M+E Connections

ZOO Digital has started an online academic course that it said Dec. 15 was designed to train dubbing script adapters.

Part of the company’s ZOO Academy initiative, the course was co-developed by ZOO and the University of Sheffield, and includes contributions from a worldwide team of experienced script adapters representing more than 20 dubbing languages, ZOO said.

The course covers the creative and technical skillsets and practical experience that it said are needed to become industry-ready script adapters.

“High-quality dubbing script adaptation is crucial to the success of globalised content,” according to ZOO, explaining: “The role of the adapter goes far beyond translating a script from one language to another; the story must be retold in a way that is natural and authentic, conveys the original intent, while skillfully matching the dubbed dialogue to the mouth movements of the original on-screen actors, in order to achieve a seamless lip sync.”

The goal of the course is to enhance the skills of existing media translators and script adapters and develop a new highly-skilled resource of industry-ready professionals who are equipped to work on premium media and entertainment content.

The course, expected to start in early 2022, will be taught using ZOO’s cloud-based scripting and dubbing platforms, and feature real world exercises and case studies including TV and film content provided by top content creators, Magnolia Pictures and Chicken Soup for the Soul, ZOO said.

“Magnolia Pictures is pleased to lend its support to this important industry initiative,” according to Gabe Monterrubio, VP of Digital Media Production at Magnolia Pictures. “With the increased demand for more content across multiple languages and territories, we are encouraged by the programme ZOO has developed to inspire and educate the dubbing and adaptation talent of the future,” he said in a statement. “We look forward to their potential collaboration on our own upcoming localisation projects.”

ZOO has a “responsibility to cultivate the talent pool of the future, and ensure that as an industry we can continue to deliver high quality media localisation at scale for years to come,” according to ZOO Digital CEO Stuart Green.

“The training course, taught by leading academic specialists in media translation at the University of Sheffield, aims to develop a new generation of professional, modern dubbing script adapters to retell the world’s greatest stories for new audiences,” Green said in a news release announcing the new course.

Alongside ZOO, our researchers from the School of Languages and Cultures have created a modern professional development course that will equip script adapters with the creative and technical skills to entertain audiences around the world,” according to Professor Dominic Broomfield-McHugh of the University of Sheffield.

“We’ll be providing new generations of translators, language students and academics with the tools they need to successfully contribute to the global media industry,” Broomfield-McHugh said in a statement, adding: “We believe this collaborative university-industry approach is essential to the success of such training and we’re delighted to have been able to forge this partnership with ZOO.”

Translators and adapters who want to attend the multi-language course when it starts in 2022, should register their interest at zoodigital.com/about/zoo-academy/adapter-training.