How Content Culturalization Reduces Localization Headaches

During Netflix Q4 2021 earnings call , COO and Chief Product Officer Greg Peters revealed the company "subtitled 7 million run-time minutes in '21 and dubbed 5 million run-time minutes" of content to reach their 222 million subscribers worldwide. That's 116,666 hours of subtitles and 83,333 hours of dubs they produced before releasing titles anywhere across their 192-territory footprint. That's a massive undertaking.

Those familiar with the process know "subs and dubs" are done by separate teams of people simultaneously. Those teams include translators, editors, proofreaders, managers, producers, quality control, and others responsible for ensuring stories are translated accurately in various languages and are appropriate in as many diverse cultures worldwide as possible.

Kudos to Netflix for investing in the content that requires localization and for taking on the challenge of preparing it for global markets. But as we have shown , linguistic skills are only part of the equation. Familiarity with local culture is crucial when conveying scene or dialogue nuance in the final product. Still, not everyone has that knowledge, and it's not always caught before a title is released.

Netflix's remake of "Perfect Strangers" is an excellent example of how being aware of cultural or contextual issues can affect audience acceptance of a title. Released in the Middle East on January 20 , the film immediately drew fire from many in the region. Because it included a gay character, some claimed critics felt the film promoted homosexuality and "moral degradation." One critic on Twitter said Netflix "has an agenda to spread 'deviant ideas' to 'normalize false ideas.'" It's such a serious issue that lawyers in Egypt have called for an outright ban of the film or face a lawsuit against the country's Culture Ministry. In its story on the controversy , the Hollywood Reporter said, "few would have anticipated the immediate wave of controversy it would provoke."

Given the history of cultural sensitivities and censorship in the region to LGTBQ+ and promiscuous sexual references, the controversy should have been anticipated. Awareness of these concerns in this and other markets is not as widespread as it needs to be. Improvements must be made to incorporate what we call "culturalization" into the localization process.

Incorporating Spherex services and technologies into post-production localization efforts, culturalization offers a proven solution for preventing these types of problems. Based on the analysis of millions of titles, Spherexgreenlight™ will flag potential issues, including sexuality, morality, violence, and cultural sensitivity. Hence, the producer or localization service provider knows precisely which scene may cause problems in any market worldwide.

Netflix now must deal with the negative press and reputational hit. Indeed, some in the region think of them as a company " that spreads poisons ." Who knows what this means for future titles Netflix wants to release in the region and the willingness of regulators to allow them to exhibit? From both a legal and marketing context, it's better to know when problems may arise before they happen.

Unfamiliarity with local culture and customs may have been what Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann alluded to when he said during their earnings call, "Entertainment is still fundamentally pretty local around the world. So, it's global and local, and we need to figure that out." The good news is that tools and techniques are available to make localization more accurate, culturally respectful, and appropriate. It is easier to avoid being hit by the proverbial bus when you know the route it takes.

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Spherex Classification Tool Now Approved for Home Entertainment Content in Australia

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The Albanese Government has updated the Spherex Classification Tool approval to include ratings for theatrical releases, home entertainment, and streaming content in Australia. Spherex was previously approved to classify online films.

The update underscores the Australian Classification Board’s confidence in Spherex as a tool to help Australian viewers make informed choices about the content they consume. This means Australians can now access a range of new films sooner than they might across all formats and windows.

Spherex has a longstanding relationship with the Australian Classification Board. Since 2020, Spherex has collaborated closely with the Australian Government to ensure its technology reliably generates classification decisions that meet Australian standards and viewers' expectations.

As the world’s only commercial provider of local age ratings, Spherex has successfully produced classification decisions for high volumes of online content in over 100 countries. Since 2018, Spherex has issued over one million age ratings for digital content, including films, TV shows, and trailers, distributed by its clients worldwide.

Spherex customers, including Umbrella Entertainment, Madman Entertainment, and Sugoi Co., rely on its AI-based platform to obtain local age ratings in Australia and significantly improve efficiency, cost reduction, and market reach.

Discover how Spherex's cutting-edge AI-based platform can streamline your content classification process and enhance your market reach while reducing costs.

Visit spherex.com today and see how we can support your content distribution needs.

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nScreenNoise - Interview Spherex: Avoiding the cultural dead zone

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Culture

One of the conundrums of streaming is that although a service can deliver content globally, it is not guaranteed to be acceptable in a particular local market. Netflix found this out when it announced global availability in 2016 at CES and was quickly banned in markets like Indonesia, where some of the content was deemed too violent or sexual. In 2016, without boots on the ground in a local market, it wasn’t easy to assess whether a show or movie would be culturally acceptable.

Today, global media companies are acutely aware of the importance of their content’s cultural fit. Moreover, they have a company like Spherex to help them prepare their content to ensure it fits with any country of interest. I interviewed Teresa Phillips, the Co-Founder and CEO of Spherex, at the recent OTT.X Summit in Los Angeles. She explained how the company is leveraging AI and its massive cultural profiling database to help companies prepare content for target markets. She also explained how, in the near future, AI would aid the company in measuring a movie or show’s cultural distance from a regional market and help it avoid falling into the failure zone between cultural fit and novelty interest.

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Spherex Featured in the DPP's IBC 2024: Demand versus Supply Report

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Spherex was featured in the DPP’s IBC 2024: Demand versus Supply Report, a comprehensive look at how the M&E industry is meeting key customer demands. The report focuses on the topics of empowering creators, understanding audiences, engaging users, and innovating the newsroom. It also highlights many of the technical innovations seen at the recent IBC Show.

An article by Spherex’s CEO Teresa Phillips titled "Navigating Cultural Resonance in Global Media: The Art and Science of Culture Mixing" was featured in the report, exploring how Spherex is pioneering the future of culturally informed content.

Teresa shares how cultural mixing has become a critical strategy for creating content that appeals to diverse audiences in today's global media landscape. This phenomenon involves blending elements from different cultures to craft films and television shows that resonate globally while adhering to local regulations.

However, the process of culture mixing is fraught with risks. Superficial or stereotypical representations can lead to accusations of cultural appropriation or insensitivity, alienating audiences and damaging a company's reputation. For example, imposing Western concepts on Eastern content without proper context can feel inauthentic and jarring to local viewers. These missteps highlight the need for a nuanced understanding of cultural elements to ensure that content is respectful and engaging.

To address these challenges, M&E companies are increasingly turning to data-driven solutions. Platforms like SpherexAI utilize artificial intelligence to analyze visual, audio, and textual elements, providing insights into how well content aligns with cultural and regulatory standards across over 200 countries and territories. This approach helps media companies understand the "cultural distance" between a title's origin and its target market, enabling them to make informed decisions about global distribution.

By leveraging these advanced tools, M&E companies can go beyond traditional content localization. They can create media that actively engages and resonates with diverse audiences. As the industry continues to evolve, those companies that embrace culturally informed, data-driven approaches will be better positioned to succeed, fostering cross-cultural understanding and trust while delivering globally appealing content.

Download the report here.

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