Narrative Video Caption Writer (English, Dialogue & Emotion, Scene Understanding)

About OpenTrain OpenTrain is the #1 platform for finding and building careers in AI training and data labeling. Creating an OpenTrain account is free — build a profile, discover projects across the industry, and apply in minutes. We connect contributors to meaningful work that helps shape how AI systems understand video, audio, and language. This role is part of that human-centered process: your writing directly informs model training and accessibility efforts. About AI Training Work AI training (data labeling / annotation) is the human side of building machine intelligence. Contributors create the ground-truth examples that modern models learn from — in this case, clear narrative captions that improve scene understanding, accessibility, and downstream video features. This type of work is often remote, flexible, and accessible to experienced writers, captioners, and accessibility professionals who care about factual, readable descriptions that stick closely to on-screen content. The Role We are hiring Narrative Video Caption Writers (Captioner) and Senior QC editors to produce scene-focused captions for short video clips. Work is contract, part-time with a recommended minimum of 20+ hours per week. Location and compensation are strict requirements: applicants must be USA-based native English speakers. Rates: Captioner $25.75/hr; Senior QC $33.00/hr. Work uses video as the data type and involves text generation and summarization tasks in the project's provided annotation/review tool (labeling software: OTHER).

• Employment type: Contractor, Part-time
• Time commitment: 20+ hours/week recommended
• Data type: Video; label tasks: Text generation and summarization

What You'll Do

For each short clip you will produce a single polished caption (50–250 words) optimized for scene understanding. Captions must be factual, concise, and guided by a detailed style rubric. An initial calibration phase (training and test clips) precedes live production so contributors and QC can align to the style guide and rubric.

• Establish setting and background audio (location, time of day, ambient sounds) without over-describing irrelevant details
• Describe key characters, their actions and interactions, and the clip’s overall emotional tone
• Include pertinent audible dialogue verbatim or paraphrased as specified by the style guide
• Identify clearly recognizable public figures and visible brands when on-screen; do not guess identity from off-screen context
• Do not name shows or movies, speculate beyond what is visible/heard, or use AI-assisted writing or machine translation

Requirements (Captioner) You must meet the required qualifications and be able to maintain strict factual discipline while following a detailed style guide.

• Native English speaker; USA-based (required)
• Hands-on experience in at least one: audio description (DVS), closed captioning/subtitling (SDH), narrative/creative writing, journalism/editorial writing, or script coverage/story analysis
• Ability to write clean, native English prose and follow detailed style guides
• Reliable internet connection suitable for streaming short video clips
• Comfort working in editorial review tools and following calibration/rubric-based scoring

Senior QC Track (Additional Requirements) Senior QC candidates must have demonstrable editorial QA experience and be able to provide precise, constructive feedback to writers while enforcing a style guide across edge cases.

• 2+ years in editorial QA, copyediting, or caption QA (required for Senior QC)
• Proven ability to enforce style guides/rubrics and resolve edge cases with documented rationale
• Skill giving clear, actionable written feedback to caption writers and making final decisions on ambiguous or borderline clips
• Senior QC rate: $33.00/hr

How It Works / How to Apply Create a free OpenTrain account, complete your profile, and apply to this project. Selected applicants will complete a calibration/testing phase to demonstrate alignment with the style guide before entering ongoing production. Work is billed hourly under contract. You will use the project's provided annotation/review tool (OTHER) and follow the supplied rubric for every assignment.

• Application steps: create an OpenTrain profile, submit experience details (captioning/writing), complete any supplied sample or calibration tasks
• Expect an initial calibration period followed by continuous assignments if you meet quality standards
• No AI-assisted writing or machine translation is allowed — all captions must be original and human-authored