From Lab to Screen
From Lab to Screen
From Lab to Screen: a response to AI’s threat to the media localisation industry
Project overview
As streaming platforms like Netflix and Apple TV expand and global audiences grow, high quality subtitling has become more important than ever to modern and accessible media production. Yet behind the apparently seamless flow of translated dialogue on screen lies an industry under pressure. Increasingly, media localisation companies – which specialise in adapting video, audio and digital content for international audiences – are relying on AI and other automated tools to reduce costs and speed up workflows. The result, many argue, is a gradual ongoing erosion of quality and a diminished experience for viewers.
Supported by the University’s Impact Acceleration Account (IAA), Dr Sara Ramos Pinto - Associate Professor in Translation Studies at the University of Leeds’ School of Languages, Cultures and Societies - set out to meet this challenge with a new research project.
“‘From Lab to Screen: A Response to AI’s Threat to the Media Localisation Industry’ bridges the gap between academic research and industry practice by exploring how the rich and complex data collected by viewer reception studies – which examine how audiences interpret and derive meaning from what they watch, read or listen to – can be understood to help non-academics improve industry subtitling standards,” Dr Ramos Pinto explains.
“We have highly sophisticated data about subtitling quality and audience engagement, but it isn’t always presented in a way that industry professionals can easily apply in their day-to-day work – or use when negotiating with clients. That’s where we came in.”
The IAA funding enabled Dr Ramos Pinto and her colleagues to translate these intricate research findings – with insights ranging from how reading speed affects comprehension to how timing influences emotional impact – into three visually engaging, easy-to-use infographic reports. Each report focused on a different key area: subtitling quality and viewer engagement; the impact of automated subtitling; and the effects of subtitling speed. Rather than simplifying the research findings, the team reimagined how it could be communicated and distilled complex datasets into clear visual summaries, supported by concise explanations and practical takeaways.
These reports are designed not only to inform subtitlers’ workflows, but also to support conversations with commissioners and production companies about why the quality of subtitling matters and why the human touch remains vital.
“The demand for automated solutions in media localisation often overlooks the impact of lower quality subtitling on the audience’s level of enjoyment and ability to understand what they watch,” Dr Ramos Pinto says. “This work allows us to demonstrate the unique value human subtitlers bring to the viewing experience and to help industry partners make more informed decisions about subtitle quality and audience needs.”
Throughout the project, Dr Ramos Pinto worked with leading figures from across academia and industry, including Professor Carol O’Sullivan (University of Bristol), Ola Koitla (IYUNO, a large localisation company), Sonali Joshi (Day for Night, a distribution company), and Renato Barcelos (ATAV, an association of audiovisual translators). Together, they ensured the reports responded directly to professional realities while remaining grounded in robust evidence.
All three industry partners have distributed the reports to their in-house and freelance translators, embedding them within professional networks, and initial feedback from professionals has been overwhelmingly positive. “100% found the reports easy to navigate, and 83% considered them useful or very useful when negotiating with clients.”
This last point is particularly significant. In a competitive and rapidly changing marketplace, freelance subtitlers and smaller localisation companies often struggle to advocate for time, resources and quality. By equipping them with clear, research-backed evidence, the project’s outputs have helped to strengthen their position and reframe subtitling as a critical creative and communicative practice rather than a mechanical afterthought.
The project’s ambitions extend well beyond these initial reports. Over the coming months, Dr Ramos Pinto and her team will widen distribution through professional bodies such as the Institute of Translation and Interpreting, Subtle, the UK’s subtitlers’ association, and through the Subtitling Audiences Network, which hosts a dedicated hub for similar resources. The reports will also underpin a broader initiative led by Dr Ramos Pinto, ‘Enhanced Subtitling: Innovation for Audiences and Industry’, including engagement with media production stakeholders and a public awareness campaign to highlight subtitling’s critical role in shaping audience experience.
At a time when the move towards automation is often presented as inevitable, Dr Ramos Pinto’s work offers a different narrative: one in which academic research evidence can empower those actually working in the industry, improve subtitling standards, and ensure that audiences can fully enjoy and understand what they watch.
Project team
Dr Sara Ramos Pinto (School of Languages, Cultures and Societies)
Dr Carol O’Sullivan (University of Bristol)
Day for Night (DfN)
ATAV (Association of Audiovisual Translators)
