OUR VISION & POTENTIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE MEMBERSHIP OF PROZ.COM

dotSUB LLC has created a browser based subtitling tool and is in the early stages of developing a new business model that facilitates the creation and distribution of multiple language subtitled versions of any type of film (moving image media). Any film, originally produced in any language, (narrative, documentary, independent, training, etc.), will be able to be subtitled using our tool and process.

Prior to our planned formal launch in the late Spring 2006, dotSUB intends to experiment with a variety of mostly non-commercial films to allow us to fully understand the interest and needs of the ProZ.com translator network, in addition to those of the filmmakers, distributors and aggregators. This will also give us a real-time opportunity to fully test our technology and model across multiple versions of browsers/media players/operating systems installed globally on PC's and laptops.

An integral part of dotSUB's model will be to offer translators an opportunity to share (in a way yet to be precisely determined) in any revenue that might be ultimately derived from their newly created subtitled work. This would be in addition to their personal sense of satisfaction and involvement in being part of a global effort to dramatically increase cross-cultural communication and understanding using the medium of film.

This new model will potentially make available to the world the great majority of films which have never had broad theatrical or commercial distribution of any kind in their own cultures, much less in other languages. By definition, the existing "Big Media" focus on bestsellers and carefully scripted stories precludes huge numbers of films from ever being seen - leading to an ever increasing cultural divide.

By putting seamless film subtitling technology into the hands of individuals, dotSUB's tool make stories from every culture accessible to every other culture, fostering intercultural experience, communication, and connection. Our platform changes language barriers into cultural bridges. Film offers a powerful medium for conveying rich stories and engaging the human imagination in ways that allow anyone to travel to places they would otherwise find impossible to reach. A well-crafted film can transcend the limitations of geography.

Members of the ProZ.com family, more than most others, understand that language barriers are difficult obstacles to overcome when trying to appreciate and understand different perspectives. Until now, translation of films into multiple diverse languages has been difficult and expensive; the consequence being that only a handful of films are translated each year, and then only into languages with readily identifiable market audiences.

dotSUB's technology - browser based, free, no download required - provides translators with
- web-based access to ultimately thousands of target films, and the ability to view their translated versions on the web in close to real time;
- a 'no-prior-training-necessary' interface for the creation of an unlimited number of subtitled derivative works made from the original film.

Once 'language-pair' translations are entered, our technology inserts these new subtitles on-the-fly into the original film. The number of languages is unlimited; a given film could literally have 50, 100, or even more choices of subtitled languages. The process is dynamic; a film can have subtitles in 20 languages in the morning and 22 in the afternoon.

dotSUB is looking forward to working with members of ProZ.com to help define and create a new long-term income stream for translators who have an interest in contributing to increased global cross-cultural communication through making film available to all cultures in all languages.