Dictionary Films, the integrated production arm of Cutters Studios, is very proud to announce that visionary creative-industry production leader Brian Smego has joined the company as managing director. The announcement was made by Cutters Studios president/managing director Craig Duncan.
Most recently the executive producer for Oscar-winning creative studio Framestore in Chicago, Smego previously held the position of Executive Producer for Mill+ for over five years. Prior to that, his 20-plus years spearheading groundbreaking production spanning all categories of media includes nine years as Director of Integrated Production at Y&R. So far in his career, his projects have earned virtually every major creative industry award.
“Brian has a vast knowledge of the world of advertising production and a plethora of contacts and relationships in Chicago and across the entire industry,” Duncan began. “He will be working closely with Head of Production Joe Kirkendall, senior producer Cody McGuire, Production Manager Lilly Hanson, and our amazing directors to take Dictionary Films to the next level. I truly believe the sky’s the limit!”
“Dictionary was one of the first production arms to emerge from a post house, and I know first-hand there are amazing talents here,” Smego began. “Looking at the marketplace, I’ve seen how very rare it is to find a studio that can offer its clients such a high level of talent and service across all the varying disciplines of production, editorial, VFX and design, as well as audio. Having this kind of creative firepower at your disposal is an incredible asset.”
Smego continued, “I’m looking forward to working with Dictionary’s many gifted talents, and bolstering them. There will be an emphasis on adding more underrepresented and diverse talents in the near future. Dictionary will be a growing collective of artists readily available to serve projects of all sizes. Our unique strengths will help us serve our agency and brand partners to create the highest quality work possible.”
The 2010 PSP game Kurohyou: Ryu Ga Gotoku Shinshou, a spinoff of the Yakuza series, is now available to play with English subtitles thanks to a newly released fan project.
The fan group TeamK4L has released the Kurohyou English translation on its official website after delaying it out of 2022. You'll need a copy of the game to install the file on, but once that's done you'll be able to play the game and actually understand just what the heck is going on! Hooray for fans.
If you've been waiting for a long time to play Kurohyou in English, that's your cue to leave this page and go live your best life, but if you're here and you aren't as familiar with the lost Yakuza game, stick around for some context.
Kurohyou: Ryu Ga Gotoku Shinshou is a spinoff that eschews the traditional one-against-many brawling of the mainline Yakuza/Like a Dragon series for one-on-one fights similar to Def Jam Fight for NY. There's still a big, melodramatic narrative involving scheming crime families and inept law enforcement around the fictional district of Kamurocho, and the game is packed with classic Yakuza mini-games like hostess clubs, karaoke, and casino games, but the fighting is very different. Exploration is similar to Yakuza 1 and 2 where the camera is fixed in one position, transitioning into different areas of the map as you move through them.
It may not be considered one of the best Yakuza games ever, but Kurohyou was popular enough in Japan to spawn not only a 2012 sequel, which has already been translated by TeamK4L, but also a television series that aired in Tokyo in 2010.
Here's ourLike a Dragon: Ishin reviewfrom earlier in the year just in case you need another reason to revisit that absolute gem of a remake.
Dictionary Films, the integrated production arm of Cutters Studios, is very proud to announce that visionary creative-industry production leader Brian Smego has joined the company as Managing Director. The announcement was made by Cutters Studios President/Managing Director Craig Duncan.
Most recently the Executive Producer for Oscar-winning creative studio Framestore in Chicago, Smego previously held the position of Executive Producer for Mill+ for over five years. Prior to that, his 20-plus years spearheading groundbreaking production spanning all categories of media includes nine years as Director of Integrated Production at Y&R. So far in his career, his projects have earned virtually every major creative industry award.
“Brian has a vast knowledge of the world of advertising production and a plethora of contacts and relationships in Chicago and across the entire industry,” Duncan began. “He will be working closely with Head of Production Joe Kirkendall, Senior Producer Cody McGuire, Production Manager Lilly Hanson, and our amazing directors to take Dictionary Films to the next level. I truly believe the sky’s the limit!”
“Dictionary was one of the first production arms to emerge from a post house, and I know first-hand there are amazing talents here,” Smego began. “Looking at the marketplace, I’ve seen how very rare it is to find a studio that can offer its clients such a high level of talent and service across all the varying disciplines of production, editorial, VFX and design, as well as audio. Having this kind of creative firepower at your disposal is an incredible asset.”
Smego continued, “I’m looking forward to working with Dictionary’s many gifted talents, and bolstering them. There will be an emphasis on adding more underrepresented and diverse talents in the near future. Dictionary will be a growing collective of artists readily available to serve projects of all sizes. Our unique strengths will help us serve our agency and brand partners to create the highest quality work possible.”
Learn more about the directors and capabilities of Dictionary Films by visiting https://ift.tt/Acvm0Ma.
About Dictionary Films
The integrated production arm of Cutters Studios, Dictionary Films represents prestigious and multifaceted directors across the country and internationally. Together with its partner companies Another Country, Cutters, and Flavor, Dictionary represents unlimited full-service creative capabilities. Since launching in 2008, the company’s clients have included both established and emerging brands, as well as agencies of all types and sizes. Its ever-expanding portfolio includes innovative projects for Allstate, Amazon, Coca-Cola, Ford, Kellogg's, Kraft, and McDonald's, among many others. To learn more, please visit https://ift.tt/Acvm0Ma.
In the heart of many immigrant families, a unique role often falls upon the shoulders of the children: translator and interpreter from English to Spanish.
Harye Altamar,14, helps her mother communicate with her younger sister’s doctor.
Virginia Vasquez,16, often checks the mail and reads letters for her parents.
Their contributions not only alleviate the burden of surmounting language obstacles for parents who speak little or no English but also help them develop language skills and enhance their self-esteem, according to experts.
Luis Jr., 10, and Virginia Vasquez, 16, laugh at the dining room table on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023 in Tampa. [ CHLOE TROFATTER | Times ]
A new documentary, ‘Translators’, follows the stories and challenges of these immigrant children, who play language brokers for their families.
The subject of the documentary, which is directed by Rudy Valez, may be a timeless American experience, but it is as relevant as ever. According to Pew Research Center, the share of Latinos in U.S. who speak English proficiently is growing. In 2021, 72% of Latinos ages 5 and older spoke English proficiently, up from 59% in 2000.
“Children who translate for their parents may be pressed to learn about complex ideas and concepts in collaboration with their parents, giving them opportunities to feel positively about the role they play,” said Robert S. Weisskirch, a professor of Human Development at California State University Monterey Bay.
Four years ago Harye didn’t know English when she came from Colombia with her parents, Katerine Eguis, 39, and Felix Altamar, 44. She learned at her school, Orange Grove, in Tampa, through an advanced program designed to assist students with language learning. Now she handles translation and communicates with her younger sister’s doctors, Genesis, 2, who required ear surgery last year and is now going to start therapy.
“I always like to help my parents, and I feel happy to be able to do it,” said Harye, from Carrollwood. “I learned English quickly and I started speaking during my first six months. It’s been tough, but now I feel better.”
Valdez, the documentary’s director, hopes viewers will better understand the challenges and situations immigrant families face, especially their children, through this film.
“I was able to see, very early on, the access that language could provide to people, and that was something that always stuck with me from a very young age,” said Valdez.
Virgina Vasquez, 16, (left) eats lunch with her parents, Luis Sr. and Wendy Ronnau de Vasquez, on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023 in Tampa. [ CHLOE TROFATTER | Times ]
Felipe Pinzon, president and CEO of Hispanic Unity of Florida, a nonprofit that helps with the transition for newcomers, said that becoming the vital link connecting their parents and the world around them helps immigrant children learn empathy and understanding.
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“Often handed the responsibility without asking at a young age, it enhances the awareness of the challenges their families and community face, nurturing a deep sense of responsibility that lasts a lifetime,” Pinzon said.
One of them is Virginia, a 16-year-old twelfth grader at Sickles High School in Tampa. She helped translate instructions to aid her parents in obtaining a driver’s license, and she often reads emails and makes calls when Spanish is not available. The family came from Venezuela six years ago. Her mother, Wendy Ronnau, said it was a significant change for everyone, but especially for Virginia, who felt very shy initially about speaking in English at her school.
But now Virginia said her sense of pride and commitment is stronger since she’s fluent in English. She has a responsibility to assist her parents with matters that can be either big or small.
“I can’t imagine not helping them,” she said.
Translators will be screened on August 24th from 5 pm to 8 pm at the Tampa River Center, in Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park, located at 1001 N Blvd.
Bad news: It’s time to throw out your dictionary. The poor thing is outdated … again.
Elon Musk broke it. Add it to the list along with the SpaceX Starship, self-immolating Teslas, and all of Twitter.
Dictionary editors went out on a tree limb for Twitter, which launched in 2006. Typically, they like to wait until a word has been in circulation for at least a decade before adding it — doing so prevents flash-in-the-pan neologisms from receiving more credit than they’re due.
When Merriam-Webster added the verb tweet in 2011, and Oxford English Dictionary followed suit in 2013, they believed the word wasn’t going anywhere.
Now in 2023, Twitter is no more. In one of the more head-scratching rebrandings in history, Twitter has become X, and tweet no longer sings as a verb.
Of course, the bird sense of tweet has been around a lot longer. It was first used as a verb in the mid-19th century and as a noun 300 years before that. Now the word is once again just for the birds.
Dictionaries have adapted with increasing rapidity to technological changes. Google cofounder Larry Page had the first documented use of google as a verb in 1998, and both Merriam-Webster and Oxford English Dictionary added it in 2006 — eight years later.
That same year, Oxford English Dictionary added the verb photoshop, which had been in use as a verb since 1992, after an initial 1990 release of the photo-editing software. Merriam-Webster added it two years later, in 2008.
Word nerds have reacted with varying levels of consternation to this quicker rate of language change; I remember attending a copy-editing seminar in the late 2000s, at which attendees were aghast that YouTube might be used as a verb.
For tweet to be added to the dictionary only four years after its launch was a major feather in its cap. It’s every brand’s dream to have your product become part of the lexicon: Think about how often you lowercase band-aid, crock-pot, kleenex, or dumpster, all of which were born as product names. Even heroin, when it was first introduced to the dictionary in 1898, was capitalized as a trademarked drug manufactured by Bayer.
Since tweet entered the dictionary, Merriam-Webster has broken its own record for fastest entry: In 2020, COVID-19 went from coinage to official entry in just 35 days — a stark reminder of how quickly everything changed when we all had to suddenly slow down.
We can’t necessarily fault dictionaries like Merriam-Webster and Oxford English Dictionary for making moves as early as they did. Most modern dictionaries are descriptive, which means they describe how language is used, and technology has enabled faster and more widespread language change than ever before.
But the dead bird shows just how treacherous such a move can be. Rather than tweeting, will we start “Xing”? Will tweet live on as a zombie verb, continuing to describe our online actions even after its feathered head was cut off?
Or maybe, if we’re lucky, X will follow the precedent of its owner’s unmanned spaceship and it will just blow up — at which point the only noise we’ll hear will be the dulcet singing of the birds.
The Grammarian, otherwise known as Jeffrey Barg, looks at how language, grammar, and punctuation shape our world, and appears biweekly. Send comments, questions, and determiners tojeff@theangrygrammarian.com.
Japan is known for its state-of-the-art technology, and its latest creation is a significant step toward breaking language barriers. A new device named Voice Biz UCDisplay offers live face-to-face translation between Japanese and 11 other languages.
Developed by printing company Toppan Inc, the translation tool can be best described as a window-like screen. When two users converse, real-time translations appear as text bubbles on either side of the screen. Its transparent quality allows for eye contact as well as for facial expressions to be conveyed—something that is usually lost by talking via translation apps.
With international travelers in mind, the company Seibu Railway will install one of these translation screens at Tokyo's Seibu-Shinjuku Station for a three-month test run. This will allow tourists to effectively communicate with station staff when buying tickets or asking for information. Once the experimental phase is over, Seibu Railways expects to adopt it by the fall and would consider expanding it to other stations depending on the results of the test runs.
Among the languages featured in this device are English, Spanish, French, Korean, and Chinese. For an even smoother translation, the Voice Biz UCDisplay relies on a Japanese-created translation engine that switches directly from Japanese to other languages, instead of translating to English first before going into other languages.
“Toppan initially provided a translation app called VoiceBiz,” said Tomoaki Nosaka, the manager of the social innovation center at Toppan told the Japan Times. “But we realized that by implementing our translation engine on a transparent display, we can make it into a universal design that could help communication with both foreigners and people with hearing or speaking disabilities.” As such, it is also a valuable accessibility tool for those with hearing impairments, thanks to its Japanese-to-Japanese option, as well as a keyboard feature for users to enter their queries.
With this handy creation, not only will it be easier for tourists to get around and for travel staff to assist them, but it could also be a major breakthrough in international communication. So if you find yourself in the busy Seibu-Shinjuku Station this season and want to see the Voice Biz UCDisplay in action, the screen is located next to the express ticket office.
A new device named Voice Biz UCDisplay offers live face-to-face translation between Japanese and 11 other languages.
Photo: Seibu Railway
With international travelers in mind, the company Seibu Railway will install one of these translation screens at Tokyo's Seibu-Shinjuku Station for a three-month test run.
Altagram, the translation company which was found to have not credited staff who worked for years on Baldur's Gate 3, has issued a lengthy public apology and a list of commitments to change.
In a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter, Altagram said that it had "come to our attention that the omission of translator credits from our contribution to Baldur's Gate 3 has generated frustration and disappointment among the freelance translator community".
Disappointment in the lack of creditation was initially directed at Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian. But in an exclusive statement given to Eurogamer yesterday, Larian said Altagram had failed to provide a full list of names, and that it was now working to ensure these were all added to the game in a forthcoming patch.
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A beginner's guide to multiclassing in Baldur's Gate 3 - with every class explained.Watch on YouTube
"We take full responsibility for the omission of our freelancers' names and apologise for the effects that it had," Altagram wrote in its statement today.
"We are learning from this experience and are reviewing the failures of our internal processes regarding credits. We would like to thank Larian for allowing us to quickly fix that error and update the credits section. The names of the Brazilian Portuguese translators will be included in an upcoming patch to the game."
Altagram's apology comes as social media posts highlighted another case where the translation company apparently failed to credit its full team of staff. Back in June, Altagram issued a short statement to say it was "truly sorry", after it was noticed that it had not included its German freelance translation team in the credits for Diablo 4.
"Once more, we acknowledge that this has been an unfortunate and frustrating experience, and that all too often in this industry, freelance contributors do not receive the recognition they deserve," Altagram's statement today continues.
"As a leader in the game localisation space, we aspire to be a positive example and to lead change across the industry for credits in games, as seen by our commitments we have outlined."
Altagram goes on to list seven commitments it will adhere to in order to ensure proper accreditation of its workers in future, including the establishment of an internal crediting commitmee, improved transparency between clients and staff, and a commitment to the IGDA guidelines which were set out earlier this year.
Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian used seven local translation companies to help adapt the game's mammoth million-word script into 11 languages - work which took several years.
The fact Altagram had not credited its full translation staff was brought to light this week by a much-shared LinkedIn post from game localisation specialist Diego Perez, who praised the other translation companies for listing their staff in full.
Examples where staff have been left out of the credits in other video games have frequently hit the headlines, and recently included translators who worked on the Persona 3 and 4 remasters, as well as staff missing from the credits of Callisto Protocol.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/ENL7U2LMS5DUJHUMDUO2F322ZI.JPG "Luis Jr., 10, and Virginia Vasquez, 16, laugh at the dining room table on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023 in Tampa.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/GG6YZTCJWJGQVOFZWIYXYKGTTA.JPG "Virgina Vasquez, 16, (left) eats lunch with her parents, Luis Sr. and Wendy Ronnau de Vasquez, on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023 in Tampa.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/UD4IDQTGHFFUZM43GMJ7RO2ZFE.JPG "Keep up with Tampa Bay’s top headlines")
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