In pursuit of passion
As a child, Norman Dawood spent many hours in recording studios watching his father – a renowned linguist and voice artist – at work. He even appeared in a few TV commercials himself. As the years passed by, he developed a passion for foreign films, becoming a familiar face at the few London cinemas that screened subtitled movies.
Later, after earning degrees in Engineering and in Languages from prestigious British universities, Norman taught English as a foreign language at the British Council, before moving into translation. All of this experience came together in 1989, when his love of world cinema, extensive knowledge of languages and technology, and sense of a growing demand for localisation led him to launch his own company.
VSI started out by providing translations and voice-overs for commercials, corporate videos and home entertainment. We quickly went on to servicing the international broadcasters that were emerging at the time - our very first promos were for Discovery and MTV, but we already had big plans for the future.
