The truth is that since all the scripts I read are translated I cannot afford to keep letting the bad ones slide by… in fact my brain will constantly try to correct my mouth which means that I will have to spend take after take to get the misstranslated script like it sounds normal… like it flows.

That is very difficult with arabic… a very intricate and complex language. In the example I gave above the translators refused to fix the problems… what I should have done is refuse to do the work because it would mean I spend 4 hours extra on the job instead of on other jobs. Since this guy is so happy with his translators then all the work that might come from him will be the same… so to save my sanity I think I did the best thing for myself and my work…. asked him not to send me anymore work.

there is a new yorker studio that books me on a regular basis for their German Jobs. They deal with well known companies and most of the times the scripts are just fine. Maybe a typo here and there, maybe some little grammar glitches, but nothing to worry about usually.

Sometimes, though, the client of the studio provides a horrible script. Bad translation, not written to be read, very hard to understand and so on …

Would I argue over that?

No, never.

Reason: The client will see me as a voice over talent not as a professional when it comes to translation (although I am a trained end experienced journalist). Whoever translates the script will always defend him/herself making me look stupid or at least like a pain the a… for everybody, especially for the guy who was in charge to order the translation.

This is not what I want at all. If a client delivers a script, I take it for granted that they are happy with it.

What I do, though: When I am finished with the job, I let my contact at the studio know what I think about the quality of the script and that should let their clients know that there is room for improvement next time.

But this is as far as I would go. I am not a popular voice, so I do not care if a bad script reflects badly on my voice. To be honest: I don’t think it does and that I will loose any jobs reading bad scripted stuff.

Just my two cents.

Cheers,

Armin

And I see how his coming back and asking for more work would put me in a stronger bargaining position. But it is not like I’m changing my rates just because he wants to work with me.

The only thing that would change is my requirement that the script be legible… if it isn’t then I don’t accept a job… period.

I wasn’t actually burning a bridge in so much that if he sent me a proper script that didn’t require me to waste my time in the recording process then I’d take the job. I would probably not accept jobs of the ilk in the future because of the burns I have experienced in the present. I am not longer willing to put myself (and my family) through that again.

Personally, I have no problem burning bridges in this line of work. Many of us live too much in fear of appearing unprofessional, earning a bad reputation and of course, conflict. We also get so locked into the mindset that the job must be done and it must be done to the best of our abilities. There’s nothing wrong with that so long as we keep things in perspective with at least a toehold on what it’s really all about — doing a job and getting paid for it with respect and fairness to all. And last but not least, we also think we really need the money.

Some clients are savvy to all of this. To them it smells a little like doubt, hesitation, even fear, perhaps. So they play down what the job requires and then milk it for all its worth. We, as if led by the nose, sell ourselves short and get paid a fraction of the work and input we deliver once the job is done.

So burning bridges can be good. As you say, with the wisdom of hindsight, there was another job for a great deal more money that you lost because of your commitment to this project. Cutting out the weeds and deadwood of time-wasting, overly demanding clients saves time for the better jobs that deserve and appreciate your attention.

These days, my radar is now finally tuned to anything that remotely appears suspect or looks like its heading for the rocks. I then re-adjust my rate accordingly with a detailed explanation as to why or I just eject myself from the project as quickly and politely as possible. In fact, I did it just yesterday. I was a little annoyed because the job looked like fun and I really wanted to do it but the demands far outweighed their budget and the project’s parameters that were agreed to, so I bailed with no regrets.

As for the bad reputation earned by doing such things, it’s an unnecessary worry. A bad rep is more likely to be acquired by other means — lack of punctuality if not a complete no-show, intoxication, rudeness and anything else from the gamut of anti-social behaviour. Putting your feet down, strangely, actually earns respect. Just remember to keep the emotions in check while earning it, and whatever venom you’re tempted to inject should be well diluted.