welsh and english in parallel, not after the fact.
There are two ways to make a Welsh-language video. One produces a piece that feels native to both audiences. The other produces a piece that's clearly English with Welsh bolted on. This guide is about why that distinction matters — and when each approach is right.
If your audience includes a meaningful number of Welsh speakers — public sector, North/West Wales tourism, council comms, anything funded under Welsh Government, SPF or S4C — commission the Welsh and English versions in parallel from a Welsh-speaking producer. If your audience is incidentally Welsh-curious or you have a single English film with a small Welsh subtitle requirement, post-production translation is fine.
two approaches, side by side.
bilingual production
scripted in welsh and english together
- Scripts written in both languages from the brief stage. Welsh isn't a translation pass — it's a parallel draft. Idiomatic, location-aware, dialect-aware (north vs south).
- Welsh-speaking on-screen contributors. Interviewees can choose their language; vox pops feel natural; talking heads aren't reading off a phonetic crib sheet.
- Two equal-weight masters delivered together. Same shoot, same edit, same colour grade. The Welsh version is not a smaller-text afterthought.
- Welsh Language Standards aware. If your organisation falls under the Standards (most councils, public bodies, NHS Wales), this approach is what compliance actually looks like — not just a translation receipt.
best for: public sector, welsh-government-funded work, north/west wales tourism, brands targeting cymraeg-first communities.
post-production translation
english film + welsh subtitles or voiceover added later
- Faster turnaround when there's an existing English-only film. Subtitle file (.vtt or .srt) added to a YouTube/social cut in days, not weeks.
- Lower up-front cost — if you only need one master. One shoot day, one edit, then translation as a single deliverable on top.
- Risk: the Welsh version reads as derivative. Talking heads still speak English; on-screen text is added, not native; the piece feels like an English film with Welsh stickered on.
- Watch out for AI-only translation. Machine translation has a place — for first drafts on tight deadlines — but Welsh public-sector deliverables should always be reviewed by a first-language speaker before release. Unreviewed AI Welsh ages badly and risks compliance issues.
best for: single english films needing welsh accessibility / subtitles only, internal training, anywhere the welsh-speaking audience is incidental.
five questions that decide it for you.
- Is your work funded by Welsh Government, SPF, S4C, or any Welsh public body? If yes, plan bilingual from the start. The funder's terms almost always require it, and adding it in post is more expensive than budgeting for it day one.
- Do you operate under the Welsh Language Standards? Most councils, public bodies, NHS Wales boards and many universities do. The Standards aren't just about subtitles — they're about treating Welsh as a working language, which means producing in Welsh, not just translating into it.
- Where will the work be seen? A campaign in Gwynedd or Anglesey, where 50%+ of the population speaks Welsh, deserves a film made in Welsh, not a Welsh subtitle bolted on. A campaign in Cardiff or Newport probably doesn't — English-first with optional Welsh subs is fine.
- Are your contributors Welsh speakers? If interviewees, customers, or participants speak Welsh, let them speak Welsh on camera. Subtitling Welsh into English for a wider audience is straightforward; subtitling English-spoken interviews into Welsh always reads as second-best.
- Is there a real budget for the Welsh version, or is it a tick-box? An honest answer here saves everyone time. If the Welsh version exists only because procurement requires it, talk to a producer who'll be honest about what's possible inside that constraint — sometimes a single cleanly-subtitled English master genuinely is the right answer.
frequently asked.
Is bilingual production really twice the cost?
No. Most of the cost is the shoot day, the edit and the colour grade — all shared across both versions. The added cost is dual scripting at brief stage, a Welsh-language voice or talking head, and a parallel grade pass. Typically 15-30% on top of an English-only budget, not 100%.
Can AI translate Welsh well enough now?
For short, factual subtitle blocks: AI can produce a usable first draft, especially for English-to-Welsh on common vocabulary. For idiomatic copy, voiceover scripts, dialect-specific phrasing or Welsh public-sector deliverables: every output should be reviewed by a first-language speaker before release. Mona Digital uses AI as a productivity tool on tight deadlines — the same workflow most Welsh public bodies use internally — and every Welsh deliverable is human-reviewed before sign-off.
Do I need to write the script in Welsh first?
No. Most clients work in English internally and bring an English brief. From that brief, the producer drafts both languages in parallel — not English first then translated, but two drafts written by someone fluent in both, considering how each will land with its audience. You sign off both.
What about subtitle and burn-in caption deliverables?
Both languages get .vtt and .srt subtitle files plus burn-in caption tracks for social, included as standard. WCAG 2.1 AA captioning conventions for the public-sector deliverable variant. Welsh subtitles use the same dialect choices the spoken Welsh script does — so a north-Wales-spoken film doesn't accidentally caption itself in southern formal Welsh.
Can you work with a translator we already use?
Yes. Many councils and public bodies have a preferred Welsh translator (sometimes in-house). Mona Digital can work to their copy — the parallel-script approach above is the default, but plugging into your existing Welsh comms team is fine too.
Got a Welsh-language project on the way? Worth a 15-minute scoping call to figure out which approach genuinely fits.
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