10 Things to Know Before Creating a Global Multilingual Podcast

Reflections from Adonde Media’s production coordinator, Laura Hernández who details how we overcame challenges to create Spotify’s “The Last Days of Maradona” podcast in various languages.

“The Last Days of Maradona” was without a doubt the most ambitious and complex production that Adonde Media has achieved as a company.

Creating an original true crime that takes a deep dive into the final moments of Diego Maradona’s life already had its share of journalistic challenges. So, when Spotify decided to add multiple adaptations, in various languages, while also releasing them simultaneously, we immediately knew that it was going to require a titanic effort from a production standpoint. In order to achieve this, we assembled a team of about 85 people, including translators, fact-checkers, producers, editors, sound engineers, as well as an operations and marketing team, all under the guidance of our Executive Producer, Martina Castro.

Martina reflects on the internal logistical challenges, assuring that “At Adonde, we are used to creating documentary series from scratch, but not to creating it all the while coordinating teams simultaneously to work in four different languages, seven different time zones to tailor the content to four different hosts, all of whom were high-profile and only had limited availability. Furthermore, we did it all in half the time it would normally take us to for such a project. So we had to trust each other as much as possible and really work as a team.”

The A-Team

Mariano Pagella, our Senior Producer at Adonde Media, wore the team captain’s armband. Next to Alejandro Marinelli (a journalist from Argentina recognized for his work with important media outlets such as Clarín, La Razón, and the daily sports newspaper Olé) he was in charge of all the research and the production of the original Argentine version. From that point on, we brought together the adaptation teams that worked on the scripts simultaneously: Andres Caballero was in charge of the English version; Giovana Romano Sanchez oversaw Portuguese; Camille Lindbom did French; and Jimena Marcos adapted the original podcast into a more international Spanish version, aiming to reach different markets such as Spain, Colombia, or Mexico, to account for the fact that the Argentine original podcast may feel too local, as it featured strong accents and slang.

“I knew that a series about Maradona had the potential to reach international audiences and that its impact could go well beyond Argentina’s borders, just as his personality proved to be throughout his career. What amazed me was how our teams were able to create adaptations in so many languages while working in parallel to leave no stone unturned as we searched for the best way to convey his story to each of its audiences,” says Pagella.

It’s worth highlighting that when we decided to produce all these different versions, we were focused on ensuring that each adaptation was not only an impeccable translation that conveyed the same informality and conversational tone as the original series, but also a strong cultural and local component. Every team cared greatly for every little detail so that each language preserved its essence without losing the journalistic rigor with which the original case was analyzed.

For example, one of the biggest ‘sound’ challenges for the different languages was the audio treatment of the WhatsApp voice messages that appeared mainly in episodes 4, 5, and 6 of the series. In the adaptations, those audios were reenacted by voice actors, and to recreate the same sensation of listening to intimate voice notes among Maradona’s medical team, we decided to lower the quality of the audios. This is the first time we have done this on purpose, meaning that the engineers had to technically degrade the audios to make them sound almost identical to the originals.

The idea was to create a strong presence in each geography, and we were lucky to be able to get the best allies across these markets that also gave us the perfect voice and “accent”: Matías Martin in Argentina, Jorge Valdano in Spain, Juca Kfouri in Brazil and Thierry Henry hosting the English and French versions. Each host was tasked with capturing their own vision of Maradona and telling their stories and experiences with the Argentine football legend.

Despite having a super qualified team to push the project forward, the ugly truth is that with a blockbuster of this magnitude, a long list of learnings emerged. Hits that we celebrated and misses that had to be overcome because at the end of the day, we were all discovering and learning on the fly how to make the first multilingual global podcast. Even though there is no magic formula and we’re grateful for the lessons we learned from producing this podcast, there are many useful tips we can now share:

1. Double-check, triple-check: Review carefully the meaning of certain words and their context in other countries or languages. Some of them can have different meanings and could confuse the audience if they are used the wrong way. For this project, trying to accurately translate words like ‘boludo’ or ‘pibe’ into English, French, and Portuguese led to an intense internal debate.
2. One change means multiple changes: When making structural changes in any script of a multilingual podcast, make sure that you also reflect them in the rest of the adaptations so the content for all the languages is consistent. It can be helpful to have a dedicated producer in charge exclusively of ensuring that changes are made to all scripts and mixes.
3. Learn how to manage different time zones: Working in different countries can be challenging. Our team is 100% remote, which means some of our colleagues are based in the United States (East Coast, West, even Hawaii), Europe, and South America. Coordinating the different time zones was one of our greatest adventures. That is why we had not only one, but two production coordinators.
4. Protocols are everything: If you have more than two or three teams working simultaneously, it’s important to set the same protocols in place for everybody. Clarifying the responsibilities, defining who does what, and establishing clear deadlines for each task will make the workflow more efficient and friendly. We used Asana as our platform to get organized, sent multiple reminders through Slack, and frequently adjusted important details in weekly video calls.
5. Get to know your markets: Each country has its own laws and legal parameters for clearing archival licenses and applying fair use in journalistic productions. It’s key to have local advisers in each territory to clarify all the doubts and questions related to legal concerns.
6. Don’t underestimate the voiceovers and dubbing production: Going through the proper casting process to find the best voices for your characters in other languages may seem like a simple task, but it requires preparation and takes a lot longer than it might seem. Consider also reserving extra time to solve logistical problems, finalize scripts, schedule and book recording dates, and studios, and actually coach the actors so they accomplish what you need. For this particular project, Adonde Media had to hire a casting director and voice actor coach.
7. A pair of ‘fresh ears’ make the difference: When it comes to quality control of your episodes (especially in multiple languages) it’s essential to have a “fresh” pair of ears. It’s important to be familiar with the content but also to be rested so you can instantly notice if something is missing or does not sound right.
8. Organize your information: When it comes to creating an investigative series, it’s very important to have a detailed and organized database, starting from the very first moments of pre-production. Compiling all the information in an organized way, listing all sources, and adding them to the footnotes was crucial when writing the scripts for our original production and the adaptations. That way, while adapting everything in different languages, any doubt about the intention behind certain descriptions or conclusions could quickly be solved by returning to the primary sources. This also saved us a lot of time and work when reviewing the scripts to clear up legal concerns.
9. The art of communication: If you have a specific task that becomes difficult to complete or the deadline takes longer than you expected, it’s time to talk! It’s very important to learn how to communicate some challenges to your team so you can all find a solution on time: surely, there’s someone who can help solve the issues you’re facing. This is a win-win result for the person that is struggling and for the team. Being clear about who to turn to when you need to ask for help is also key.
10. All for one, and one for all: The biggest lesson of making ‘The Last Days of Maradona’ was precisely that: we were all part of a collective effort, we learned to be flexible and to help in different ways to make the podcast happen. Each of us contributed from our own corner. We gave it all, and the best thing was not only accomplishing it but, also knowing that we did it as a team!

Laura Hernández is a Senior Producer at Adonde Media and worked as ‘The Last Days of Maradona’ production coordinator next to Luis Gil. Before coming to Adonde, she spent more than 10 years coordinating international teams where she supervised multilingual projects (Spanish, English, and Portuguese), including the sports documentary series PHENOMS that she co-produced in 2018 for Fox Sports, Fox Digital Studios, and All Rise Films.