Tags & Keywords

Filmhub’s licensing team and Channel buyers actively use tags and keywords to search for titles in our catalog, and having good tags and keywords significantly improves the chance of your title getting licensed. Help us, help you!

Tags are free-form keywords you can enter that describe your Movie or Show.

Keywords are selectable from a categorized taxonomy curated by our recommendation team.

Here are our suggestions for using tags:

• Go with suggested tags. Type in the tags field and see what shows up in auto-suggest. Top suggestions are usually the best tags.

• Tags are additional information not covered by other metadata fields. Do not include information already entered into other designated fields, such as genres, year of production, cast & crew names, or locations.

• Tags should be single words or short phrases (no more than three words) in English. No unneeded punctuations like hashtags. Eliminate ambiguity and avoid abbreviations. For example, tag “DC Comics” instead of “DC”.

• Be descriptive and specific. Avoid vague and generally applicable words such as "good", "amazing", "films", "story", “new”, etc

• Avoid redundant info. For example, use “revenge” instead of “revenge films” or “revenge story”.

• Avoid combined tags. Each tag should be single-dimensional. For example, instead of “70s architecture”, add “1970s” and “architecture” as two separate tags.

• Add more broad tags in addition to specific ones. Tags can be as specific as you want; however, when too specific, they may not help increase discoverability. Start with the most nuanced level and work your way backward. For example, if you have a documentary about 90s gangster rap, a “gangster rap” tag certainly makes sense, but channels are less likely to search by precisely that. Thus, you should also tag it with “hip-hop” and “music.”

• The more, the better - Add as many tags as you want as long as they are relevant. We recommend at least 20.

If you are out of ideas, think about your title from these perspectives to help yourself find the right tags.

• Who - who made the film and who’s in it, includes both real people involved with the project and fictional roles. Examples: LGBTQ+, young adults, women filmmakers.

• When - periods, dates, or events that are not years of production. Examples: 1960s, Christmas, Middle Ages, summer, winter.

• Where - settings or places not covered in the “locations” field, usually non-specific. Examples: suburban, casino, the ocean, beach

• Styles - micro-genres, movements, artistic styles. Examples: black and white cinematography, shot on film, Southern Gothic, French New Wave, dialogue-heavy, slow-paced, unexpected endings, one location.

• Moods - Examples: intense, uplifting, feel-good

• Influence - Similar titles/filmmakers. “For fans of”. Example: David Lynch, The Matrix, Start Wars

• Topics - what’s it about: things, special interests, fields of study, etc. Usually more applicable to non-fiction work. Examples: skateboarding, hip-hop, cancer, veganism, UFO, pets.

• Themes - themes or motifs more applicable to fictional work. Examples: revenge, friendship, grief

Some examples of our recommended tags applied to well-known titles.

• Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

  Tags: airplanes, fighter jet, aircraft carrier, Air Force, aviation, volleyball, inspiring, nostalgia, exciting, fast-paced, heroism, teamwork, friendship

• 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

  Tags: space, space travel, spacecraft, artificial intelligence, astronaut, slow-paced, based on novel, surrealism, 70mm film, existential, thought-provoking

• Goodfellas (1990)

  Tags: mafia, gangster, guns, 1980s, drugs, adultery, betrayal, violent, police, prison, casino

• Before Sunrise (1995)

  Tags: bittersweet, encounter, dialogue-driven, realistic, long takes, improvisation, train, one-night stand

• The Conjuring (2013)

  Tags: haunted house, paranormal, supernatural, exorcism, possession, farmhouse, teenager, 1970s, basement

• Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)

  Tags: drag, transgender, LGBTQ, glam rock, rock music, Berlin Wall, David Bowie, self-acceptance