:30 PM
I personally feel like this is a harmful act against indie filmmakers, and as an indie filmmaker myself, I feel this is disrespectful to us because we put so much time and effort in our films and barley get any recognition for it, and when we try to use platforms such as this one to share our work, and spend months putting our series on here, all our hard work get deleted, just because we are "amateures" and nobody here sees value in us. All of my shows were all removed from TMDB, just because they are on YouTube. It is very unfortunate and disappointing to discover me and my team's work not being appreciated by the individuals who run a database website that claims to be a "Trusted Platform" that is "Community Built". I will continue to ONLY use IMDb, a much more professional and legitimate database website that is trustworthy in comparison to TMDB.
SHOWS REMOVED Digital Vids, The Adventures of Vyond City, CJ Slides, [CJ] Studios Extras
MOVIES REMOVED Lost In Vyond
Reply by softpillow
on July 20, 2025 at 5:41 AM
To be fair you probably shouldve read the rules and not broken them so much before you spent all that time and effort doing things that isnt allowed on this site.
just because a database is a "trusted platform" and is "community built" doesnt mean it cant have its own set of rules and has to do what you want it to.