Media Content Localisation- CEO David Lee: What Exactly Is “Localisation”?
Founder and CEO of media giant Iyuno, David Lee, talks about localisation. (Still image from youtube.com)
Netflix, Disney+, AppleTV+, HBO … Streaming services often have an excellent selection of subtitles and dubbing options for each film. Films are being subtitled and dubbed into other languages like never before. Globalization brought with it the golden age of hyper-localised content.
Now, I can translate movie dialogue from one language to another. But what if I localized it? And what’s the difference?
Iyuno is one of the largest media localisation companies around, and the world’s largest streaming platforms are among Iyuno’s clients. So why this emphasis on localisation, and not just translation?
Iyuno’s founder and CEO, David Lee, explains:
“Our purpose is to regenerate the original content creator’s intent. […] Local studios want to interpret the content in their own way. For example, if it’s Disney’s ‘Frozen‘, Elsa needs to sing like this. But then this voice actor in this country thought that Elsa was a really funny character, so he might want to record in a very funny way.“
This is a very free way of translating, and you’re not very bound by form or style here, but more bound by the original creators creative intent with the film. Did the original content creator want to produce laughter and smiles in the audience? Then it’s up to the localisation professional to make sure that same effect is created in the localised version of the film. And the localisation professional may do so with whatever means at his disposal.
This approach to translation taps into Vinay and Darbelnet’s description of translational adaptation. (See my article on Translation Strategy here).
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Youtube Channel “ArirangTV”. Video: [The Globalists] David Lee’s Iyuno, the World’s Leading Content Localization Firm.
Time code: 4.48 - 5.15
Available on youtube.com. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhf9uy_nA4I&t=51s)
Still image from YouTube.com, at Youtube Channel “ArirangTV”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhf9uy_nA4I&t=51s. Under Fair Use for critical commentary and analysis on translatorslife.eu.