Digital Media Translations in Los Angeles

For years, legacy media like television, film, and radio have been the primary forms of entertainment for people. But as the world becomes increasingly digital, the entertainment that it consumes is as well.

This is why digital media is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. It’s also established a strong foothold in Los Angeles – with many of the area’s biggest legacy media companies making big investments in digital media in recent years.

Below, we’ll cover the ins and outs of digital media in LA while also evaluating the role that professional translation services play in helping the industry thrive.

Digital Media Explained

Digital media is a very broad term, so it’s worth taking a moment to review what it actually entails. There’s no widely-accepted definition of digital media, but we can think of it as any content that a consumer accesses via an electronic device.

That means each of the following types of content can qualify as digital media:

• Video games
• Mobile apps
• YouTube videos
• Streaming video content

Legacy LA Media Companies Are Going Digital

The Los Angeles area has a longstanding reputation as one of the global leaders in entertainment. Companies like Disney, Dreamworks, and Buzzfeed all call the city home.

These companies are driving the rise of digital media in Los Angeles with their investments. Take a look at each of the ways that the following companies with locations in Los Angeles are building out their digital media capabilities:

• Netflix is spending billions on content creation
• Amazon Studios has purchased new studio space in Culver City for digital content
• Buzzfeed has built a motion pictures department to focus on long-form digital content creation in its LA office
• Disney acquired a controlling stake in the digital streaming service Hulu in 2017
• Dreamworks acquired AwesomenessTV for $117 million in 2014

When you look at business decisions like these together, the only logical conclusion is that legacy media companies in Los Angeles are beginning to invest more and more in their digital media capabilities.

The Economic Impact of the Digital Media Industry in LA

Digital media is such a broad term that it’s difficult to get an accurate assessment of exactly how much economic activity you can tie to it in the LA area. But there is some research out there to help us make an informed estimate.

A recent report compiled by the Los Angeles County Perspective found the following pieces of information:

• The LA County film and digital media cluster creates 640,500 jobs
• It generates $58.8 billion in income for workers
• It outputs $158.3 billion in total revenue

The report also states that some of the biggest jobs in this industry are for directors, designers, editors, and writers.

Why Translation Services Matter for the Digital Media Industry

The digital media industry in Los Angeles has only been able to grow to the size that it has because it targets a global consumer base. To do that effectively, companies within the industry need to translate various aspects of their operations.

Professional translation services help digital media companies go global by translating each of the following types of information.

Content

Digital media content that was created in English can only effectively engage an audience if they speak that language. But if a company translates the content into the native languages of other regions, it can entertain many more people.

Translation services help make this happen by offering services like content dubbing and subtitling. With these, people can enjoy content made in LA even if they don’t speak English.

Marketing

Companies in the digital media industry also need to market to a global audience. Professional translation services help with this as well.

A translation company can help your business by translating things like:

• Web content and blog posts
• Social media ads and posts
• Physical ads, such as billboards and digital posters
• Any other type of marketing content you think might capture your target audience’s attention

User Interfaces and Explanations

Finally, digital media companies need global audiences to be able to use their products without having to go through too much hassle to do so. That’s why companies employ translation services to help out with things like:

• User menus and content selection screens
• Instructions about the content
• How-to guides and video explainers

Visit our Los Angeles Translation Services page to learn about other industry-targeted translation services provided to companies throughout California.