Cheflix is the latest streaming service on the block for those who have a passion for cooking and food. Dubbed the ‘Netflix of Michelin Star Chefs’ the platform provides viewers with access to online masterclasses from the world’s renowned chefs, including Jacob-Jan Boerma , Ron Blaauw and Hans van Wolde. After cementing their foothold in the Dutch market, the team were looking to reach new markets.
We sat down with Carlijn de Visser, Operations Manager at Cheflix and Jan Hans Kuipers, Solution Architect at Onbrdng to learn more about the collaboration.
The problem
Cheflix is growing rapidly and has big plans to develop its target audience and expand internationally.
“If we wanted to grow into something really cool, it had to be international.” Carlijn described ” We wanted the Dutch chefs to be accessible to the foreign market, then we’d have different types of chefs from every country with all sorts of different cuisines, who would teach you to imitate their culture or their cuisine.” The problem that was standing in their way was that Chefs are not usually used to presenting at all, especially in English. The content would need to be recorded in their native language and subtitled to be ready for an international audience. It was no easy task as there were over 26 hours of content that needed subtitling and more in production!
The team set to work on finding a translator that could help. “The problem was that there are people who’ll translate the audio literally. Not every translator is suitable for that, because they are culinary terms, so you have to find a party that can translate really well”, said Carlijn “For example, in Dutch, you say ‘een snuf salt’, but in English that’s not ‘a sniff’.
Finding the right translator was one thing, but making subtitles for the content was a whole other ball game. The trick there is text compression and still showing something relevant on-screen, which is relevant with the audio of course. You need different knowledge for that than just translating.
Amberscript’s solution
The team tried many options such as translators on Fiverr but weren’t happy with the results. “It didn’t make any sense at all!” said Jan Hans “So that proves that you do need a serious company that works with quality subtitling because that’s a special technique, to keep the story relevant.”
The team always had Amberscript as a potential partner on the table and liked the idea that there was a combination of Automatic Intelligence and Human accuracy.
The combination ensured a lower price point in comparison to traditional subtitling service, without compromising on the accuracy and synchronization of the subtitles. Jan Hans added “We did a trial with an episode, and the speed and quality were the deciding factors for us. Amberscript managed to accurately localize the message with a fast turnaround. It was the total package!”
Now Cheflix can accurately localize their unique content and help more people discover the joys of Michelin Star cooking from home!
