Case study · Entertainment and media
Independent Documentary: Multilingual Subtitles Ready for the Premiere
We transcribed and translated Spanish and Arabic interviews and delivered English, Spanish, and French subtitles a week before the film’s premiere.
Who they are: An independent documentary production company producing films for festivals, broadcast, and streaming.
The challenge
The company was finishing a 48-minute documentary containing about 16 minutes of interview footage in Spanish and Arabic, with its premiere set for July 24, 2026. The editors needed to understand every interview, and the finished film needed English subtitles plus Spanish and French subtitle versions for later distribution.
The distributor’s specifications required UTF-8 SRT files synchronized to the 24 fps final cut, a maximum of two lines and 42 characters per line, and clearly marked speaker changes where needed.
The solution
- Interview transcription: Native-speaking transcribers produced transcripts of the Spanish and Arabic interview footage.
- Translation into English: Translators delivered English translations of every interview so the editors could select and cut with confidence.
- Subtitles: English, Spanish, and French subtitles were synchronized to the 24 fps final cut, built within the two-line, 42-character limits, with speaker changes marked.
- Screening review: The producer reviewed subtitled screening copies before final delivery.
The results
- A week before the premiere: Files were delivered on July 17, 2026, seven days ahead of the July 24 premiere.
- Accepted with no rejections: The producer accepted the files by email after reviewing the subtitled screening copies, with no file rejections.
- Ready for distribution: The additional language versions supported the film’s later distribution, and the producer assigned an eight-minute companion feature.
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