WHY NOT SRI LANKA? සිංහල

Starter Kit. Idea 445 of 500. Cluster 23

Sinhala and Tamil dubbing studios with real voice actors, and subtitles checked by a person before they go out, selling to the streaming platforms and the film-makers of the world

Back to the idea

Written for this site as a starting point, not from the book. Rules and fees change: ask the bodies named below before you spend money.

The mechanism, from the book

The single largest unused asset in the country is sitting at home. Much of what keeps it there (childcare, safe transport, working hours) can be sold as a service, and the industries that would employ it can be built.

The first step

Record a short sample: one scene dubbed into Sinhala by two trained voice actors, and the same scene subtitled in Tamil, with the subtitles read through by a person before they leave the room. Agree a rate per finished minute with the actors and the checker. Send the sample to local channels, film-makers and the agencies that supply the streaming platforms, and ask what they pay per minute. The proof is one paid order.

Who pays first
A film-maker or channel that wants a film to reach Sinhala and Tamil speakers in real voices, with subtitles it can trust, and pays per finished minute.
What leaves today
Trained voices and language skill sit unused; a studio sells them to the world's screens and is paid in foreign money.

Ask first

  • Department of the Registrar of Companies. Ask how to register the studio so foreign clients can sign a contract with it.
  • Inland Revenue Department. Ask how income from foreign clients for services should be declared.

Check before you spend

Confirm written permission from the film's owner for every job, a contract with each voice actor and checker, and who owns the finished recordings.

Find out these three numbers

  1. What do platforms pay per finished minute of dubbing?
  2. What does a quiet recording room cost to set up?
  3. How many minutes can one team finish and check in a day?

The test

Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?

WITH500BUSINESS IDEASTO STARTTOMORROW

From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.