Long confined to productions intended for French-speaking Africa and overseas, the Kingdom’s studios are beginning to make their way to France.
“Twice a week, Vanessa Lefebvre, 57, lends her voice to a Spanish character in La Promesa.” This is how an article from daily Le Monde devoted to the emergence of the French-speaking dubbing industry in Morocco. Co-produced by StudioCanal, this telenovela, the first season of which should be broadcast in France in September 2024, was the television phenomenon of the year 2023 in Spain, and is now finding an echo in France thanks to the dubbing carried out in Morocco, underlines the article.
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The French daily reports that Eric Cuvelier, a 68-year-old retired coach who arrived in Casablanca at the end of the 1980s, converted to dubbing fifteen years ago with the emergence of the first dubbing studio in Morocco. His voice acting experience includes actors such as Gabriel Byrne and Michael Clarke Duncan, and he recently moved into voice acting for Canal+ Kids.
Novelas TV, a subsidiary of Canal+, recently broadcast the first season in French of Parfum du lie, highlighting the growing interest in South Korean series in Casablanca dubbing studios.
Competitive advantage
According to Le Monde, Morocco benefits from a major competitive advantage in terms of dubbing costs, with rates up to “three times cheaper than in France”, according to Maxime Montoya de Hiventy, general manager in North Africa of the Hiventy company. This allowed the Kingdom to position itself in third place in the world in terms of French dubbing, behind France and Belgium.
“Launched in Casablanca two years ago, Hiventy has grown from one to eight studios. As for the number of voice actors that the company uses, it reaches more than a hundred today, but with only a few dozen confirmed voices,” underlines Le Monde about this company whose development proves the dynamism of the sector in Morocco .
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However, this expansion is not without challenges. In the absence of dubbing schools and regulated rates, dubbers in Morocco do not benefit from the same advantageous conditions as in France. In addition, the quality of dubbing is sometimes criticized, due to the lack of infrastructure and adequate vocal coaching, tempers the same Source.
Despite these challenges, Morocco continues to gain ground in the French dubbing market, with double-digit sales growth reported by the studios surveyed. The market nevertheless remains narrow, dominated by a trio of companies, and French and Belgian competition remains fierce, pushing Moroccan studios to constantly improve their services to compete on the international stage.
