SOW.docx

STATEMENT OF WORK LOCALIZATION SERVICES

1. INTRODUCTION:

1.1- The U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) is an independent federal agency and the parent organization of Voice of America (VOA). VOA provides trusted and objective news and information in 48 languages to a weekly audience of more than 326 million people around the world. For 80 years, VOA journalists have told American stories and supplied content that many people cannot get locally: objective news and information about the U.S., their region, and the world. VOA connects with audiences on five continents showcasing the thoughts and institutions that make America unique.

1.2- As part of VOA’s mission to deliver to its global audiences impactful and unbiased information in the most accessible form possible, VOA and its language services also produce and broadcast a large number of long-form (10-120 minutes) multimedia products every year. These include short and feature-length documentary films, explainer-like videos, and investigative stories on a wide-range of topics. In particular, the agency’s long-form content is produced by VOA 52 Documentary, a weekly documentary series that presents global issues through the perspective of the human experience. The series offers new ways to connect and empower VOA international audiences through the dynamic telling of human-interest stories. VOA’s long-form documentary content is available on all VOA broadcasting platforms, with a primary focus on digital delivery through a number of OTT platforms such as our streaming app VOA+ and social media channels such as YouTube and Facebook.

1.3- “Localization”, refers to a translation process that takes into account not only language, but also local, cultural, and regional practices, standards, and symbols. Whereas translation directly converts content from one language to another, localization adapts the content when necessary to ensure it remains relevant to readers of the translated language. So, for example, units of measurement in an American English script would be adjusted from “inches” to “centimetres” when localized for a British audience, and “muffins” might be localized to “croissants” for a French audience. A subtitle localization service will translate narration and/or dialogue with such cultural references in mind.

1.4- Translations of subtitles for VOA’s documentary and long-form content is crucial to the agency’s language service distribution structure and digital-first strategy. In order for a documentary film produced by one service at VOA or by 52 Documentary to be of greatest use for the entire agency, subtitles must be created and translated in a ready-to-air format into the agency’s additional broadcast languages. Services with limited manpower to translate subtitles themselves must have access to SRT/VTT formatted translations of content they wish to broadcast to their audiences.

1.5- An USAGM Contracting Officer Representative (COR) and a USAGM Project Manager (PM) will be assigned after the BPA awarded.

2. OBJECTIVE:

2.1- The US Agency for Global Media/Voice of America is seeking a single or multiple Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) for the translation of documentary film subtitles using an SRT and/or VTT file format.

2.2-Orders under the BPA will involve the creation of a video transcription and its translation for use as subtitles in the designated language(s) among the agency’s key languages.

2.3-The contractor shall provide SRT/VTT formatted subtitle translations of documentary-style multimedia content from the video source language into the designated language(s).

2.4- Period of Performance: The period of performance will be from the date of award to 2028, for five years.

2.5-Agreement Type: The government will use Firm-fixed-price (FFP). Thus, each BPA call will be a Firm-fixed-price (FFP).

3. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS:

3.1- Contractor shall deliver translated subtitles for VOA long-form documentary films in SRT and/or VTT file format. Subtitles will be translated from the provided video source (spoken) language into the target language(s) as specified in each order. SRT/VTT files must precisely match the timecode of the video. An order may consist of one or multiple films and each film may require subtitle translations in multiple languages. The film’s source language may be any of the languages listed in the required Appendix A (with Appendix B as optional). Target subtitle translations may also be any language from required Appendix A (with languages in Appendix B as optional).

3.2- VOA will provide the contractor with the source multimedia files which will vary from 10 minutes to 120 minutes in length. Video files will be provided to the contractor in both clean and master .mov format (with .mp3 version available as well) via a video review and collaboration platform (e.g. Frame.io, Dropbox, etc.).

3.3-Translation assignments will be calculated on a per minute basis only.

3.4- Contractors shall create an English-language transcription for each video and will deliver one set of English transcriptions in Microsoft Word format to VOA (in addition to the order’s translated subtitles). The transcriptions should be time-stamped. In cases where the film’s source language is English, an English transcription and English subtitles will still be required.

3.5- Many of VOA documentaries are observational-style productions which require detailed attention to:

A. Cultural and linguistic nuances such as idiomatic and colloquial phrasing, B. Meaning conveyed through tone C. Multiple characters engaging in rapid or simultaneous conversational situations D. Linguistic meanings requiring historical and cultural knowledge.

3.6- The subtitle translations of Documentary/Entertainment style programming require technical processes that can capture culturally specific norms and linguistic nuances. Among these technical processes are non-artificial human expertise and quality controls in translation. Linguistic expertise up to date in local geographic and cultural contexts is essential to avoid translation errors.

Translation quality is the degree to which a translation meets predefined standards or requirements. Quality translation should convey the tone and message of the original text as faithfully as possible and should also take into account the regional and cultural factors of the target audience.

4. DELIVERABLES:

4.1- Submission of Initial Version of Translated subtitles in SRT and/or VTT format for all assigned tasks from multimedia video content and return files in the desired language(s) via the designated collaboration platform.

4.2- All deliverables should be SRT FILES, which must precisely match the timecode of the video.

4.3- One Set of Video Transcriptions (Scripts) in Microsoft Word format in the English language.

4.4- Submission of Final Version of Translated subtitles in SRT and/or VTT format. The review process will include an internal review by VOA of the initial translation by the contractor that may involve revisions and a submission of final translations. The government will not pay for revisions. The government will only pay for the final version accepted.

Note that the Contractor is not expected to encode these subtitles into the videos as this fall beyond the scope of their responsibilities. VOA services will handle the embedding of the translated SRT/VTT formatted subtitles into the ordered videos upon receipt.

4.5-Timing: The English-language transcription and translated subtitles in SRT/VTT format will be delivered by the Contractor to VOA according to a flexible delivery schedule within the specified timeframe (depending on assignment size and complexity) from the date the Contractor receives a given video file from VOA, if all deliverables are furnished by the end of the performance period.

4.6-The Contractor shall submit copies of all deliverables to the COR.

Deliverable Timetable

Del# or Task#

Description of Deliverable

Expected Due Date

First Draft of English Transcription and Translated Subtitles in SRT/VTT Format 10 business days after delivery of each assignment to Contractor, depending on work order size.

Finalized version of English Transcription and Translated Subtitles in SRT/VTT Format Within 7 business days after receipt of reviewed first draft from VOA, depending on work order size

Service Request Confirmation

Within 24 hours of request with confirmation sent via e-mail to requestor.

5. DELIVERABLE ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA:

5.1-All work shall be completed in accordance with standard procedures and guidelines provided for each call order as required by that specific task. In addition, the Offeror shall provide work products and deliverables within the acceptance criteria identified below and referred to throughout this SOW. Quality measures as set forth below shall be applied to each deliverable:

5.1.1- Adherence to Requirements: Work products and deliverables shall comply with the

Government’s requirements as defined in this Statement of Work (SOW) 5.1.2-Accuracy: The SRT/VTT files shall be free of errors and developed in accordance with the guidance or wishes specified by the language service staff.

5.1.3-Completeness: Deliverables of each project shall have all parts or elements turned in by the cutoff date as specified in this document.

5.1.4-Timeliness: SRT/VTT files will be submitted to the corresponding Government service in accordance with the timeframe specified above and with the specific case-by-case allocations to be agreed upon beforehand by the Government and Contractor.

5.1.5-Format: Deliverables will be in the correct format, I.e., SRT and/or VTT subtitle files that are functional in terms of whether our team can encode them into video files.

5.1.6-Human Translated: Deliverables will be translated by human translators, with minimal assistance from machine-assisted software systems that yield errors and miss nuances in the language.

5.1.7-Reviewed for Quality Control: Deliverables will go through a quality control check process at the Contractor’s facility before reaching VOA for pre-approval.

5.2- All deliverables shall be sent to the COR and/or designated Government official using the digital transfer method specified (i.e. Frame.io or Dropbox, etc). All deliverables submitted during a billing cycle should be listed on the invoice. All project correspondence should be conducted via email.

6. DELIVERY OF PHYSICAL DOCUMENTS/OTHER:

6.1- All reports, plans, other documents, and deliverables as stated herein that must be sent electronically to the address indicated in individual call orders.

7. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED INFORMATION (GFI):

7.1-VOA will provide Contractor with the video files in the original production language via a file review and collaboration site (i.e., Frame.io or Dropbox).

8. APPENDIX A – REQUIRED LANGUAGES:

8.1-The following is a list of the key languages that the Contractor will be asked to translate to and from. All Offerors must therefore have a demonstrated ability to service all languages in Appendix A.

Note: Upon approval from the contracting officer some languages may be added on short notice, based on government's needs.

9. APPENDIX B – POTENTIAL LANGUAGES:

9.1- The following is a comprehensive list of the potential languages that the Contractor may be asked to translate to and from.

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