While French is synonymous with France, the language is spoken in 53 countries around the world, ranging from Belgium to Canada to the majority of NW Africa. In fact, French’s global spread is second only to English. Roughly 300 million people speak the language – on all 5 continents – and they tend to be very particular and precise about it! French’s vocabulary, accents, and colloquialisms vary greatly by region, so much so that Canadian French (Québécois) is a distinct dubbing language.In terms of market power and economy, France alone has the 7th largest economy in the world. French-speaking Canadians account for 30% of that country’s population, and French is the fastest growing language in all of Africa. Given this community’s size, diversity, and economically vibrancy, French is an essential localization language for corporations, brands, and content creators.Whether you are looking to dub, subtitle, or narrate, localizing in French gives you access to a thriving global community with outsized political, economic, scientific, and cultural influence. International companies have enjoyed great success localizing their marketing and ad campaigns, videos, TV and radio spots, VOD (video on demand), e-learning materials, video games, and more into French.

Over the past 30+ years, SPG has provided localization services in traditional French and Canadian French for feature films, TV and other episodic series, documentaries, video games, web content, commercials, TV and radio spots, e-learning and training videos. In the majority of cases, we’re asked to provide voice-overs, narrations, or dubs, which are sometimes referred to as video dubbing or audio translation. Sometimes clients also need us to prepare subtitles, translations, graphics localization, and other media services.

Something special happens when you focus on one thing and do it very well. You not only develop unrivaled expertise, but also systems, processes, and relationships that enable faster and more flexible workflows. SPG’s proprietary software, along with our pro audio gear, Dolby-certified studios, networking infrastructure, and thousands of contacts in the French-speaking world, allow us to localize like nobody’s business! Regardless of the size of your budget, the urgency of your deadline, or the exactitude of your French linguistic standards, SPG can deliver.

SPG has lots of amis et amies (friends) in French-speaking countries! We work with a very large and diverse range of artists, directors, localization experts, and recording and mixing engineers in France, Québécois Canada, and Northern Africa. Depending on the content type and project goals, we can employ:“UN style” voice-over, which plays “on top of” the original dialo Narration that replaces the original, orLip-sync dubbing, which synchronizes to lip movements and reflects the tone and emotional quality of the original speakerAll three styles require linguists to translate the as-recorded script to bring every nuance of your source material into French. Dubbing requires the added step of adapting the script to optimize the sync between our recorded French audio and the original visuals. SPG’s best-in-class adapters scrutinize each word and phrase to ensure the dubbed performance conveys the exact “feel” of the original.For many clients, the most crucial step in the process is casting French voices. SPG can manage the entire process, or present you with filtered or unfiltered lists of voice samples. We can offer a near-limitless variety of ages, styles, tonal quality, regional accents, and performance capabilities. SPG has dubbed children singing, aliens speaking a made-up language, and everything in between!Other critical steps in the process include:Pairing voice talent with session directors and talented recording engineersEditing, mixing, and post-production services that ensure the audio quality sounds perfectFile transfer, digital asset management, efficient workflow tools, and secure digital rights managementAfter recording is complete, we turn our attention to the graphics localization of onscreen text, titles/credits, “lower thirds”, and other written material. To fully immerse your audience, all relevant text should be in French!

When text or narration is preferable to lip-sync voice dubbing, SPG offers subtitling, closed captioning, and audio description services. Our roster of French and Québécois translators, linguists, adapters, and editors have extensive experience creating subtitles and closed captions in a timely and cost-effective manner. We also employ audio description specialists with thousands of hours of experience delivering information to the sight-impaired community.