If you’ve watched “Encore!” on Disney+, you know North Texas resident Brittany Taylor has a voice for singing. Now, she’s lending that voice talent to a new venture, brining international cartoons to the North American market.
With streaming use increasing amid the pandemic and new services coming online to bring more content to the market, Taylor created Saturday Morning TV, a company focused on language dubbing and distribution of foreign children’s cartoon content. And in addition to growing the company, she hopes to create a community of voice acting talent in the region.
“What I want to do is be the ambassador of global content in the U.S. and English-speaking territories,” Taylor told NTX Inno.
Unlike some other dubbing services, Saturday Morning TV looks to bring the same quality of creativity and care to its services as the original content creators did, not only finding the right translations to retain meaning but also sourcing voice acting talent to best fit the characters in the content. Acting essentially as a co-producer of the content, Taylor said sources content from across the globe, dubbing it for the English-speaking market, then promoting the content through its social media channels.
Currently, Saturday Morning TV has three cartoons on its YouTube page. As the company looks to grow, Taylor said she hopes the online community the company creates will help drive more attention and excitement to future projects, as the company expands its lineup of content.
“When I meet with people who have shows from all over the world and they love their shows like it’s their baby and they want someone to love it equally as much, I want to be that person and help dub it in English and bring new life to it with new actors,” Taylor said.
Taylor got her start in the industry singing in her high school musical ensemble in Saginaw. She later made her way out to Los Angeles, making connections into the voice acting and online content creation industries. She later returned to the region, launching Saturday Morning TV in Dallas in 2019, where she said the film and content industry is growing, helped along by existing companies in the area like Funimation.
In addition to her passion for sharing new, entertaining content from across the world, Taylor said she hopes the work she is doing with Saturday Morning TV can help educate kids on the diversity of cultures and perspective that exist in other countries. She said that by seeing different customs, attire and the different values different cultures place emphasis on, children are able to learn more empathy and understanding.
“It’s still valuable because you see what lessons are important to that culture, and that’s still applicable… it still communicates a human truth that is applicable anywhere,” Taylor said. “It’s also cool just to have diversity of characters. That’s something that makes me very, very excited as well, to champion those stories and different territories.”
She said that the type of content Saturday Morning TV is working to produce has drawn more attention amid the pandemic. Taylor said that, as more people move to streaming services for their content, the readily available nature of it allows people to explore content they otherwise might not have. In addition, streaming use has increased in many parts of the world as many people shelter in place. The pandemic has also allowed Taylor to reach more international markets, as many trade shows have been moved to virtual formats.
However, the pandemic has not come without its challenges. Taylor said that initially, when the crisis started, a number of planned projects fell through. She also said that working remotely with the voice talent she uses to dub the cartoons is more difficult because the in-person energy and communication is not there.
“The United States has been such a powerhouse for entertainment and the time slots have been limited it’s been really difficult for other cultures to get in,” Taylor said. “Now that there is more availability, I think that interest has been piqued in a different way and I think the culture has shifted from stick with what we know to okay, let’s expand because there’s kind of this ferocious demand for content and content is king, and so the more shows you have the better you have to survive.”
Recently, Taylor has been attending various markets for content, including one in Malaysia. As she looks to grow Saturday Morning TV, the company is looking at acquiring more partnerships to produce more content, as well as creating a buzz with an online community. Taylor is also looking to help others looking to break into the industry. She said part of her goal with the company is to provide educational training on voice acting, as well as provide opportunities for new talent to break into the scene.
Taylor also said that while the two-person team at Saturday Morning TV has been bootstrapped from the start, they are potentially eying funding from outside investors as the company grows.
“Five years ago, people are just like, ‘there’s no way we would even consider trying to get into North America,’… and now the door is completely opened as a possibility, but localization services like mine are still kind of catching up,” Taylor said. “So the way that we want to brand is creating a culture that loves animation, loves voiceover, wants to see and get a peek behind the scenes of the creative process.”
