Roku: supporting their launch in new territories

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About the client

Roku pioneered streaming on TV, connecting users to the content they love, enabling content publishers to build and monetise large audiences, and providing advertisers with unique capabilities to engage consumers. Roku TV™ models, Roku streaming players, and TV-related audio devices are available in various countries around the world through direct retail sales and/or licensing arrangements with TV OEM brands. Roku-branded TVs and Roku Smart Home products are sold exclusively in the United States. Roku also operates The Roku Channel, the home of free and premium entertainment with exclusive access to Roku Originals. The Roku Channel is available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. Roku is headquartered in San Jose, California, U.S.A.

Roku decided to enter new markets and selected VSI as one of their key partners in managing the localisation work for this launch and beyond. Our relationship with Roku dates back to 2022. Having closely followed their growth, we were well-placed to support their continued global expansion.

The project

Services:
Dubbing and Subtitling 

Languages:
French, Latin American Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese 

The Roku team tasked us with creating the Latin American Spanish dubs and Brazilian Portuguese subtitles for a wide array of content for audiences across Latin America to enjoy. They also looked to us to support their content localisation for French-speaking audiences, many of whom are based in Canada, another key market for our client.

The first content stream was a catalogue of more than 80 shows, spanning scripted and unscripted, that Roku had recently acquired, including Chrissy's Court, Die Hart and The Great American Baking Show. The second was a slate of brand-new shows, including comedy, drama and reality shows like Morimoto's Sushi Master, Slip and Doomlands. We also worked on their original features, the most notable of which was Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, starring Daniel Radcliffe.

Our approach

At VSI, we always seek to create localised versions that feel as credible and nuanced as the original, while delivering them to strict deadlines. This was at the forefront of our minds when working on the existing content catalogue and the ongoing Roku Originals production slate. 

For both content streams, we were able to leverage VSI's extensive owned and operated studio network and talent relationships across the Americas and Europe.

Since the catalogue content had been acquired from other platforms, all files needed a more stringent material check to ensure that all the source materials were correct and that we had everything we needed to start localising into the three languages.

We centralised this project through our project management hub in our London HQ to bridge the gap between the European and Latin American studios. They oversaw the workflow, ensured deadlines were met and delivered a consistently high-quality output for each new version. As the project evolved, project management was moved from London to São Paulo to align more closely with Roku's time zone. 

Throughout the process, we worked closely with the Roku team, exchanging ideas and establishing transparent editorial processes to deliver each localisation effectively. This should also help to future-proof Roku's localisation efforts, simplifying processes as they evolve their global footprint and widen their language offerings.

The trust we quickly established through this project led to Roku asking us to provide a French dub for their first prominent original feature, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, starring Daniel Radcliffe. We're no strangers to localising films involving some of the biggest stars in the world. For this high-profile film, we teamed up with the established French voice actor for Daniel Radcliffe to deliver the dub from our studios in Belgium and Paris.

Outcome

We were pleased to guide Roku through the intricacies of the localisation process as they launched their content into new territories and appreciate the trust and confidence they placed in us. Our teams thoroughly enjoyed working on the back catalogue and original content for their Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese and French-speaking audiences throughout 2022, 2023 and beyond, ensuring that each localisation was of the highest possible quality.

Our ongoing and trusted partnership with Roku is now in its third year, and we look forward to continuing to support their ambition to offer more even languages to their customers worldwide.

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