New York based 3Beep is the place to go for creative script adaptation and top notch voice acting

Most producers, especially the ones from Russia and China, admitted storytelling is their Achilles heel. So that got us thinking that there might be an opportunity for 3Beep to provide quality story telling at a fair price, say Charles Darby and Tim Werenko, founders of New Yorkbased 3Beep, who are looking forward for MIPCOM to pitch their ideas and projects

So what’s new at 3Beep?

In a word – writing. We have put together a team of award winning writers based in the United States and Canada. These folks are willing to work at the reduced rates most foreign producers require, but the quality is A+. The 3Beep team recently developed a Show Bible, 20 story ideas, and wrote two original scripts for an 11 minute series for a Russian producer. It looks like the show has been greenlit by Russia’s Channel One and will be pitched “internationally” at MIPJr.

What makes you think there is an opportunity or need for writing services?

We are impressed with the quality of animation being done around the world. Unfortunately, that quality often doesn’t extend to the storytelling. We’ve also had some intimate conversations with producers, especially ones from Russia and China. Most admitted storytelling is their Achilles heel. So that got us thinking that there might be an opportunity for 3Beep to provide quality story telling at a fair price.

How is original episodic and feature script writing related to your voice work?

As you know, we are not a localization business per-se. 3Beep is the place to go for creative script adaptation and top notch voice acting. Half of our work occurs at the pre-lay stage – something that most dubbing studios have no experience with. When we get a translated script for an existing project, it’s not just adapted for lip-flap. Our writers “punch up” scripts to make them livelier, cohesive and either more funny or dramatic. We’ve developed a few techniques, for example, adding lines to a character when their back is to the camera. As a result we can improve the pacing and entertainment value of the project. It requires a creative writer to pull this off. Most of 3Beep’s writing team also get work writing original scripts for US distributors like Nickelodeon and Disney. It seemed like a natural extension of our “punch up” work to add this new creative service.

You mentioned you are taking a feature length animated script to MIPCOM?

Yes, Tim Werenko and Jeff Hylton (3Beep’s head writer) wrote the script. It’s a wonderful animated kid’s film entitled The Intergalactic Tyrant that we’re pitching at MIPCOM along with the Russian TV series we’re writing and voicing.

What other industry events do you consider important?

3Beep will be at AFM in Los Angeles shortly after MIP, and in December at the Asian TV Forum in Singapore. In 2018, it’s Kidscreen, Annecy, The World Content Market in Russia and Cartoon Forum. We find them all important as the business of TV and film is forever changing and 3Beep needs to evolve with it. You can’t stay current sitting in the office.

You mentioned earlier that you are not the cheapest facility for English language dubbing. Is that a problem?

We do worry about pricing ourselves out of certain markets. As well, we’d like to grow with smaller less established producers as they move up the food chain. To do that we need to be working with them in the early stages of their career. We are developing less expensive alternatives for potential clients that have a lot of shows and just need a decent quality English dub. You know, not up to the quality of shows we voice for airing on Nickelodeon or Amazon here in the States, but still fi rst rate. We have a rising crop of underemployed actors and writers that are talented but don’t have the experience or track record of our current team. All of them are excited to work – even at reduced rates.

We’ve noticed some changes to your website…

Yes, we’ve added three language options: Russian, Chinese and Korean, more links to social media, created a “News” section, expanded our Team profi les to include writing and music composition. We also have put a lot of samples of our work on Vimeo and that can be reached via a link on our website.

What does the future hold for 3Beep?

We hope that by combining original script writing and voicing we can foster partnerships with foreign animation producers and distributors. 3Beep will develop story ideas, do the writing, record voices, write and record music plus sound mixing – essentially everything but the animation. We want to leverage these skills into to becoming producing partners not just service providers. If we stare at the crystal ball – we envision an ownership stake.