French Voiceovers

Which French, and for which market

French is spoken as a first language across four commercially distinct markets, and they do not substitute for one another. Metropolitan French works in France, Belgium and Switzerland with minor friction. In Quebec it is heard immediately as European, and depending on the sector that ranges from slightly off to actively counterproductive.

The reverse is just as true: Quebec French in a French campaign reads as exotic rather than neutral. Decide the market first, cast second.

France, Quebec, Belgium and Switzerland

• Metropolitan French, the standard for France and the default for international content
• Quebec French, a separate casting pool with its own vocabulary, rhythm and regulatory context
• Belgian French, close to metropolitan with recognisable differences in numbers and everyday terms
• Swiss French, similarly close, and worth casting locally for Swiss institutional work
• African French, for campaigns aimed at Francophone West and Central Africa, where the audience is large and usually ignored

Quebec is a legal question as well as a casting one

Quebec regulates commercial language use. Content sold or advertised there generally has to exist in French, and the French version cannot be treated as an afterthought to the English one. This shapes production planning more than most teams expect: the French version needs the same budget, the same casting care and often the same timeline as the original, not a cheaper pass at the end.

We flag this at scoping rather than at delivery. If your content is going into Quebec, tell us early and we will say what that implies. We are not lawyers and will not advise you on compliance, but we will make sure the production does not assume French is a translation job.

French runs longer than English

Translated from English, French typically expands by 15 to 25 percent. That breaks fixed durations, slide synchronisation and subtitle limits, and the standard workaround of reading faster makes an advert sound anxious.

Where the length is fixed, the work is adaptation rather than translation: same meaning, same effect, fewer words. That decision has to happen before the session, not in it.

Vous or tu

French forces a formality choice English does not. French advertising has moved noticeably towards tu for consumer brands over the last decade, while corporate, financial and institutional content stays firmly with vous, and Quebec convention differs again. Getting it wrong reads as either stiff or presumptuous. We settle it at script stage and hold it consistent across every asset in the campaign.

Accent within France

France is less accent-diverse in broadcast than Britain, and standard Parisian French dominates national work. Southern and regional accents exist and are cast deliberately, usually for warmth or for local authenticity, but they are a departure rather than an option among equals. Say so explicitly in the brief if you want one.

Where French voice over is used

• Commercial voice over for broadcast, online and connected TV
• Corporate voice over and elearning voice over
• Explainer voice over for product and onboarding video
• Animation voice over and video game voice over
• Documentary voice over and audiobook voice over
• IVR voice over and telephone voice over
• Dubbing and subtitling for film and series

What you get

• A recommendation on which French your audience needs, with the reasoning
• Custom demos from native voices in that market, read to your script
• Timing checked against the translated copy before booking
• A native reviewer checking the delivered audio
• A fixed quote covering recording, direction, editing and usage

Send the script and tell us which markets it is for. Demos and a fixed quote usually within 24 hours.