Casting Approval Tool: Features and Workflow
Overview
The Casting Approval tool is a title-centric management application created to streamline the entire casting process.
The intent of this document is to present the basic functionalities of the tool.
Partner Workflow
- Access - casting project managers automatically onboarded via starship.
- Project Dashboard - Once source requests are assigned to a partner, the movie title populates the partner casting dashboard with all project information.
- Characters - all character information, VTKs, creative direction notes.
- Audition Requests - partner to receive requests by character and language.
- Fulfillment and Submission - partner to submit WAV samples and fulfill requests. Netflix contact will approve or reject submissions and provide feedback.
- Approval - partner to receive Netflix feedback and talent selections.
Access
Members of your team will be on-boarded in Starship by our Dubbing team or Global Dubbing Resource Strategy (GRS). If you are awarded a project, and a casting request is created, the title will automatically show up on your dashboard upon source request assignment. If you are subcontracting, the fulfillment partner will also see the title on their dashboard for every language that has been assigned to them, and will, therefore, be able to fulfill requests.
Project Dashboard
Titles displayed on your dashboard are based on source request assignment and starship production onboarding.
- Casting Status - displays the state of the project.
- Casting Time - duration based on the time the project has been open.
- Auditions - status of fulfilled requests against the total number of open audition requests.
- Created By - original creator of the project.
- Settings - by clicking on the icon you can personalize settings such as color scheme, notifications, and default filters.
NOTE: If an expected title does not show up on the dashboard, please escalate to the Language Production Manager.
Characters
The Characters page provides a comprehensive view of all characters needing casting and/or library submissions. Character metadata contains approximate characters' age, gender, and original talent name. A full biography and other character descriptions may be available when outlined in the show’s synopsis/show bible. The Language Production Manager may also provide voice descriptions when applicable.
If a voice test kit (VTK) has been requested, a short clip must be available for playback and download. Title details and overall progress status are outlined on the right pane window.
- Character Profile - Voice description, Tags, Age, Gender, Picture, Original Talent.
- VTK & Audition Script file (optional) - Playback for review, downloadable, and watermarked.
- Details & Progress - dub delivery estimate date, audition progress, context materials & docs
Audition Requests
The Auditions page provides a view of all audition requests created for a given title. Details available include - status, languages, and characters. The search bar can be used to narrow down & filter viewing preferences. The submitted and completed progress bars will give you insight into action items.
Audition Progress Statuses
- Open: Pending test submission.
- Submitted: What has been already sent to Netflix.
- Completed: What has been approved by Netflix.
Note: By clicking on a character a side-pane with a full character preview opens up. By clicking on “Assign Talent” that talent assignment page is prompted.
Fulfillment and Submission
Talent Assignment
When assigning an existing talent from our database, the voice talent name should auto-populate as you type. The talent database is robust, and it pulls data from previous Netflix projects.
If the talent name does not populate, click ‘create new talent’ and fill out the form to include the actor’s name. Please keep in mind that names should accurately identify talent with correct spelling, characters with accents/diacritical marks, and letter case (where applicable). Please do not submit talent names in all caps/all upper case.
- Talent Details - the name auto-populates and pulls data from previous projects. Please make sure the spelling is correct.
- Create New Talent - create new talent only if the name does not auto-populate in the dropdown. You have the ability to enter the English spelling and/or source language spelling (localized credited name)
- WAV submission - The WAV file must be mono, match the duration of the VTK clip and be in sync with the picture. Upon uploading the audio is automatically married to VTK. Files that are out of sync with the picture will be rejected. Please keep the file under 100 MB.
- Video playback - It defaults to the audition audio. But, you also have the ability to toggle with original source audio.
Note: Do not forget to save your WAV upload. Once submitted, the Netflix dub team will be notified and go through the evaluation and approval stages.
Approval
- Submitting Audition to Netflix - The system defaults to select all, but is flexible on character and language selection for submission. For multiple languages, you will need to scroll down before submitting.
- Once submitted, statuses are shown per character and per language. The Netflix contact will receive a notification and begin the review process.
- The status will change once reviewed by Netflix and indicates the casting decision. When clicking on the talent’s name a side pane with the audition and an in-tool chat window opens up.
- “Play Audition” takes you into the player window to review all voice talents anytime during the submission or approval process.
- Chat feature - feel free to message before or during the casting approval process.
Additional Comments on the Casting Approval Tool
SLAs for audition samples to be sent to Netflix will be communicated on or after project kickoff by the Language Production Manager before requests are submitted. If you have any questions or concerns, please send feedback via the ‘send feedback’ button in the interface.
Change Log:
2023-07-12
- Edited to reflect the current casting workflow and provide more clarity.