You may be familiar with seeing a large 'PG' or 'R' flash on your screen before a movie begins. Most have a general idea of what these age ratings mean and how they indicate the appropriateness of a film's content. However, they may not understand the process or the criteria for how movies are classified. Today, most movies are released on multiple online platforms and movie theaters simultaneously. As a result, worldwide audiences have more access to internationally produced content than ever before, so understanding age ratings for films is more important than ever. This post discusses US film ratings are determined, explains the different movie classifications, and how they are essential in international distribution.

The controversy surrounding Netflix’s hit series “Squid Game” is the latest example of how inaccurate translations of stories can adversely impact the viewer’s experience and appreciation of foreign titles. The old theatrical days are long over, where localization service providers had months if not years to generate local language audio and subtitles prior to international exhibition. It’s the streaming era now, where post-production schedules are compressed into days and weeks, and content is globally syndicated at launch.   For the industry to meet today’s market challenges and opportunities, the localization process must ensure that stories told to foreign audiences are consistent with the original production, accounting for any linguistic and cultural differences that may impact viewers’ understanding and appreciation of titles.   Localization is more than just the literal translation of a script into another language, subtitles, or audio dub. A script is a story, and stories have context, nuance, meaning, and feeling. Plus, they reflect the writer or director’s culture and points of view. Characters within a film may have relationships that may not be fully understood or appreciated in other cultures. The native language of the film may use words for which there are no foreign language, historical or cultural equivalents. Physical gestures along with visual and musical cues also contribute to storytelling. Traditional subs and dubs often overlook these critical story components because they’re not seen as necessary to the story and are difficult to translate.   Critics have identified issues in “Squid Game” that could have been avoided if cultural knowledge had been considered during the localization process.   An example from the first episode of the series highlights a Pakistani immigrant named “Ali” who refers to two other Korean players as “sajangnim.” This term was translated and used as “Sir.” Sajangnim is a word typically used to show respect for the top boss of a company or business. The complaint is that translating “sajangnim” to “sir” minimizes the self-declared inferiority of Ali’s position as an immigrant (a class of people often overlooked and exploited in Korean society), and it fails to convey the patriarchal responsibility that a “sajangnim” would owe his subordinates. Because the translation ignores significant cultural references, some have argued the word “boss” would have been a better choice.   Later in the episode, other characters ask Ali to call them “hyung,” which means “older brother,” instead of “sajangnim.” “Hyung” in Korean culture indicates a close, friendly, familial relationship. The subtitles indicate they want Ali to call them by their given names, which again, misses the cultural importance of their relationship and downplays the betrayal that occurs later on in the show.   Defenders of the process point out the platform has its own constraints limiting how much a story can be presented to viewers. There’s only so much space on the screen where subtitles appear and only so much time available to show a subtitle before other dialogue must appear. There are different sources for closed caption and language dub scripts because each uses a distinctly different process. There’s only so much context you can provide within these limitations with the added difference in the abilities of those who perform this work. Bottom line: compromises must be made to meet industry or platform standards; and unfortunately, story clarity is what gets sacrificed. As they say, therein lies the rub.   IMDb data reports that over the last decade, an average of 15,000 new films and 251,000 new TV episodes were released each year worldwide. Each of these titles seeks an audience on the hundreds of streaming platforms or the thousands of TV channels they host. Focusing on the script alone without paying close attention to the cultural aspects of the story is what creates the problem “Squid Game” highlights. Artificial intelligence (AI) may alleviate some of these concerns, but what must come first is the knowledge and understanding of culture.   Even if automated capabilities were available to tackle that much content, the literal translation of a script to 7,115 languages is insufficient to address a film’s cultural issues. There’s more to visual storytelling than just the script: location, costumes, customs, relationships, lighting, action, and music enhance the script to tell the story. As the criticism of “Squid Game” shows, small changes can make significant differences.   Foreign-language titles will continue to find new markets in the global content ecosystem, and viewers will want to watch them. “Squid Game” reiterates the risks and shortcomings of today’s localization process and shows why it must be reinvented. As an industry, it is important to reimagine the process of localization and apply culturalization to ensure that the stories people see are those that the writers and directors intended. Without more attention and resources, great stories will continue to be lost in translation.

The controversy surrounding Netflix's hit series "Squid Game" is the latest example of how inaccurate translations of stories can adversely impact the viewer's experience and appreciation of foreign titles. The old theatrical days are long over, where localization service providers had months if not years to generate local language audio and subtitles prior to international exhibition. It's the streaming era now, where post-production schedules are compressed into days and weeks, and content is globally syndicated at launch.

Over the past few months, this blog has examined changes in ratings criteria in India , Australia and reactions to specific titles, such as “ Family Guy ” and “ The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” The purpose has been to look at regulation from a cultural perspective and the practical impacts on content creators. In this post, we’re going to take a different perspective: that of the viewing public and their reaction to regulatory changes. In particular we will look at the recently published language guide by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) and public reaction to changes impacting U-rated titles.

Since people increasingly access and depend upon content distributed through electronic communications networks, the Luxembourg legislators introduced the Act of Feb. 26 2021 that modifies the Law of 27 July 1991 on electronic media, otherwise known as the “Electronic Media Law.”

In our previous blog post, “ Worldwide Content Classification – How Hard Can It Be? ” we examined how the exponential growth of the OTT and VOD markets, along with the annual release of hundreds of thousands of new titles, places pressure on content regulators and platforms to obtain in-country age-ratings before release. In this post, we’ll explore what happens when content providers attempt to short-cut the process.

The explosion of direct streaming and OTT services worldwide on a wide range of platforms e.g., online, mobile, and Connected TV (CTV)means content creator’s products have global potential. That means films, TV shows, documentaries, and live events can reach new markets and generate additional revenue for everyone in the production chain. The only challenge is it isn’t a simple process. The good news is Spherex offers a solution to assist creators in reaching those markets quickly, properly, and cost-effectively.

As social media and technology advances, new types of video content services and user experiences are rapidly evolving. The blend of modern content creation and internet services has changed viewing habits, especially for newer generations. Though traditional television remains an important source of entertainment, increasingly, audiences now prefer to consume video-sharing on portable devices.

Very close to the equator is Ghana, a small tropical West African country Located right in the center of the world. Ghana's population is incredibly diverse, its citizens speak at least 79 different languages and dialects . The two main languages are Twi, spoken by the Ashanti community in the southern and central region, and Dagbani by the Dagomba people in the north. English emerged as the language of choice to bridge cultural differences in Ghana. It is the official language and even the national anthem is sung in English.