𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱

𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟓 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨, in Hollywood, I got started in foreign language voiceover work. At the time, English voices were not in high demand yet. Securing foreign language artists was tricky and they knew it. English voiceover talent would charge an average of $75 per hour. Spanish was $150 per hour and Asian languages, like Chinese and Japanese, earned more than $200 per hour.

So many major films were dubbed into foreign languages and would have to use the same voiceover talent for multiple characters in multiple movies because there wasn’t enough to fill the need. This meant 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐆𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡, which didn’t quite present the cinematic experience intended.

All of this changed once Netflix started dubbing English programming. Within a short period of time, production sites sprung up. Supply was able to keep up with demand. Fast forward to 2022 with translated foreign programming into English here to stay, making it nearly impossible to keep up with the growing demand.

Case in point: 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 was asked to record 500 hours of programming from different languages into English. Dollar signs were on our minds. There was just one problem: we would need 7,000 English voiceover talent. Unsurprisingly, the availability was scarce. Mind you, translation or recording studio efforts were not a problem, though the project required the use of more than 20 production houses worldwide in order to release the programming on time.

For those interested in exploring voiceover work, the demand in this industry seems lucrative. However, It takes more than an awesome voice to secure steady voiceover work. One needs to manage lip-syncing and character adaptation. There is also a shortage of voiceover training schools, meaning 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧.

The short-term answer is the production of English voices with non-professional talent. If you listen carefully, you can tell when an actor is not a native speaker. Though, soon, there should be a surge in qualified resources to handle the volume since it represents unchartered territory. But to further complicate matters, film distributors don’t seem to care about quality as long as it is done cheaply unless talking about box office films, which is not a sustainable solution.

Meanwhile, today’s clients and consumers expect to have the best of the best, while still benefiting from a low cost. How then will this supply and demand balance out? And will audiences stay engaged with poor-quality translations?

Stay tuned for the next blog post exploring current voiceover costs and where the industry is headed.

Michael R. Cárdenas - President - Local Concept