Han Meng, head of our Chinese dubbing studio, recently wrote an article focused on the challenges of entering China with content. If you haven’t yet read it, you can view it here. This new article looks at the other end of the spectrum – the popularity of Asian content internationally. When localizing this content, we consider the available options – cross cultural co-production, script rewrite for a more global appeal, dubbing with limited adaptation, and when it is best to remain true to the original and just add subtitles.
The Asian continent boasts some of the biggest film industries in the world – four of them reaching the top ten in 2015 (source: http://infotainworld.com/top-10-biggest-film-industries-world/). Despite these rankings, movies originating in Asia are for the most part screened in domestic markets only, a mere handful leaving their national borders to reach a global audience. In a few decades, thanks to the likes of Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee in part, Asian movies have moved from almost cult status for niche audiences (mostly Asian nationals living abroad) to a much wider acceptance by viewers, increased interest and popularity. Moreover, the noughties brought successful collaborations between US, UK and Asian film production companies, leading to global box office and award-winning films such as “Slumdog Millionaire” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”. Interestingly, the latter’s sequel “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny” was released in February 2016 worldwide on streaming platform Netflix outside China.
No doubt the rise of broadband availability along with a growing number of streaming platforms has given content from any region a boost beyond its borders. Asia is no exception to this trend. Joining the hugely popular Japanese animations, original series born in China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and South Korea are increasingly gaining in popularity. Today, the majority of global SVOD providers offer a variety of Asian content for viewers to discover.
A sign that content originating in Asia is most definitely winning over viewers outside of its own continent came last June when Netflix announced that it plans to further expand its Asian offering to subscribers around the world. Netflix CEO, Reed Hastings, said that it is looking at many projects throughout Asia, including original series by Asian creators, following its investment in “Okja” – Netflix’s first investment in a Korean film project. Certainly, Korean dramas are slowly becoming a hot commodity across Europe and the US – in the Spring of 2016 ITV Studios licensed Korean supernatural cop drama Who Are You for a remake, the first time a Korean fiction series has been licensed for the U.K.
This begs the question – what’s the most popular means of localizing Asian content for Western viewers? Should all content originating in Asia be “re-made” to appeal globally or when should dubbing and/or subtitling be a more appropriate option? Here are the most common avenues in practice today and our thoughts on each:
1. Stick to the original storyline, characters and language.
This option ensures absolute authenticity, a growing factor that audiences are eager to find. If the original storyline connects and works in your own language, why take the risk of changing it? In this instance, and for localization purposes, we recommend high quality subtitles rather than dubbing. When a storyline and the personalities of the key characters are so strong and emotional, even the convenience of watching a dubbed adaption can be detrimental to the authenticity factor so highly sought after. This option is particularly interesting for creators who want to reach Asian nationals living overseas who crave content from their homeland and in their mother tongue. A second target audience is the rising number of international viewers who are passionate about Asian cinema and culture, those who seek creations that have remained true to their origins. Some even use the subtitles as an aid in learning another language!
2. Adapt the creation to make it more globally appealing.
If you aim to distribute your creation to a more widespread audience, then some form of adaptation will be necessary per target region. However, it is of vital importance that each adaption remains as true to the original as possible. If this is lost in translation, your creation will fail miserably outside of its local market. Depending on the country of distribution, a huge challenge to the creative process will be finding the right balance between keeping it real and meeting local contexts, beliefs and cultures. Make sure to take the time to choose a localization partner who can successfully bridge these requirements, ensuring that the adapted version connects on an emotional level with its intended audience.
3. Intercultural collaboration leads to less boundaries.
Many co-production and cross-cultural collaborations are often based on themes that almost anyone can identify with – leaving our native country, the struggles of fitting into a new culture, and nostalgia for our motherland. The movement of races and populations in the past decades coupled with the cultural diversity that most of us are accustomed to, means that intercultural dramas where the main storyline and actors are from different countries are most appealing. Of course, the choice of dubbing and/or subtitling needs to be considered per target region, but in most cases, the storyline will require little to no adaption.
In conclusion, before deciding on the localization tactic to pursue, make sure that you have thoroughly researched and gathered detailed information and facts on your target audience and their viewing preferences.
