A Series of Unfortunate Events is an award-winning black comedy based on the children’s books by Lemony Snicket, made by Netflix in the US. The original series featured a cast led by Neil Patrick Harris, with an original score by James Newton Howard. We were approached to create a bespoke musical adaptation for the German market.
As well as reinterpreting original music so it retained its emotional voice in another language, the voice of the main character had to be dubbed into German. This had to be more than a straight translation, more a transcreation that embodied the spirit of the character.
Collaborating with a well known German voice actor, we helped him find the depth in his performance that brought the character to life, capturing the nuance of tone and culture that would speak to the audience in an authentic way. Along with the adaptation and production of the music, we also oversaw voice casting for the dubbed singing performances.
Our involvement in every aspect of the music and lead voice dubbing ensured the end result was true to the original but tuned into the German audience’s expectations.
