French is the official language of 29 countries, including France, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, and many African countries. It is also one of the six official languages of the United Nations.
Like everywhere around the world, French-speaking people are creating and consuming a lot of video content. You might imagine that such a trend of video production in French will correspondingly increase the demand from viewers internationally, given the high quality of French production.
However, French video content has limited demand globally except in Francophone countries. It is mainly because much of the content is not being translated to other languages. This should be an indicator of the underserved market in French to English translation of video content.
Different types of French video content
➡️ Movies and TV series: A wide variety of films, series, documentaries, kids TV programs, and more are produced in French that reflects the diversity and creativity of the Francophone culture from around the globe.
International sales of French TV programs were up by 18% in 2019, thanks mainly to animation, films, and documentaries. China alone bought $10 million worth of French entertainment content that year, as animation is much in demand among Chinese viewers.
With the arrival of streaming platforms, French content is dominating that channel, too. More original content is being published in French on digital video platforms such as Netflix and Amazon, according to eMarketer.
➡️Social media/digital content: Along with traditional video formats such as movies and teleseries, the French are also creating and viewing a lot of digital video content. About a quarter of video viewing time is now spent online, according to the eMarketer article. Digital is the main driver of video consumption in France, with YouTube and Netflix amassing most viewers.
➡️Marketing: France leads among the Western European countries that are driving digital advertising spend. Chief among the reasons for this growth are consumers accessing more content on mobile devices, increased video inventory – particularly from social platforms, and a growing budget for brand advertising by companies.
Best practices for video translation from French to English
Videos that need to be translated must first be transcribed. Transcription refers to converting the on-screen dialogue into text in the same language. They then have to be translated to create subtitles or be passed on to voice artists for dubbing or voice over.