Take 1 turns focus to localisation and access services
September 16, 2021
Take 1 is aggressively developing and expanding their existing localisation and access service divisions. The new business focus caters for the growing demand for global content and has already resulted in several new appointments, technology acquisitions and partnerships.
Take 1 is best known for providing transcription and translation services to media and entertainment companies including Discovery, ITV Studios, BBC Studios, National Geographic Channel, A+E Networks and Peacock. While the company has provided localisation and access services – including dubbing, subtitling, captions and audio description – for some time, a combination of factors over the last eighteen months has seen a dramatic increase in demand for their services in these areas. Recent mergers in the sector have created a gap in the market for boutique service providers with an artisan approach and an already substantial appetite for international programming was amplified in 2020 when Covid-19 restrictions reduced new content production. Localisation and access service workflows are also becoming increasingly data-driven, an approach pioneered by Take 1 and underpinned by the transcription data that the company provides.
Over the last eighteen months, Take 1 has made a number of additions to their staff in the UK and Americas, including bolstering the senior leadership team with the appointment of Yelena Makarczyk as VP of localization and post-production and Adam Hewes as chief technology officer. The company has also established partnerships with local studios and vendors across multiple territories and on-boarded hundreds of new in-territory linguists to their freelancer team. A significant number of these additions are LatAm Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese translators and subtitlers, managed by the company’s office in Santiago, Chile. In addition, Take 1 has integrated two new systems into their technical infrastructure; Xytech’s Medapulse, to co-ordinate high volumes of content across the organisation, and the industry’s subtitling and captioning tool of choice, Ooona. They have also developed new workflows, combining the talents of multiskilled teams to create high-value content, AI to streamline processes and interchangeable data to create efficiencies across the content supply chain.
“Localisation and access services were always an area with big potential for Take 1 as we’re already a trusted provider to the media and entertainment sector,” said Take 1 CEO, Louise Tapia. “The last eighteen months provided the opportunity for us to accelerate our expansion in this area and put the resources, infrastructure and facilities in place to confidently pursue this market.”