VOICES AT RISK: AI and the Future of Dubbing

An interactive roundtable with industry leaders and AI experts Saturday, September 27, 2025, from 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM at Afromusée, 533 Ontario East, Montreal

The Need

Professional dubbing is at a historic turning point. AI is already transforming the way voices are created, adapted, and delivered. Yet, the essence of an original performance — that unique emotion that resonates — remains difficult to preserve in dubbing.

How can we preserve the soul of the original voice (whether Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, or any other iconic actor) while highlighting the irreplaceable human expertise of professional voice actors?

As part of its Black Market, the Montreal International Black Film Festival provides a space for discussion for those interested and concerned. After all, most voice actors are also performers, but the art of dubbing remains a discipline in its own right, which cannot be improvised. These two challenges persist:

• Preserve the original performance through AI.
• Rely on human expertise for interpretation, artistic direction, and cultural adaptation.

General Objectives

Contribute to improving the quality of dubbing for films, series, and all audiovisual productions in Quebec and Canada, considering that the emergence of voice authentication technologies paves the way for a new standard. The goal is to position the Festwave Institute as a committed player in the innovation and positive transformation of the industry.

Specific Objectives

Facilitate access for emerging Black voice actors to production companies likely to hire their professional services. Since the Festwave Institute already offers dubbing courses, this event is a unique opportunity to boost market interest in our training programs. Additionally, we will test the exploratory idea of a pilot project aimed at integrating AI into the Festwave Institute’s dubbing training.

Program

• Welcome remarks from the President, overview of the event, introduction of partners, moderators, and invited panelists (5 minutes)
• During the first roundtable, each panelist will share their position on integrating AI into the dubbing process – For or Against (5 minutes)
• Around ten questions are planned, and each panelist will be invited to respond (60 minutes)
• During the final roundtable, each panelist will share their position on integrating AI into the dubbing process – For or Against, or For/Against with nuances (5 minutes)
• Closing remarks by the moderator and guest moderator (5 minutes)
  
  

Speakers

Moderator:

Julie Barbeau, Actress / Radio Host

Guest moderator:

• Ed D. Vertus, Adm. A., Director, Innovation & Strategic Development, Fabienne Colas Foundation

Panelists:

• Manuel Tadros, Actor and professional voice actor.
• TBC (New Technology Professional – Artificial Intelligence)
• TBC (Entrepreneur in the Dubbing Industry)
  
  

Partners

• The Festwave Institute of the Fabienne Colas Foundation