‘Same emotional impact across cultures’: Why Netflix takes dubbing seriously

“Bite him!” “Fight!” “You know I’m a really dangerous guy, right?”

On Friday, voice actors Park Sang-hoon and Choi Woo-sung were locked in a heated verbal exchange as they watched a screen at Pixelogic Korea’s studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul. They were dubbing a one-on-one game between former martial arts fighters for the reality show “Physical: 100 Mexico.”

As the actors delivered their lines in sync with the contestants’ movements and emotions, dubbing producer Kim Jeong-ryeong offered a steady stream of feedback: “Let me check the pronunciation,” “Make sure the microphone isn’t peaking” and “Your voice sounds a little hoarse.”

“Physical: 100,” which pits 100 contestants with exceptional physical abilities against one another in extreme challenges, began as a Korean original reality show and has since spawned local adaptations in countries including Mexico and Italy. The scene observed that day was part of the Korean-language dubbing process. Dubbing involves translation, adaptation, voice casting, editing and mixing, and takes roughly three to four months per series.

Behind the demanding process, which leaves little room for error, is a set of global standards Netflix provides to its external production partners. “In the past, the instructions we received at dubbing studios were usually along the lines of, ‘Make it sound similar to the original,’” Kim said. “Netflix asks us to take into account the characteristics of each production, including its fictional universe, and pay close attention to details such as breathing.”

Son Min-je, a project manager at Pixelogic Korea, a dubbing partner for Netflix, said the process goes beyond matching dialogue to the original actors’ lip movements. Adaptations are also made to preserve the entertainment value of each production. For “Physical: 100 Mexico,” the Korean script is developed using a “pivot language” — in this case, an intermediate English translation of the original Spanish dialogue.

Detailed instructions are also provided for sound production. “There are cases where the same sound effects must be used consistently around the world, so depending on the production, we share footage from recording sessions as well as editing manuals,” said Lee Jae-won, an audio engineer at Pixelogic Korea.

For the Netflix series “Human Vapor,” for example, the dubbing team received video footage demonstrating how to recreate the sound of a female character falling into water. The footage showed microphone placement, how to hold water in the mouth and the direction in which the recording should be made. For the dubbing of the film “Frankenstein,” the team was sent a roughly 10-minute video explaining how to create the monster’s voice.

“Detailed information is shared on how each audio layer should be processed, including the proportions,” Lee said. “The goal is to ensure that viewers around the world hear the same sound, even when a production is dubbed into many different languages.”

Netflix’s commitment to dubbing stems from its ambition to deliver the same emotional impact as the original, regardless of where viewers live. The company works with 150 professional partners worldwide for dubbing and 68 for audio description.

The push for higher-quality dubbing is also a reflection of the globalization of entertainment. According to data Netflix released in May, 70 percent of all viewing on the platform last year involved titles produced outside viewers’ home countries. The share of total viewing accounted for by non-English-language films and series has also climbed from less than 10 percent a decade ago to more than 33 percent last year.

Korean content has been a major beneficiary of the expansion of dubbed programming. In 2024, more than 40 percent of Netflix’s Korean original variety shows were viewed as dubbed versions.

South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa are regions where audiences tend to favor dubbing. Netflix says the growing appetite for dubbed content is not confined to particular markets. In addition to its traditional advantage of allowing viewers to appreciate actors’ facial expressions and subtle directorial details that can be missed while reading subtitles, dubbing is increasingly in demand among viewers accustomed to multitasking.

Changes are also becoming apparent in Korea, where audiences have traditionally shown a stronger preference for subtitles over dubbing. Netflix has recently added Korean dubbing not only to animation and children’s programming, where demand has long been strong, but also to titles such as the documentary “Being Gordon Ramsay,” the series “Enola Holmes 3” and the film “War Machine.”

Dubbing can also help guarantee broader access to audiovisual content for children, older adults, international viewers and people with visual impairments who may find it difficult to enjoy productions through subtitles alone.

Netflix decides whether to provide Korean dubbing based on viewing-demand data it has accumulated across genres. Its general principle is to offer dubbed versions whenever possible for content watched by children and families together.

Netflix provides dubbing in an average of 10 languages per title, with as many as 36 languages available for some productions. Each project is a large-scale collaborative effort involving more than 50 to 60 production personnel, including global studios, local specialists and voice actors.

That is why Netflix describes dubbing as a “second production” — a process of recreating the emotions of an original work in a new language.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.