By India McCarty
A former Disney exec uses his big-studio experience for his latest gig — translating THE CHOSEN into hundreds of languages to reach people around the world.
“I had already decided to announce my retirement right at the same time ‘THE CHOSEN presented itself to me,” Rick Dempsey, former Senior Vice President of Creative for Walt Disney Studios, told Fox News. “In the most random way. I mean, I was literally on a beach in Hawaii and met a random stranger over shaved ice, and we talked about my career at Disney. And he said, ‘We should stay in touch.’ And he was the guy who was sitting in a meeting with Mart Green, [board chair of Come and See], right after it was established.”
The Come and See Foundation is a nonprofit whose mission is to reach 1 billion people around the world by making THE CHOSEN accessible to all. They found the perfect leader in Dempsey; he spent 35 years at Disney overseeing character consistency across Disney characters’ voices.
He also helped found Disney Character Voices International, which manages dubbing, translation and localization for Disney and Pixar films and characters globally.
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Dempsey now heads up the team who are working to translate THE CHOSEN into 600 languages.
“In countries like in the Middle East, where we have a hard time just getting in a Bible, we can get the series in,” he explained. “People are experiencing Jesus like they’ve never experienced him before in parts of the world that are basically banned from having a Bible.”
Dempsey continued, “We’re introducing Jesus to a lot of people, and he’s speaking in their heart language. And this has really never been done before…and we are hearing stories about people whose eyes are being opened, and their lives are being transformed in amazing ways as a result of this show.”
In an interview with Crosswalk, Dempsey said, “I trained for 35 years to do what I’m doing for THE CHOSEN,” praising the show for its “phenomenal” quality and attention to “character development.”
The former Disney exec said, “We are working with people who have a heart to get the story of Jesus out around the world in a really significant way.”
“We make sure our translators are Christian believers, but that’s not a requirement for voice actors. And specifically in Muslim communities, we’ve had actors walk out on us once they understand the material and the subject of the show,” Dempsey continued. “Dubbing has been a real challenge in parts of the world where they’re very anti-Christian. But God is in control.”
Dempsey’s decades at Disney more than prepared him for the work he’s doing today to bring the faith-filled message of THE CHOSEN to people around the world.
https://vimeo.com/1045790030/aabc62e1ec?share=copy
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