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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

CAPTIONS—New Technology Could Make Film Subtitling Easier

Film distributors spend millions of dollars every year making copies of movies with captions or dubbed dialogue for foreign distribution. Agoura Hills-based sound system manufacturer Digital Theater Systems Inc. believes its computer-enabled captioning system for movie theaters can drastically reduce that cost at least for the distributors. “We really hope to change the way American films are shown overseas,” said Michael Archer, director of cinema sales and business development for DTS. The new system, which became available just three weeks ago, allows filmmakers to distribute prints of their films without adding captions or overdubbed dialogue. “The system takes care of all that for them,” Archer said. The DTS-CSS Cinema Subtitling System projects subtitles onto a movie screen via a specially designed video projector that would be installed in the movie theater. The system, which costs between $12,000 and $50,000, depending on the model, uses a compact disk containing the subtitling information which is then projected onto the movie screen along with the film print. Movie studios send their films and accompanying compact disks to movie exhibitors who have the DTS equipment. “Each disk will hold up to 40 languages, so you don’t need to have separate disks for each country,” Archer said. Depending on the complexity of the project, burning captions onto a film itself now costs between $1,000 and $10,000 per film. With foreign distribution accounting for about half of all movie tickets sold, American film studios are looking at the system closely. LaVerne Williams, vice president of worldwide technical facilities for Paramount Pictures, said she was impressed by the device’s efficiency but worries that overseas exhibitors can afford the equipment. “It was amazing to see it work,” she said. “I believe there will be a lot of interest in this system, though the only questions are how much will it cost and are people going to buy it.” Williams said Paramount, which distributes between 12 and 15 films overseas each year using traditional captioning methods, has yet to commit to the system. Archer said the incentive for exhibitors to invest in the new equipment would be the opportunity to get newer American releases quicker, almost as quickly as they are released in the U.S. John Fithian, a spokesman for the National Association of Theater Operators, said theater operators overseas would likely support the new system, if they can afford it. “It’s going to be hard for some theater owners out there to invest in this equipment,” he said. “People there aren’t paying $10 a ticket to see a movie.” The system can also be used in movie houses in the U.S. that screen films for the deaf. There are 17 movie houses that cater specifically to the hearing-impaired with subtitled films, according to Media Access, an advocacy group for the deaf. But this market remains tiny compared to the hundreds of thousands of movie houses around the world that show American films, Archer said. Already, DTS has more than 20,000 movie theaters worldwide that use its multi-channel digital sound system, giving the company potential access to a large segment of the foreign movie exhibitor market. Although the company still is in negotiations with its first customers for the unit, Archer said he expects the device to generate up to $100 million in revenue within five years. “We’re very confident that the DTS-CSS will have a great demand,” he said. Steve Klein, a 25-year veteran film editor, said he welcomes the new system, adding that subtitling techniques have changed little in the past 60 years. “They’re still doing things the way they did in the ’30s,” he said, referring to overlaying captions onto film. While only about 10 percent of U.S. films are dubbed, almost all are subtitled for foreign release, according to the Motion Picture Association of America. Klein said dubbing costs about $100,000 per film and sometimes takes months to complete. “It can get pretty complicated because you have to cast the right people and record a soundtrack and it takes weeks,” he said.

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