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Catalogue Metadata Localization

Titles, synopses and credits, written to each platform's character limits.

 

Viewers decide whether to press play from a title, an image and two lines of text. Catalogue metadata is the first thing a market reads about a series, and often the last thing anyone plans for. Alafranga's media team localizes titles, synopses and credits into and out of Turkish and into European languages, written to the limit of each field rather than cut to fit afterwards.

 

A short synopsis is not a shortened translation
 
A long synopsis translated and then trimmed to a short field loses the one sentence that made someone want to watch. Each length is written again from the source: what stays is the premise and the hook, what goes is detail. Character counts also change between languages, so a synopsis that fits in English can run over in German. Every field is checked against its limit before delivery, not after the platform rejects it.

 

▮What We Deliver
  • Titles Series, season and episode titles localized, transliterated or kept in the original, following the rules of the market and the platform. Existing official titles in the target market are checked before a new one is written.
  • Synopses in every length Short, medium and long synopses for series, seasons and episodes, each written to its own character limit.
  • Credits Cast and crew names in the romanization the platform requires, with roles and job titles in the target language, consistent across the catalogue.
  • Genres, tags and content advisories Translated to the platform's own lists and wording, not word for word from the source.
  • Turkish productions for international catalogues Metadata for Turkish series and films written in English from the Turkish source, ready for international distribution and for translation into further languages.
  • Metadata review Review of metadata produced elsewhere or by AI: fields over the limit, inconsistent names, spoilers, titles that clash with an existing release. Returned with a short report of what we found.

▮What Good Metadata Gets Right
  • Character limits. Counted the way the platform counts them, spaces and punctuation included, for every field and every language.
  • No spoilers. An episode synopsis sets up the episode. It does not tell the viewer how it ends or reveal what the next season builds on.
  • Consistency with the subtitles. Character names, places and recurring terms are the same in the synopsis as in the subtitles, from one glossary shared by the metadata and subtitle teams.
  • Turkish names. Whether ş, ğ and ı stay in credits and titles, or are replaced for the platform, is decided once per catalogue and applied everywhere.

▮Questions We Are Asked
What is catalogue metadata?
The text a platform shows around a title: the title itself, synopses of different lengths, cast and crew credits, genres and tags. It is what viewers read before they decide to watch.

Do you translate synopses or rewrite them?
Each length is written from the source to its own character limit. A short synopsis is not a cut-down version of the long one.

How do you handle character limits?
We work in your template with the limit for each field and check every field before delivery, counting characters the way your platform counts them.

Can the same team do the metadata and the subtitles?
Yes. One team and one glossary keep character names and terms the same in the metadata and in the subtitles.

Which languages do you work in?
Turkish into and out of English, and European languages through our specialist network.

Which formats do you deliver?
Your Excel or CSV template, the platform's delivery template, or other formats on request.