Exploitation, Cover-Ups, and Possible Subsidy Fraud: The Rotten Core of Media Localization

Let’s take a moment to marvel at Blu Digital Group, a company that has somehow mastered the art of being terrible on all fronts. If there were an award for treating translators and subtitlers like dirt while simultaneously making sure everyone knows about it, Blu Digital Group would be the undefeated champion. This is not a business; it’s a disaster masquerading as one.

Payment is, of course, the cornerstone of any professional relationship. But Blu Digital Group seems to view it as optional, like flossing or returning your shopping cart to the corral. Freelancers have been left waiting for months to get paid for work they completed long ago. Repeated attempts to follow up are met with either deafening silence or responses so evasive they could be entered into the Olympics under the “Avoiding Responsibility” category. It’s financial ghosting at its finest.

For those lucky few who do manage to get a payment through, the rates offered by Blu Digital Group are laughably low, even by the often exploitative standards of the industry. And just when you think you’ve hit rock bottom, they add hidden fees—because why wouldn’t they? It’s like they sat down and thought, “How can we ensure that even when we do pay, our workers are as broke as possible?”

Shout-out to Adrian Probst (English/French to (Swiss) German Translator for the Sports Industry / Freelanceverse Content Creator) who covered the entire story on his YouTube channel Freelanceverse with 36,000 followers!

The Corrupt System Protecting Exploiters

How does a company like Blu Digital continue to operate despite massive, public scandals? Because the organizations claiming to “uphold industry standards” are nothing more than shields for corporate abuse.

The Entertainment Globalization Association (EGA), which claims to represent ethical best practices in localization, is led by executives from Blu Digital Group, TransPerfect, and Zoo Digital—three companies notorious for underpaying, delaying payments, and exploiting translators. Bobby Johar (Blu Digital) and Jacques Barreau (TransPerfect) have quietly been scrubbed from EGA’s leadership page, but their influence remains.

Meanwhile, the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG), which claims to ‘honor innovation in entertainment technology,’ handed Paulette Pantoja their prestigious Hedy Lamarr Award in 2022. What exactly were they celebrating? A company defaulting on payments? Blackmailing freelancers? Hoarding taxpayer subsidies? Paulette Pantoja didn’t ‘innovate’—she perfected the art of squeezing every last cent out of translators while burning every bridge behind her. That’s not leadership, that’s organized exploitation.

DEG’s biggest sponsors—Warner Bros. Discovery, Amazon, Paramount Global—are all complicit in rewarding fraud. They had every opportunity to vet Pantoja before handing her an award. They didn’t. They chose to honor a grifter instead. How many more backroom deals and bought accolades will it take before they start answering for their own negligence? DEG must publicly rescind Pantoja’s award or admit that they reward exploitation and fraud. If they refuse, let it be known: DEG doesn’t honor innovators. It honors fraudsters.

*Blu Digital Group: Where promises go to die and payments take a permanent vacation.*

And communication? Oh, let’s talk about that. Reaching out to Blu Digital Group for support is like screaming into the void, except the void might actually echo back. Their customer service agents, if they can even be called that, are masters of deflection, never resolving anything and leaving translators stuck in an endless loop of frustration. Transparency? Forget about it. They’d sooner admit to their own incompetence than provide an itemized invoice or explain what they’re doing with your money.

It doesn’t stop there. Blu Digital Group doesn’t just neglect its freelancers; it actively sabotages them. Unauthorized charges, bizarre “errors” with payments, bait-and-switch tactics—it’s like they’re running a scam workshop and forgot to tell anyone it was a satire. They hold onto funds like a miser clutching coins, creating a Kafkaesque nightmare for anyone unfortunate enough to work with them.

The Role of Streaming Giants

Now here’s the kicker: Blu Digital Group is working with major streaming giants like Amazon, Pluto TV, NBCUniversal, IFC Films, Roku, Redbox, HBO Max, and Disney. Yes, these household names have partnered with this circus of incompetence, which means every time you sit down to enjoy a show on one of these platforms, there’s a chance the subtitles you’re reading were delivered through Blu Digital Group’s questionable pipeline. These companies are complicit, knowingly or not, in perpetuating the exploitation of translators and subtitlers while serving up subpar subtitles to their viewers. The question is: why are these industry giants continuing to work with a company that treats its workers this way?

How can freelancers expect fair treatment when the so-called regulators are the very people enabling abuse? If the EGA were a legitimate force for ethical business practices, it would immediately remove these executives from leadership. Until then, it remains a glorified PR machine that shields its own members from scrutiny.

This is no longer just about Blu Digital Group—it is about an entire power structure designed to protect the worst companies while gaslighting translators into believing that they have no choice but to endure this exploitation. But freelancers are no longer staying silent, and the industry’s biggest players will soon have nowhere left to hide.

But actions speak louder than words. Without any public acknowledgment, Netflix has now quietly removed Blu Digital Group from its Preferred Fulfillment Partners list. The original link (https://npfp.netflixstudios.com/vendor/blu-digital-group/) now leads to a 404 error. Instead of addressing the issue transparently, Netflix opted for silent damage control—erasing evidence rather than holding its vendors accountable. If Blu Digital Group was an acceptable partner before, why the sudden removal? And more importantly, will Netflix finally acknowledge the reasons behind it?

Possible Subsidy Fraud

Blu Digital Group is also siphoning public money while refusing to pay its workers (source: Jessica Rietveld). Their Denmark-based subsidiary, Dicentia Studios A/S, has been quietly pocketing taxpayer-funded subsidies meant for media accessibility. Money that should ensure quality subtitles and audio descriptions for public broadcasting is instead vanishing into Blu Digital’s financial black hole. Freelancers, owed tens of thousands of euros, are left unpaid while Blu Digital hoards funds intended for inclusion and accessibility.

This reeks of subsidy fraud. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland – RVO) and Danish authorities have been alerted. This is no longer just a payment dispute; it’s a potential criminal offense. A full-scale investigation is no longer optional—it’s necessary.

And Netflix, Amazon, Disney, HBO Max? They’re still feeding money into this scandal. They can’t claim ignorance anymore. They have a choice: Sever ties and publicly distance themselves from Blu Digital’s shady dealings, or continue profiting from stolen taxpayer money and worker exploitation.

Blu Digital’s fraud isn’t an isolated case—it’s a symptom of an industry that rewards exploitation and silences those who expose it. The entire structure is rotten.

*Bobby Johar and Jacques Barreau were silently removed from EGA’s About Us page.*

Paulette Pantoja: Creating a Culture of Fear

And just when you thought Blu Digital couldn’t sink any lower, here’s proof that they’re not just incompetent but actively malicious. Screenshots from a recent exchange with their CEO, Paulette Pantoja, show her attempting to silence and blackmail freelancers into removing public complaints about unpaid invoices—offering payment only if the posts exposing their fraud were deleted. This is not just unethical; it’s outright corporate extortion. Instead of fixing their mess, they’re busy running damage control, hoping to sweep their wrongdoing under the rug while continuing to exploit translators and subtitlers. But the community is watching, and the more they try to shut people up, the louder the voices against them will become.

Former employees of Blu Digital Group are stepping forward, confirming what freelancers have been saying all along. One ex-employee reached out to say, “What they are doing is terrible.” Others have privately expressed similar concerns, relieved that this issue is finally getting the attention it deserves. Their voices reinforce the undeniable truth: this is not an isolated problem, nor a misunderstanding—this is a company built on a broken system that has been exploiting people for years.

Now, we have even more proof that Blu Digital’s financial situation is dire. Below is an email from their own accounting department, stating that payments to freelancers depend on expected capital financing, which is “currently on the latest stage.”

*Courtesy to Syahmi Sapperi, Translator / Subtitler English <> Malay.*

The fox is guarding the henhouse. Paulette Pantoja, the very CEO behind Blu Digital’s exploitative business practices, sits on the AVTpro Steering Committee—a body that claims to define best practices in audiovisual translation. While she publicly claims to uphold ethical standards, her own company is actively defaulting on payments, blackmailing freelancers into silence, and stalling payments until external financing comes through. This is not just hypocrisy—it is a direct attack on the integrity of the profession

Pantoja has also carefully cultivated an image of leadership and mentorship, positioning herself as a respected figure in entertainment and business circles. She sits on the board of Youth Mentoring Connection, is a founding member of CHIEF, a network for executive women, and presents herself as a thought leader in media. Yet, behind this polished facade, her company cannot even meet basic payroll obligations without relying on external financing. An internal email from Blu Digital’s own accounting department confirmed that payments to freelancers were being delayed until “expected capital financing” was secured—meaning Blu Digital does not have the liquidity to pay for services it has already received.

Meet Paulette Pantoja, CEO of Blu Digital Group and AVTpro Steering Committee member—because nothing says ‘industry standards’ like a leader who refuses to pay her workers and silences those who speak out. Is this really who should be shaping the future of media localization?

This isn’t just financial mismanagement—it’s a house of cards. In 2021, Blu Digital secured a multi-million-dollar Series A investment from Green Bay Ventures, led by C. Richard Kramlich (an early investor in Apple). Yet, years later, freelancers continue to report non-payment, and the company’s own internal communications point to an ongoing reliance on outside capital just to meet basic obligations. Where has all the money gone? How can a company that touts its growth and success still be unable to pay for completed work? These contradictions point to severe mismanagement at best—and deliberate financial deception at worst.

The Awakening

Blu Digital’s leadership may think they can contain this, but they’ve underestimated one thing: the community is awake. The translators they underpaid and silenced are now the ones exposing them. And as the industry takes notice, no amount of PR spin, selective payouts, or corporate connections will make this go away.

The industry is taking notice—on a massive scale.

First, SUBTLE – The Subtitlers’ Association, one of the most respected organizations in audiovisual translation, officially condemned Blu Digital Group’s non-payment of freelancers and attempts to silence them through blackmail.

They explicitly discouraged freelancers from working with Blu Digital Group and called on major streaming companies like Amazon, Netflix, HBO, and Disney to reconsider their partnerships.

In a public statement, SUBTLE directly referenced this blog as a key resource on this issue, alongside TRI-TRAB’s coverage. This recognition reinforces what so many freelancers have already confirmed: Blu Digital’s unethical practices are now impossible to ignore.

“Blu Digital Group’s requests that posts be deleted following payment is a pitiful attempt to control their image by censoring freelancers. We will not be silenced and will continue to fight until our rights are respected and our work is valued.” – SUBTLE

AudioVisual Translators Europe (AVTE), the largest federation of national audiovisual translation associations in Europe, has officially condemned Blu Digital Group as well. Representing 23 organizations across 20 countries, AVTE is now warning translators not to work with Blu Digital Group and demanding that Netflix, Amazon, HBO, and Disney investigate the unethical practices in their supply chain.

“Considering the current situation, we highly discourage freelancers from working with Blu Digital Group and stand with those whose payments have been delayed.” – AVTE

And now, FIT Europe, the regional center of the International Federation of Translators (FIT), has joined the call for Blu Digital Group to immediately pay its freelancers. FIT Europe represents translation organizations across the continent, adding even more weight to the growing industry-wide condemnation.

“What started as isolated complaints on LinkedIn has turned into a collective outcry. Blu Digital Group’s decision to delay payments has left translators in financial distress, questioning how a company working with industry giants like Amazon, Disney, and HBO Max can claim it lacks the funds to pay its workers.” – FIT Europe

NGTV (Nederlands Genootschap van Tolken en Vertalers) is the Dutch Society of Interpreters and Translators, a professional association representing translators and interpreters in the Netherlands. By publicly addressing Blu Digital Group’s payment issues, NGTV is joining the growing list of industry associations calling out exploitative practices in media localization.

Greek translators join the fight against Blu Digital Group! The Panhellenic Association of Translators (PEM) condemns non-payment practices and urges industry giants like Netflix, Amazon, HBO, and Disney to take responsibility. Netflix quietly removed Blu Digital from its vendor list—but where’s the public accountability?

Call to Action

The time for silence is over. Blu Digital Group, TransPerfect, Zoo Digital, and their enablers at the EGA and AVTpro must be held accountable.

EGA must remove Bobby Johar, Jacques Barreau, and Gordon Doran from leadership. An organization that claims to represent ethical standards cannot be run by the industry’s biggest exploiters.
AVTpro must remove Paulette Pantoja from its Steering Committee. A leader who blackmails freelancers should not have a seat at the table defining best practices in localization.
Streaming giants like Netflix, Disney, and HBO Max must publicly commit to investigating the abusive business practices within their supply chains. Quietly deleting Blu Digital Group from their vendors list is not enough—they must take an active stand.

The industry thinks it can ignore this. Let’s prove them wrong.

If you are a translator, subtitler, or industry professional, take action:
– Comment on every LinkedIn post from Netflix, HBO Max, and Disney+ demanding accountability.
– Demand answers from AVTpro and EGA on why they allow known exploiters to set industry standards.
– Spread the word. Share this blog, expose the lies, and make sure every freelancer knows exactly who they’re dealing with.

We will be relentless.

Blu Digital Group is run by the following people:

Paulette Pantoja, CEO (https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulette/) (note that she shortened her last name to P. and untagged herself after payment allegations surfaced)
Kasper Johannesen (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kasperjohannesen/)
Irwin J. Jacobson, CPA (https://www.linkedin.com/in/irwinjacobson/)
Tony Rizkallah (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-rizkallah-599aa686/) (untagged themselves after payment allegations surfaced)
Chris Saito (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrissaito1/) (removed their entire LinkedIn profile after payment allegations surfaced)
Michael Gassner (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikegassner/)
Silviu Epure (https://www.linkedin.com/in/silviuepure/) (untagged themselves after payment allegations surfaced)
Bobby Johar (https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobbyjohar/) (untagged themselves after payment allegations surfaced)
Marina Maravgaki (https://www.linkedin.com/in/marina-maravgaki/) (untagged themselves after payment allegations surfaced)
Chrissi Vassilaki, FCCA (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrissi-vassilaki-fcca-a94382b1/) (removed their entire LinkedIn profile after payment allegations surfaced)
Lena Cronvall (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lenacronvall/) (untagged themselves after payment allegations surfaced)
Scott Pawsey (https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-pawsey-40aaaa23/) (untagged themselves after payment allegations surfaced)
Gareth Noble (https://www.linkedin.com/in/gareth-noble-99435482/)
Sebastian Zancanaro (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastianleal/)
Robert Troy (https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-troy-1135a53/)
George Rausch (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rausch/) (untagged themselves after payment allegations surfaced)

Report subtitle errors:

Talpa: kijkersvragen@talpanetwork.com
Netflix: In the app or on your computer, you can click on the flag icon in the top-right corner of the screen. See also: https://help.netflix.com/en/node/104515
HBO Max: https://help.hbomax.com/nl/Feedback/index (or: klantenservice@hbomax.com).
Disney: https://help.disneyplus.com/nl-NL/

To stay up-to-date about other defaulting companies in the translation industry: https://tri-trab.com/

Thanks to: Ammerins Moss-de Boer, drs. MA FCIL CL AITI, Certified Translator English/Dutch/Frisian, Rainer Henkel, Owner bei German-English Language Services, Daniel Sikos, EN-HU Lead QC Linguist/Translator/Localization Specialist (Subtitling – Voice-over – Dubbing – Metadata – UI), Linda Myrvold, English to Norwegian localization specialist, AITI

On 5 March Jong Eun Lee wrote me: Thank you, Loek! I finally got paid today. Without your continuous attention and thorough archive, this case wouldn’t have been solved. Truly, truly I appreciate your consistent move!

On 15 February Beatriz wrote: “On Monday, they assured me that payments would start today (Friday). And they did. Partially. I received €3,137, which isn’t even half of what they owe me, but at least it’s a start.”

Daniel was finally paid on 12 February 2025. He wrote: “With finally getting paid fully by Blu Digital Group yesterday, I also got an apology from Irwin J. Jacobson, CPA (or rather a random crisis management intern…), who wrote me that he hoped „this will resolve everything”. Well, let me tell to all the (hiding) leaders of Blu Digital Group: settling the invoices of a linguist out of the many will not resolve anything. In my eyes, Blu Digital Group will be staying in the industry’s red-flagged zone.“

On 7 February, Lara wrote: Update on my payment situation with Dicentia/Blu Digital Group: after my last post, they finally paid my 4 overdue invoices in full today. Regardless, the warning still stands – be careful before engaging with them. I know a few other people who commented on my post/posted about being owed money by Blu have also been paid, but also know colleagues who are owed a huge amount of money and still haven’t heard anything about being paid, and it’s still absurd that we need to expose the situation online to be paid for our work.

*Another freelancer (Armande Borghoudt*) *speaks out in Dutch: Blu Digital Group’s unpaid labor scheme exposed.*

On the left, grand proclamations of ethics and integrity from Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix and Disney. Below, a real-world test: a formal report to Netflix’s ethics hotline about Blu Digital Group’s exploitation of freelancers and possible subsidy fraud. One day has passed—no response yet. Will Netflix live up to its own Code of Ethics, or will this be yet another case of corporate values being nothing more than empty words?

Instead of addressing the exploitation in its supply chain, Netflix refuses to comment on Blu Digital Group’s removal and tells unpaid freelancers to “work it out” with the very company that scammed them. Corporate cowardice at its finest.

And that left me only one choice. I did the same with HBO Max, Amazon Prime and Disney+ and encourage all of you to search for a nice movie on Google Search instead. I think it’s called The Pirate Bay of the Caribbean.

22 responses to “Exploitation, Cover-Ups, and Possible Subsidy Fraud: The Rotten Core of Media Localization”

Isabella Carta

February 7, 2025

Hello.
Unfortunately I’m among those translators who worked for Blu Digital Group (specifically for the Greek branch of Haymillian).
My first 3 invoices were paid with a delay of 3 months (around 800 euros in total).
Now my fourth invoice is unpaid too, with a 3 month-delay again, so they still owe me around 1200 euros.
I ended my collaboration with the company as soon as I started reading bad comments about the late payments, so I have just one unpaid invoice.
It seems to me that the situation is even worse for those who worked for Dicentia, but I hope we all manage to get the money we deserve.

1. admin
  
  February 7, 2025
  
  I’m really sorry to hear that, Isabella! The least I can do is approve this comment for the whole world to see. Hopefully their end clients will notice this blog and understand that it’s completely unethical to employ the services of fly-by-night outfits like these.
  
2. Alessandra
  
  February 9, 2025
  
  Hi Isabella, unfortunately I am in the same situation with Haymillian. I have 2 outstanding invoices and I still have to send them another one as I was foolish enough to accept other projects. I just found out about the magnitude of this problem and now I doubt I will ever get paid. I worked with Haymillian years ago, before the acquisition, and I never had problems with payments at that time. Of course I will not accept other projects from them, but I want to get paid for the ones I delivered. This whole situation is a real shame.
  
Daniel Sikos

February 7, 2025

Hi,

Feel free to include my post, as well.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/hunbauer_bludigitalgroup-bludigital-netflix-activity-7293598765628743680-vvda?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android&rcm=ACoAAAyST2AB3SfRIL35GQtp19H7SpCFpzNjlOk

Best,

Daniel Sikos

1. admin
  
  February 7, 2025
  
  I will do so right away! And I’m really sorry to hear about your issues with them.
  
Daniel Sikos

February 8, 2025

Hi,

You can find the screenshots of my exchange with the CEO from last night, proof of her/their cheap attempt to silence/blackmail us after all. Feel free to include them, as well, in your blog.

Best,

Daniel Sikos

1. admin
  
  February 8, 2025
  
  Hi Daniel,
  
  Where do I find these?
  
Daniel Sikos

February 8, 2025

The screenshots are under my original post, in comments.

1. admin
  
  February 8, 2025
  
  Thank you! I’ve added them including an extra paragraph on what they tried to do to you.
  
Ben Wallace

February 8, 2025

It’d be nice if the AVT Pro Certification people (https://avtpro.ooona.net/about/#steering) that are bankrolled by serial late-and-non-payers like Blu Digital and Zoo Digital said something about this. It’s also puzzling to have three-four prominent and very familiar faces from academia (it’s always them, isn’t it…) and people in various professional associations like AVTE and ESIST present in this same cash grab – given how they seem to proselytize their struggle for the betterment of professionals’ working conditions. It’s no wonder that there are zero seriously reliable agencies in that list.

1. admin
  
  February 8, 2025
  
  And that also gives us the full name of Paulette. Paulette Pantoja, the CEO. Thank you very much, Ben!
  
  1. Ben Wallace
    
    February 8, 2025
    
    out of fun, it’d be nice to contact the other “f(o)unding members” of the AVTPro Certification to see whether they still would like to be ranked alongside the likes of Blu Digital – since Zoo and IIRC Collot Baca have a history of late payments as well.
    
    1. admin
      
      February 8, 2025
      
      I’d love to, but am quite pressed for time at the moment, being swamped with work (from way more reliable clients). But feel free to content them and point them to this blog!
      
Jongeun Lee

February 9, 2025

Hi,

First of all, thank you for your detailed archive! I’m among those translators, too. Could you include my post, as well?

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jong-eun-lee-00b266279_subtitling-audiovisualtranslation-subtitlers-activity-7293573778603659264-moJy?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

I appreciate your help and support.

Regards,
Jongeun Lee

1. admin
  
  February 9, 2025
  
  I am so, so sorry to hear that, Jongeun. I have included your post. Godspeed to you!
  
Alessandra

February 12, 2025

I’m facing the same issue with Alpha CRC! They don’t pay and don’t respond to emails. I’ve noticed that many others are going through the same situation with Alpha… For a while, the Business Development Manager helped me out because I collaborated with him on a project, but I only managed to receive part of the payment. I want to take this opportunity to advise you all NOT to accept any work from them!

1. admin
  
  February 12, 2025
  
  I’m really sorry to hear that. Yes, Alpha CRC is another very notorious agency with constant payment issues. Stay clear of them!
  
Pierre

February 21, 2025

Hi,

been working for Zoodigital. They alse started delaying payments in the last year or so.
Absoultely terrible experience. I heard from other translators they were getting the same treatment.

They should also be called out.

1. admin
  
  February 21, 2025
  
  Yes, I’m aware of the issues at Zoo Digital. Unfortunately I can only take one at a time, but these guys are definitely on my list. Biggest problem is that information about them is still scarce, so currently Tri-Trab is your best best. And I’m sorry this happened to you, I really am.
  
Tony B

March 15, 2025

Blu has been bought by Transperfect

1. admin
  
  March 15, 2025
  
  Is that so? I haven’t heard that news yet.
  
Exploitation Never Dies—It Just Merges: Blu Digital’s Escape Into TransPerfect – Loekalization Blog

March 22, 2025

[…] seen it all in the festering swamp of media localization, another grotesque development unfolds. Blu Digital Group, the poster child of non-payment, deception, and exploitation, has found a way to wash its hands […]