Holly Hobbie: a dubbing journey from Illinois to Paris
The project
Services:
Dubbing
Languages:
French
Cloudco Entertainment first contacted VSI back in May 2019, as they had plans to introduce Holly Hobbie to a French audience. Their request was placed with VSI Paris, who handled the project management and dubbing of the series, before it was broadcast by France TV.
Not content with just saving the world, Holly is also an aspiring singer-songwriter who performs each night, guitar in hand, at her grandmother’s café. This posed an interesting challenge for VSI Paris, who were tasked with finding a French actress for the title role who could sing and act. The soundtrack, released by Warner Music, has been a resounding success.
Our approach
Winner of the Canadian Screen Award for Best Fiction Series, Holly Hobbie was a rewarding project to work on. The team were meticulous in their search for the perfect cast. They set out to locate an exact match for each character, with the aim to find voices that were as close to the original American actors’ as possible. It was vital that they could express a range of emotions to make the production authentic for French audiences.
For most dubbing projects, VSI will narrow the search down by providing clients with two to three audio reels per character, and they then choose the actor who will be cast. For Holly Hobbie, we submitted four to six samples to Cloudco Entertainment, and we worked closely with the broadcaster, France TV, who trusted us to locate the perfect match. Our more personable approach enabled more choices for our client, with the dubbing team working together and agreeing unanimously on the final selection.
