In conversation with ttvnews, Max Wynen, VP of Global Operations at The Kitchen, talked about the group’s recently inaugurated hub in Madrid, from where they’ll face the industry’s main challenges, such as the expansion of FAST Channels, TPN certification requirements from large platforms, the use of AI, the expansion of video games, and the overall growing demand for content.

A few months after the opening of The Kitchen’s new hub, we became interested in the transformation that the dubbing industry is experiencing worldwide. In this context, Max Wynen, VP of Global Operations at the company, offered us a clear overview of what can be considered the major issues that will occupy the sector’s agenda throughout 2024.

What new business opportunities and niches are there in dubbing, and what challenges do they represent?

The rapid worldwide growth of FAST channels significantly increased the demand for both dubbing, subtitling, closed caption, and audio description services. The need for these platforms to update their catalog of projects with new or re-dubbing (due to rights expiration), along with the complementary services mentioned above, has been a great growth opportunity for localization companies both this year as for the next ones.

The great challenge that this implies is the realization of high production volumes in a shorter time than usual, given that the platforms often need to have several seasons or complete titles dubbed and or subtitled for an already announced release date.

Fortunately, thanks to The Kitchen’s growth plan, we are prepared to face the high volume of current demand. While we always dub in territory with native talent, we have translators, adapters, mixers and editors at any of our locations. This gives us opportunities to complete projects much faster. For some of our languages, we also have dual locations, which also allows for greater production throughput.

At the same time, the development and consolidation of video games in the world has also increased the demand for dubbing for this type of projects. In this case, the challenge is ongoing, given that with technological advances the games are increasingly more complex, which is reflected in the greater quality and quantity of audio that must be recorded for this type of content.

What are the requirements from large platforms when offering a certified service?

The platforms’ current demands aim to be able to certify the security and privacy of their content by localization companies. An example of these international standards would be obtaining the Trusted Partner Network (TPN) certification. This is a global initiative to protect film and television content that covers the entire industry. TPN helps companies prevent leaks, infringements and piracy of their customers’ movies and TV shows before their planned release.

What clients or content would you highlight from the latest work done?

Although for reasons of confidentiality we cannot reveal the names, it is worth noting that this year we have worked on important projects for clients such as Mattel, New International Mix, Moonbug, ITV, Discovery, BBC and Cineflix.

What is the importance of quality control when dubbing in different languages? Why is this aspect more important than ever today?

The importance of quality control (QC) when dubbing in different languages is to be able to achieve the same quality and maintain consistency in the product regardless of how many languages it is dubbed into. Today the platforms allow us to listen to and see the product both in the original language and in others (depending on the territory), we can also access subtitles in different languages and Closed Caption. This makes it essential that the viewer can consume the product in the language they choose, and that this choice is not reflected in a different product depending on the language. The final objective is to provide our clients with the same product, with consistency and the same quality regardless of dubbing or subtitles that the viewer prefers.

I should mention that when at The Kitchen we talk about “quality control” (QC) we are referring to a “comprehensive inspection.” From the moment we download the materials and review them, to the moment we upload them to the broadcaster or distributor, every frame must be perfect. We maintain close relationships with our clients throughout the entire process, always keeping in mind that the specifications and delivery requirements may change. Nothing is taken for granted. The Kitchen has always had a three-step quality control process that has been in place for over 22 years.

What is the impact of Artificial Intelligence in dubbing jobs? What are the main challenges of this new reality?

In the last two major television markets (MIPTV and MIPCOM), the question of “what is happening with AI?” has been present at all times. The Kitchen continues to investigate the possibilities of AI and its likely contributions to our business over the past few years. Working closely with several AI vendors, we have done our part in the benefits it can bring to our business, such as faster translations and subtitling. But… is AI really ready to take over? Not yet, no. Even with faster translation delivery, each document must be adapted and reviewed by a human being. Does it convey the right feeling? Are the terms used in the translation appropriate? There are many factors that for now only humans can incorporate into the process.

What will be the next market for The Kitchen?

If you refer to the market geographically speaking, with our current reach in LATAM, Europe and the Middle East, the logical thing would be to continue with the Asian market. Although we now provide services for that market in languages such as Japanese, Korean, Chinese or Vietnamese, that will probably be our next step.

However, this year and next, the priority is to establish and expand our new European Hub in Madrid.

What type of services does The Kitchen offer in its new studios in Madrid?

The Kitchen Spain and our new European Hub, based in Madrid, will offer the following services: in the Dubbing area: Castilian Dubbing (Lip sync- VO – Songs), Audiobooks, Video Games, Podcasts, Text to Speech, Mixing 2.0 / 5.1 / Dolby Atmos Home.

Regarding Media Services: Quality Control (In – Out), Laybacks creations / Proxies, Motion graphics (Recreations – Creations), Musical Karaoke.

And regarding the Subtitles and Accessibility area: Subtitles (formatting – verification -conforming), Proofreading, Metadata – Synopsis translation, English timed template creation, Transcription (Subtitling – Dubbing), Closed Caption, SDH and Audio description (Synthesized and human)

La entrada Max Wynen: “Quality controls require us to be more thorough than ever” se publicó primero en TTV News.

The director of Distribution and Strategic Alliances of TV Azteca heads the delegation of the Mexican giant at Mipcom 2023, with its star product, Dra. Lucía, un don extraordinario

*By Rodrigo Ros, from Cannes, France

Premiered a few weeks ago, Dra. Lucía, un don extraordinario is the star product of TV Azteca in the current edition of Mipcom Cannes 2023, which is being held at Le Palais des Festivals, from this Monday, October 16, to next Thursday.

“Our star product is Dra. Lucía, which is our return to fictions,” said Fernando Muñiz, director of Distribution and Strategic Alliances at TV Azteca. “It’s a top-notch product, with a top-notch cast.”

The novel, produced by Martín Garza Cisneros, premiered on Azteca Uno on October 2. Dra. Lucía stars Marimar Vega, Mauricio Islas, Ana Layevska and Kuno Becker, among others.

“In Free TV we have done very well with the product and we are very happy because we know that the first season already made a lot of noise in the industry,” added the executive. “It is a product that is attracting a lot of attention, both from platforms and for traditional sales.”

“The traditional novel is the one product that will always sell well; those of us who distribute this type of content know that perfectly,” explained Muñiz. “It is what the operator, the programmer, the distributor and everyone is looking for. That is why the twist we made to the traditional novel of Dr. Lucía is something very interesting, because it continues to maintain the level of the traditional novel with a twist that gives extra flavor to the content”.

Together with Dra. Lucía, TV Azteca presents the new seaons of Lo que quieren las mujeres and Lotería del Crimen. “These are contents that reinforce our catalog,” said Muñiz.

La entrada Fernando Muñiz, TV Azteca: “Dra. Lucía has generated a lot of noise in the industry” se publicó primero en TTV News.

The third day of Natpe Budapest at the InterContinental Hotel closes its doors, with less movement in the corridors, despite which, attendees still remain positive about the event.

By Rodrigo Ros, from Budapest

The third day of Natpe Budapest closes its doors at the InterContinental Hotel. A quiet day in terms of the number of attendees, but which continues to be positive in the general balance for those present at the event.

It is, in short, a day of productive meetings, and great interest in the content offer, despite the overlap of the three events that serve the region during the month of June: NEM Dubrovnik, Natpe Budapest and Content Budapest.

It is perhaps for this reason that, among the negative points to mention, some last-minute absences have been noted by buyers in the region.

However, for the vast majority of distributors consulted, the level of meetings and interest in the content that has been presented continues to be high.

The rise of daily contents

A trend that’s been confirmed at the end of this new day is the demand for daily content. “From our catalogue, telenovelas are always the best sellers in these territories”, comments Béatrice Nouh from Onza Distribution.

Fabrizia Palazzo from Movistar Plus+ International, explains that they have a catalog of Premium series, which is not the easiest to program within the region, but nevertheless, the demand for this type of content has grown due to the supply of new platforms in the region.

In this sense, the distributor has third-party content, such as 24 Land by Ukbar Filmes, along with the series Apagon, El Hijo Zurdo or La Mesías, which has not yet been released.

It is within this framework that the panel on the future of streaming in the region was also held, a theme that brings together different ways of thinking about the future of content sales in the region.

“The old/new trend of syndication is back,” humorously commented one of the distributors present. A subject that without a doubt has been the center of conversation in many of the meetings that have been held during the event.

The event closes tomorrow, hoping that the balance of this new edition will allow the organizers to make the necessary adjustments for the next edition.

La entrada Natpe Budapest Reaffirms the Return of Syndication and Daily Content se publicó primero en TTV News.

On its second day, Mipcom continued to stand out for the presentations of the Turkish companies, the statements by the CEO of Banijay Marco Bassetti about the current content production model, the presence of the acclaimed director Alex de la Iglesia, and the distribution news given to meet during the day.

Rodrigo Ros from Cannes, France

The second day of Mipcom Cannes 2022 was a dynamic one, with highly relevant presentations, statements that make us rethink the present business model of TV industry, and many content presentations.

With great happiness, everyone at Cannes continue to highlight the reunion with clients and friends, like Aida Martirosyan, from Haymillian, who said: “It is a joy to be back and I think that now we have to listen to our clients, update them on the new services that we are offering, and get to work with the enormous demand we are experiencing.”

Some companies, meanwhile, are throwing themselves into this Mipcom searching for new production partners, as shown by Zee’s Manoj Mathew: “We are having great success with co-production models in the Middle East. We have done five in the last four years and it is a model that we want to replicate in other markets, and we are willing to contribute a significant percentage of the production that can range from 30 to 70% of the production. That is how much we believe in co-productions.”

Perhaps less optimistically, Marco Bassetti from Banijay invited us, during his keynote, to reflect on the current model that governs original production deals: “We are living in the ‘Golden Age’ of content, true, but not the ‘golden age of profit sharing’. The platforms have offered a huge opportunity to producers, but I think we could add even more value to content if creators and production companies were also part of the profits that these contents generate, as it happens in the publishing industry, or in the music industry.”

On the other hand, this day also put the spotlight on several presentations, among which not only fictions stood out, but also entertainment formats.

This was the case of the public presentation made by the well-known media man and founder of the Turkish company Acun Medya, Acun Ilicali, who spoke about the international launch of the Exatlon format, and it was also the case of Albertina Marfil from NBCUniversal Media, who referred to the present that entertainment formats are living: “We believe that the audience is looking for content that is relaxed, fun, but also entertaining, and this is precisely what we offer through the That’s my Jam format, a format that brings together these conditions and we are happy to be presenting it here at Mipcom.”

In the afternoon there were several events and social gatherings, among which the happy hour offered by Acun Medya, Inter Medya’s presentation of its novelties, the cocktail offered by Unifrance, as well as that of Audiovisual From Spain and the party of the ATV company.

La entrada Mipcom: Producers Seek Their Share in the International Content Business se publicó primero en TTV News.

The event shines on its first day at the Palais des Festivals, with highlights like the presentation of the series Zorro, by Secuoya Studios, panels on production at the Producers’ Hub, the debut of Fox Entertainment Global, an important agenda of conferences and tons of programming news.

*By Rodrigo Ros, from Cannes, France

Mipcom, the event with the largest international participation in the television industry, reopened its doors at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes. Some spaces have been reduced and, even today, several of the large groups are participating in a limited version, considering the number of representatives they have taken to Cannes. However, overall attendance shows a net recovery of the market, with movement in the corridors, plenty of meetings and long lines in the morning to enter the Palais.

On this first day, the presentation of Zorro stood out, a huge commitment from Secuoya Studios that continues in its filming stage in Gran Canaria. Sergio Pizzolante from Secuoya Studios and Javier Quintas, one of the directors of the new series, were present there.

“Due to the very complexity of the IP of El Zorro, and the project itself, it had never been done in Spanish, and that was something that had to be corrected. We also realized that Spain was a fundamental piece because in all the versions of Zorro, Diego always comes from Madrid. He organically connected the Old with the New World. Few projects manage to be so organic”, highlighted Pizzolante.

Azteca, meanwhile, arrived at Mipcom just a few days after the premiere of La lotería del crimen, with the presence of Adrián Ortega, recently appointed General Director of Content for Azteca TV.

“Our narrative is going to be in daily slots. It is the one that Mexico and Latin America like. We are also going to look for originality, and fundamentally, it is important to align the tone of all our channels. We want to recover fiction for some of our time slots, and we will continue betting on the content that our strategic partners provide us with,” said Ortega.

At the end of the afternoon, Fernando Szew, the new Head of Fox Global Entertainment, presented this new unit to clients and friends, which promises to get people talking: “We are super happy. This is the result of a lot of work, and without a doubt it opens up many possibilities for us that we will communicate as the agreements are finalized”.

In summary, this is an excellent moment for the Hispanic industry in general, which is looking for new avenues of association, participating in different projects organically and with global partners, either through co-production agreements or through a licensing system that shows how far Hispanic content manages to travel today.

In the video summary, we also leave a sample of what have been the presentations made on this first day, which stands out for a global recovery in international content sales.

La entrada Mipcom Confirms its Place as the Biggest International Event se publicó primero en TTV News.

Following its recent acquisition by Germany’s Night Train Media, Ecco Rights will hold a pre-Mipcom 2022 Upfront in Turkey, exclusively for clients, to celebrate its 10th anniversary and unveil new Turkish dramas such as Hear Me and Golden Boy.

The distribution company Eccho Rights, formerly part of the Korean media group CJ ENM, was acquired a few months ago by Night Train Media, a German company focused on investing on and co-producing audiovisual content.

On its tenth anniversary, and with this renewed strength, Eccho Rights aims to surprise the international market at Mipcom 2022 with new titles and new seasons of successful Turkish dramas, as well as productions from its UK branch.

But Eccho Rights’s celebration will begin prior to Cannes, with a spectacular Upfront to be held on the weekend of October 14-16, exclusively for clients, where the company will present its new titles.

Barbora Suster, Sales & Acquisition Director for Latin America and Iberia, comments on these and other new developments in an interview with ttvnews.

A few months ago, the acquisition of Eccho Rights by Night Train Media was announced. How will the two companies work together? Night Train Media is a German company that is focused on co-production and development, and we are now looking for a common strategy. The idea is to complement each other in the development of new projects. We will have more funds to invest in co-productions and then we will try to distribute everything that is produced jointly.

How is Eccho Rights preparing for Mipcom 2022? The weekend before Mipcom we will be hosting an event in Istanbul, which we have already done in previous years, so our clients can join us. It’s an Upfront-type event, where we’re going to be presenting our entire line-up, but in a setting a bit more informal than the usual Cannes meetings. We will be celebrating Eccho Rights’ 10th anniversary on Saturday night and on Sunday we are all going to Cannes.

What new titles will be presented at the Upfront? At the Upfront we will present the same titles we are taking to Mipcom, mainly our line-up of Turkish telenovelas. We are coming with two or three new titles and two or three new seasons of returning shows, as well as European productions from our London branch. We expect to add more and more UK productions to our catalog, which gives us more breadth and level in terms of connections and clients.

Which are the Turkish dramas? One of them is Hear Me, a series that started in the summer and is doing very well, with more than 10 episodes aired. It’s about students at a very successful private school, so it’s aimed at a younger audience. Not only do we see the problems of the students, but also those of the adults.

And then the brand new one that was released a few weeks ago is Golden Boy, a family saga. It’s about a son of a very rich family who has an agreement to marry a girl from another family of a lesser economic standing. The father of this family has two daughters, and they have an agreement to marry the older daughter, but when the groom decides to marry the younger one, a family rivalry is created.

What other titles will you be bringing to Cannes? Apart from the big Turkish productions that we will be presenting, I would like to highlight the series that are returning, such as Legacy, which is back with its third season, and Chrysalis, also returning for a third season. Both are very successful titles, not only in Turkey, but internationally, and hopefully the third seasons will bring new interested customers.

La entrada Eccho Rights: More powerful and diverse se publicó primero en TTV News.

Present at the latest edition of Iberseries & Platino Industria, Paramount Studios presented a sneak peak of their new project in association with Shine Iberia and Legacy Rock: Bosé. Expectations are high and the biopic about the life of Miguel Bosé is part of an important lineup, which we discussed with Federico Cuervo, SVP of VIS Americas, and Sebastián Vibes, VP of Sales and Co-productions of VIS EMEAA.

Paramount Studios’ presence during the latest edition of Iberseries & Platino Industria was notable. During the event, the studios presented a preview of the biopic Bosé. In addition, the studios are preparing the premiere of the film El gerente, and are currently shooting the second season of The Envoys in Galicia.

What are your expectations for the launch of Bosé?

Federico Cuervo: The expectation we all have is that Bosé will be a success. We’ve all enjoyed producing the series. It has been a long but very comfortable journey. Creative above all. The series portrays Miguel Bosé’s entire life in two stages, since he was a child and his relationship with his parents, until the end of 2000, when he made a decision that he had been putting off: becoming a father.

All this has multiple sides and will certainly be super interesting to discover. There are many people who will remember and recognize aspects of his personal life.

From Paramount Studios we are super happy with what we have achieved with our partners at Shine Iberia and Legacy Rock.

What kind of agreements are you looking for with your international partners?

Sebastián Vibes: Something characteristic of our studio is to open up the game a lot and we don’t overshadow any of our partners, but above all, what we are looking for is that the project we embark on has great quality, personality, and that it has the best talent and in front of the camera.

At first it is true that based on synergy we worked mainly with Latin America, and we’re very focused on projects in Spain. But today we have several examples of projects that we have undertaken in Denmark, Italy or Germany. But also, we are very busy to produce all the territories where Paramount+ has been released or will be released.

What can we expect from the studios in the coming months?

Federico Cuervo: El gerente, starring Leonardo Sbaraglia, and directed by Daniel Winograd, will soon be released on Paramount+ in Latin America. We are shooting here in Galicia the second season of The Envoys directed and created by Juan José Campanella. And we have projects in production in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia and here in Spain with El Estudio.

La entrada Paramount Studios Raises the Bar se publicó primero en TTV News.

Conversations around co-production opportunities took over the networking spaces in this second market day where producers, agents and channels seek new models of content production and distribution.

The second day of MipCancun was marked by the conversations around the search for new co-production agreements. The venue dedicated to the subject, where several producers from the region have occupied a table, transcends private conversations, and the desire to reach new agreements is heard from the mouths of those present.

And if co-production is the big word of the day, it’s because this is the model that content creators are now most drawn to. The protection of content’s IP, the possible and future broadcast windows, the costs, the risks and the shared profits, the times and the production models, everything finds its place and its moment for discussion in this market that’s known for receiving independent producers in search of new opportunities.

Large groups also stand out in this context, for the search for new partners, who can contribute fresh ideas to their lineup of content under development.

On the independent side, the day was marked by the announcement of the agreement closed between Dopamine and Grupo Secuoya for the production of a new teen series: Campamento Newton, a new title for the Mexican production company that ventures into a new segment and genre of production.

Ana Barreto commented on the acquisition of the production company by ViacomCBS and the steps that will follow, in addition to the ongoing projects now that the filming has resumed its normal course.

Sandra Smester, EVP and Chief Content Officer of TV Azteca, highlighted in this regard, the channel’s interest in reaching new co-production agreements.

Regarding the presentations, the conferences hosted by Marcelo Tamburri from WarnerMedia and Fidela Navarro from Dopamine stood out, offering a clear overview of the perspectives regarding original production.

In addition, announcements continue about the news of the distributors present, and the announcement of what will be during the next edition of Natpe, the celebrations for the fifth anniversary of the creation of WAWA, commented by Carolina Cordero, general manager of the association.

La entrada MipCancun: Co-Production Agreements Shape the Day’s Agenda se publicó primero en TTV News.