LOS ANGELES
—
Deluxe Entertainment Services Group Inc. (
www.bydeluxe.com
) has acquired Sfera (
www.sferastudios.com
), a global, cloud based localization platform and distributed services firm. Adding Sfera's proven technology to Deluxe's worldwide reach, relationships, and industry knowledge positions Deluxe Localization — a newly-formed division of the company, as the leader in media services capable of helping providers meet the unprecedented worldwide demand for entertainment content in a market where localization capacity is limited and technology is largely unproven.
The sheer volume of entertainment content is increasing worldwide like never before. According to FX Networks Research, the number of original scripted series in the US alone has nearly doubled since 2009 with new digital providers setting the standard for international expansion. This explosive growth has created significant demand for fast, high-quality localization services. Deluxe is responding to clients' needs by investing in world-class technology; initially integrating Sfera cloud technology into Deluxe Localization to provide the best localization platform in the industry, with plans to expand the platform to serve as a core element of the company's overall development of new automated, technology-based processes and services.
The combination of Deluxe and Sfera creates one of the largest capacities in the world, with thousands of translators covering 50+ languages across 75 countries. Activating that force on the Sfera platform creates the massive scalability and security required to meet the content localization needs of the global marketplace.
According Deluxe CEO John Wallace, "We created Deluxe Localization together with Sfera to make sure our clients have the kind of capacity, capability and state-of-the-art technology that just wasn't present in the industry, and is absolutely required to reach worldwide audiences. The Sfera cloud platform lets us harness our global workforce and the data generated across our businesses to build more efficient operations capable of serving the growing appetite for content around the world."
Initially, Sfera's platform and tools will power Deluxe Localization to enable asset management, workflow and translation management, automated quality control (QC), and real-time analytics for services including:
Subtitling in 50+ languages — English template creation, translation origination, conforming, QC and version control; Accessibility services — Closed captioning, subtitles for the hearing impaired, and audio description; Material ingest — Material creation, watermarking, automated synchronization with audio; Audio — Conforming, language identification, and quality control; Metadata — Creation, conform, and quality control; and Quality Control — Localized assets, film/TV content packaging, validation, and audio.
Sfera founder and CEO Morgan Fiumi says, "We're incredibly excited to join Deluxe. Sfera is a team of amazing individuals with a vision for developing industry-first technology. Deluxe will enable us to accelerate our technology and bring efficiencies to our clients on a much broader scale. I am thrilled to become part of this iconic brand and join John [Wallace] and his team to launch and drive this innovation."