The Cinepros Story: From Closed Captioning to Cannes

The name Cinepros comes from “cinematic prose,” which is what I believe good subtitling and captioning is. Also because our team is made up of pros who genuinely care about your project and love working together.

When I set out to create Cinepros in 2012, the industry was in a transitional phase. The content creator era was still in its infancy, and video content was just about to explode online. The global connectivity we’re now so familiar with was just beginning. The peak of the streaming era was still a few years away.

But Cinepros’s real roots go a little further back. In 2006, my first salaried job was helping develop subtitling and captioning software for a leader in the industry, Computer Prompting & Captioning Co. (CPC). The company was eventually acquired, but by then, I had already learned the ropes of the subtitling, captioning, and translations business.

One of the earlier days working on Cinepros in 2018, with my 6-month old “helping” me.

In 2012, seeing the rise of video content across all industries and platforms, I officially started Cinepros, then called Netcaptioning, as we initially only offered English captioning. With video content already on the rise, it was only a matter of time before accessibility options and multilingual translations would be in high demand, which is where we step in. 

The world was becoming smaller and more connected than ever, so a marriage of streaming video and a closely-connected global workforce gave rise to Cinepros.

Since 2012, we’ve proudly evolved to offer multilingual subtitling, captioning, transcriptions, as well as specialized scripts and live accessibility solutions, alongside English captioning. 

We still maintain the same drive for linking cultures through accurate, nuanced translations and captioning — because anyone who speaks a language knows that translation isn’t an exact art, but a very specific skill to ensure that meaning doesn’t get lost in the process. 

In 2021, we also officially rebranded to Cinepros to reflect our range of services more accurately. Along with our global full-time staff, we now work with hundreds of translators native in everything from Arabic to Zulu, and have partnered with ESPN, National Geographic, and a number of Disney+ productions (some of our biggest milestones so far!). 

We also work with a number of video production and distribution companies, as well as schools like Georgetown University, Yale, and John Hopkins. Our work has appeared on every streaming platform, as well as major film festivals such as Cannes in France.

Why Have Translations and Captions Stayed Relevant Throughout the Years? 

Over the past two decades, there's been a concurrent rise of both digital video and accessibility awareness. At the same time, content has gone global. TV shows and films that would have only appeared in their country and language of origin now have a global audience, thanks to the rise of streaming.

What’s more, these audiences are demanding high-quality subtitles and translations — and so are those shows’ producers. That’s something we take seriously, which is why we work with skilled human translators fluent in English and in their native languages. We believe the best subtitles are culturally sensitive, nuanced, and get to the heart of the content’s meaning. They’re not just word-per-word translations.

That’s what I’ve committed to building with Cinepros. As a company, we provide businesses with the best tailored subtitling, captioning, and translations solutions that best fit their needs. Let us know what you need, and we’ll find the best solution!