'Same emotional impact across cultures': Why Netflix takes dubbing seriously

Netflix’s dubbing process aims to preserve the emotional impact of original productions for viewers worldwide, with Korean-language dubbing for Physical: 100 Mexico underway in Seoul on Friday. The work includes translation, adaptation, voice casting, editing and mixing, and takes about three to four months per series. Netflix gives production partners detailed guidance on performance and sound so dubbed versions can maintain consistent qualities across languages. The company says demand for dubbed content is growing, including in Korea.

Netflix works with 150 professional dubbing partners worldwide and 68 audio-description partners.

Netflix said 70 percent of viewing on its platform last year involved titles produced outside viewers’ home countries, while non-English-language films and series accounted for more than 33 percent of viewing.

More than 40 percent of Netflix’s Korean original variety shows were watched in dubbed versions in 2024.

Netflix provides dubbing in an average of 10 languages per title, with up to 36 languages for some productions.

Netflix bases decisions about Korean dubbing on viewing-demand data across genres and generally offers dubbed versions whenever possible for content watched by children and families together.

Published Oct 28, 2026 12:00 am KST

Dubbing producer Kim Jeong-ryeong explains the dubbing process at Pixelogic Korea’s studio in Mapo District, Seoul, Oct. 23. Courtesy of Netflix

“Bite him!” “Fight!” “You know I’m a really dangerous guy, right?”

On Friday, voice actors Park Sang-hoon and Choi Woo-sung were locked in a heated verbal exchange as they watched a screen at Pixelogic Korea’s studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul. They were dubbing a one-on-one game between former martial arts fighters for the reality show “Physical: 100 Mexico.”

As the actors delivered their lines in sync with the contestants’ movements and emotions, dubbing producer Kim Jeong-ryeong offered a steady stream of feedback: “Let me check the pronunciation,” “Make sure the microphone isn’t peaking” and “Your voice sounds a little hoarse.”

“Physical: 100,” which pits 100 contestants with exceptional physical abilities against one another in extreme challenges, began as a Korean original reality show and has since spawned local adaptations in countries including Mexico and Italy. The scene observed that day was part of the Korean-language dubbing process. Dubbing involves translation, adaptation, voice casting, editing and mixing, and takes roughly three to four months per series.

Behind the demanding process, which leaves little room for error, is a set of global standards Netflix provides to its external production partners. “In the past, the instructions we received at dubbing studios were usually along the lines of, ‘Make it sound similar to the original,’” Kim said. “Netflix asks us to take into account the characteristics of each production, including its fictional universe, and pay close attention to details such as breathing.”

Son Min-je, a project manager at Pixelogic Korea, a dubbing partner for Netflix, said the process goes beyond matching dialogue to the original actors’ lip movements. Adaptations are also made to preserve the entertainment value of each production. For “Physical: 100 Mexico,” the Korean script is developed using a "pivot language" — in this case, an intermediate English translation of the original Spanish dialogue.

Detailed instructions are also provided for sound production. “There are cases where the same sound effects must be used consistently around the world, so depending on the production, we share footage from recording sessions as well as editing manuals,” said Lee Jae-won, an audio engineer at Pixelogic Korea.

Voice actors Park Sang-hoon, left, and Choi Woo-sung dub “Physical: 100 Mexico” at Pixelogic Korea’s studio in Mapo District, Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of Netflix

For the Netflix series “Human Vapor,” for example, the dubbing team received video footage demonstrating how to recreate the sound of a female character falling into water. The footage showed microphone placement, how to hold water in the mouth and the direction in which the recording should be made. For the dubbing of the film “Frankenstein,” the team was sent a roughly 10-minute video explaining how to create the monster’s voice.

“Detailed information is shared on how each audio layer should be processed, including the proportions,” Lee said. “The goal is to ensure that viewers around the world hear the same sound, even when a production is dubbed into many different languages.”

Netflix’s commitment to dubbing stems from its ambition to deliver the same emotional impact as the original, regardless of where viewers live. The company works with 150 professional partners worldwide for dubbing and 68 for audio description.

The push for higher-quality dubbing is also a reflection of the globalization of entertainment. According to data Netflix released in May, 70 percent of all viewing on the platform last year involved titles produced outside viewers’ home countries. The share of total viewing accounted for by non-English-language films and series has also climbed from less than 10 percent a decade ago to more than 33 percent last year.

Korean content has been a major beneficiary of the expansion of dubbed programming. In 2024, more than 40 percent of Netflix’s Korean original variety shows were viewed as dubbed versions.

South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa are regions where audiences tend to favor dubbing. Netflix says the growing appetite for dubbed content is not confined to particular markets. In addition to its traditional advantage of allowing viewers to appreciate actors’ facial expressions and subtle directorial details that can be missed while reading subtitles, dubbing is increasingly in demand among viewers accustomed to multitasking.

Changes are also becoming apparent in Korea, where audiences have traditionally shown a stronger preference for subtitles over dubbing. Netflix has recently added Korean dubbing not only to animation and children’s programming, where demand has long been strong, but also to titles such as the documentary “Being Gordon Ramsay,” the series “Enola Holmes 3” and the film “War Machine.”

Dubbing can also help guarantee broader access to audiovisual content for children, older adults, international viewers and people with visual impairments who may find it difficult to enjoy productions through subtitles alone.

Netflix decides whether to provide Korean dubbing based on viewing-demand data it has accumulated across genres. Its general principle is to offer dubbed versions whenever possible for content watched by children and families together.

Netflix provides dubbing in an average of 10 languages per title, with as many as 36 languages available for some productions. Each project is a large-scale collaborative effort involving more than 50 to 60 production personnel, including global studios, local specialists and voice actors.

That is why Netflix describes dubbing as a “second production” — a process of recreating the emotions of an original work in a new language.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.

Netflix的配音流程旨在为全球观众保留原创作品的情感冲击力。周五，《Physical: 100 Mexico》的韩语配音工作在首尔正式启动。这项工作包括翻译、改编、配音演员选角、剪辑和混音，每部剧集大约需要三到四个月的时间。Netflix会为制作合作伙伴提供关于表演和音效的详细指导，以确保不同语言版本的配音质量保持一致。该公司表示，包括韩国在内，观众对配音内容的需求正在增长。

Netflix 与全球 150 家专业配音合作伙伴和 68 家音频描述合作伙伴合作。

Netflix 表示，去年其平台上 70% 的观看量来自观众所在国家/地区以外制作的影片，而非英语电影和剧集占观看量的 33% 以上。

2024 年，Netflix 超过 40% 的韩国原创综艺节目是通过配音版本观看的。

Netflix 平均每部影片提供 10 种语言的配音，有些影片甚至提供多达 36 种语言的配音。

Netflix 根据不同类型影片的观看需求数据来决定是否提供韩语配音，并且通常会尽可能为儿童和家庭一起观看的内容提供配音版本。

发布于2026年10月28日凌晨12:00（韩国标准时间）

10月23日，配音制作人金正玲在位于首尔麻浦区的Pixelogic Korea工作室讲解配音流程。（图片由Netflix提供）

“咬他！”“打！”“你知道我是一个非常危险的家伙，对吧？”

周五，在首尔麻浦区上岩洞的Pixelogic Korea工作室，配音演员朴相勋和崔宇成对着屏幕激烈地争论起来。他们正在为真人秀节目《Physical: 100 Mexico》配音，节目中是一场前武术选手之间的单挑比赛。

当演员们与参赛者的动作和情绪同步念出台词时，配音制作人金正玲不断地给出反馈：“让我检查一下发音”、“确保麦克风没有过载”和“你的声音听起来有点沙哑”。

《体能百强》（Physical: 100）是一档韩国原创真人秀节目，节目中100名拥有超凡体能的选手将接受各种极限挑战，之后在墨西哥、意大利等国推出了本土化版本。当天拍摄的场景是韩语配音制作过程中的一部分。配音工作包括翻译、改编、配音演员选角、剪辑和混音，每部剧集的配音制作大约需要三到四个月的时间。

这一严苛的流程容错率极低，其背后是Netflix为其外部制作合作伙伴提供的一套全球标准。“过去，我们在配音工作室收到的指示通常是‘让它听起来和原声相似’，”金说道。“而Netflix要求我们考虑每部作品的特点，包括其虚构的世界观，并密切关注呼吸等细节。”

Netflix 的配音合作伙伴 Pixelogic Korea 的项目经理孙敏济 (Son Min-je) 表示，配音流程不仅仅是将台词与原演员的口型相匹配，还要进行调整以保留每部作品的娱乐价值。例如，在《Physical: 100 Mexico》这部剧中，韩语剧本的创作就采用了“过渡语言”——在本例中，过渡语言是原西班牙语对白的英语中间译本。

此外，还提供了详细的音效制作说明。“有些情况下，需要在世界各地统一使用相同的音效，因此我们会根据制作情况，分享录音现场的录像以及剪辑手册，”Pixelogic Korea 的音频工程师 Lee Jae-won 说。

周五，在首尔麻浦区的Pixelogic Korea工作室，配音演员朴相勋（左）和崔宇成正在为动画剧集《Physical: 100 Mexico》进行配音。图片由Netflix提供。

例如，在为Netflix剧集《人间蒸发》（Human Vapor）配音时，配音团队收到了一段视频，演示如何重现女性角色落入水中的声音。视频展示了麦克风的摆放位置、如何用嘴含水以及录音方向。在为电影《弗兰肯斯坦》（Frankenstein）配音时，团队收到了一段大约10分钟的视频，讲解如何为怪物配音。

李说：“我们会详细分享每个音频层的处理方式，包括比例。我们的目标是确保世界各地的观众都能听到相同的声音，即使一部作品被配音成多种不同的语言。”

Netflix之所以致力于配音，是因为它力求无论观众身处何地，都能获得与原版相同的震撼人心的体验。该公司与全球150家专业合作伙伴进行配音，并与68家合作伙伴提供音频描述服务。

对更高质量配音的需求也反映了娱乐业的全球化趋势。Netflix 五月份发布的数据显示，去年该平台上70%的观看量来自观众所在国家/地区以外的制作内容。非英语电影和剧集的观看量占比也从十年前的不足10%攀升至去年的超过33%。

韩剧内容一直是​​配音节目普及的主要受益者。2024年，Netflix超过40%的韩国原创综艺节目都是以配音版本观看的。

南美、欧洲、中东和非洲等地区的观众往往更偏爱配音版本。Netflix 表示，对配音内容日益增长的需求并非局限于特定市场。除了配音版本能够让观众欣赏演员的面部表情和导演的细微之处（这些在阅读字幕时容易被忽略）这一传统优势外，配音版本也越来越受到习惯于一心多用的观众的青睐。

在韩国，这种变化也逐渐显现。韩国观众历来更偏爱字幕而非配音。Netflix 最近不仅为动画和儿童节目（这些节目的需求一直很旺盛）添加了韩语配音，还为纪录片《戈登·拉姆齐的厨房》（Being Gordon Ramsay）、剧集《福尔摩斯小姐3》（Enola Holmes 3）和电影《战争机器》（War Machine）等作品添加了韩语配音。

配音还可以帮助确保儿童、老年人、国际观众和视力障碍人士能够更广泛地接触到视听内容，因为他们可能发现仅靠字幕很难欣赏作品。

Netflix会根据其积累的各类影片的观看需求数据来决定是否提供韩语配音版本。其总体原则是，对于儿童和家庭共同观看的影片，尽可能提供配音版本。

Netflix 为每部影片平均提供 10 种语言的配音，部分作品甚至提供多达 36 种语言的配音。每个项目都是一项大规模的合作，涉及 50 至 60 多名制作人员，包括全球工作室、当地专家和配音演员。

这就是为什么 Netflix 将配音描述为“第二部作品”——用一种新的语言重现原作情感的过程。

本文来自《韩国日报》（《韩国时报》的姊妹报），由人工智能生成系统翻译，并由《韩国时报》编辑。