NCIS: LA and Paragon: The End of an Era

When CBS announced in January that their popular NCIS: Los Angeles series would end after this season, their 14th, we at Paragon were pretty bummed. They have been one of our favorite clients for more than a decade and we can’t believe it’s finally time to say goodbye.

NCIS: LA’s impressive run will wind down with a two-part series finale, having aired 322 episodes since its premiere on Sept. 22, 2009. Part I aired May 14th; Part II is airing this coming Sunday, the 20th.

Paragon has been a part of the NCIS: LA family since at least 2011, when we were enlisted to coach their actors so that they could speak almost any language like a native. Some of the languages that we have covered over the years are Arabic, Chinese, Dari, Farsi, German, Hindi, Italian, Portuguese, Romani, Spanish, Swedish, and Thai. Even the finale episodes got the Paragon touch!

Early on the writers and producers committed to making any non-English dialogue both culturally and linguistically accurate and trusted Paragon to guide them. Over the past decade we have perfected a process for script translation, learning tools for the actors and have sent numerous dialect coaches to their sets and locations all over southern California to make sure they get it right.

Our many linguists who worked as on-set dialect coaches have reiterated that working on episodes of NCIS: LA were some of the most fun assignments they’ve ever had. They were always excited to return and work with the talented actors, working to adapt the translations to the actual scene or script, and at least one also just loved, “watching scenes with explosions!”

Another coach said his favorite part was “working with the actors on set and seeing them perform their roles in different Arabic dialects. Being an actor myself, I understand how hard it is to get the part right, let alone, to deliver in a foreign language with difficult guttural sounds. And all actors did very well!” He added that he was impressed with meeting LL Cool J for the first time. “I was a bit worried that working with an actor of that caliber would be a bit difficult. However, I was extremely surprised and impressed by his humility, friendly attitude, and curiosity to learn about the Arabic language and culture.” 

We appreciate that the creative minds behind the series trusted us to get their message right in every language, for every episode. We look forward to working with members of the NCIS: LA team again on their next projects!

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