How to setup a film and TV watchlist in Notion

7 Nov

How I use Notion to manage our shared household film and TV watchlist, as a curated subset what's relevant to us, as opposed to being governed by algorithms.

Summary: Making a film and TV watchlist in Notion involves creating a database with columns for titles, genres, watch status, and notes. This helps you track what you’ve watched, what’s upcoming, and keep recommendations in one place.

In this video (11min), I share my system for managing our watchlist:

Here's what's covered:

0:07 Why use Notion instead of a native watch list

0:55 My Notion watch list page setup

1:10 Meta-data for each film

1:23 Customising fields

1:52 The 'watch together (TV)' view (inc filters and sorting used)

2:30 Gallery view tips

2:47 Grouping by priority

3:06 How I use the 'watch together (TV)' view with my partner

3:13 What we're watching (…or were, in November 2022)

4:16 The 'watch together (movies)' view

4:45 My personal watch list

5:27 The ratings view (eg. IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes)

5:51 Customising sorts and filters to your liking

6:46 The 'Christmas movies' view

6:58 Group by tag (eg. documentaries)

7:20 The key benefit of this system, and use cases

7:51 Comparing to a Letterboxd watch list

9:19 Comparing to an IMDB watch list

9:49 Notion iPhone widget/app

So why setup a watchlist in Notion?

Choose what YOU want to watch, instead of letting an algorithm decide for you
You can setup a multi-person list, like who wants to watch: person A, person B, or both?
You can add relevant fields for details you care about, like genre, rating, length, who recommended this, etc
You can create filtered views to see a subset of your list, like only TV shows, only movies, only Christmas movies, or 'only movies we both want to see'

Screenshot of a database in Notion called What To Watch with films listed under Currently watching, Next in line, and Seen before or paused (might return to) — The 'Watch together (TV)' view in my Notion watchlist

Here's what my list looks like! We're currently watching:

Political comedy from the likes of Jon Stewart and John Oliver
White Lotus season two
City on a Hill season three
Chef's Table: Pizza
The Future Of...
True Detective

Alternatives to Notion

Screenshot of the Don't Worry Darling film page on Letterboxd showing the poster, where to watch, a brief description and cast information — The Letterboxd film view page

Look, I get it: not everyone is going to have the time, money or desire to setup a dedicated Notion system for this. Don't worry darling, there are plenty of alternatives! Each have their pros and cons...

Service	Pros	Cons
Letterboxd	Being able to share reviews with friends, and seeing their ratings and reviews, alongside the Letterboxd crowdsourced rating. Also being able to see “where to watch” information.	Geared towards film, and so only offers a select few TV shows.
IMDB	Knowing the crowdsourced ratings of each film have come from a huge population.	Geared towards film, and heavy on advertising.
Native watchlist in your streaming service (like Netflix, Stan, Binge, Kayo, Foxtel Now, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV, Paramount+ or Shudder)	No need to leave your streaming service to find it.	Limited to the films and shows available within that service — and the list will be lost if you ever switch service or start a new profile.