Day 71 of Not Paying the American (1:38 film)
An animated INTERCOL film: a Manchester bar owner turns not paying his Milwaukee neon supplier into a viral video series, until she does the maths on UK statutory late payment interest.
Chapters
Transcript
Day one. Darlene Kowalski makes neon signs in Milwaukee. Deano Whitworth runs karaoke bars in Manchester. He loves the sixty signs she made him. The invoice: forty-eight thousand dollars, due in thirty days. Day thirty. Darlene: "Friendly reminder! Invoice #0417 was due today." Seen. Day thirty-six: "Just checking in!" Seen. Day forty-two: "Hi Dean! Any update?" Seen. Day forty-three. Darlene's feed shows her a new video from @deano.sings. Deano: "Day forty-three of not paying the American. She's asked me to pay 'at me earliest convenience.' Darlene, love... it's never convenient." Day fifty-one. Deano: "Can't pay in dollars anyway. They're green. Clashes with the neon." Day fifty-eight. Deano, whispering: "A. S. M. R. Not paying an invoice." Day sixty-four. Deano: "Day sixty-four! Invoice challenge! Come on, lads!" Day seventy-one. Deano: "This episode is brought to you by LoungeLord recliners, for when you really can't be bothered getting up." The series goes viral. The comments start asking who made the neon. Darlene stitches the video. Darlene: "Hi! I'm the American. Love the show, Dean. Quick maths. My contract says English law, so the Late Payment Act applies. Eight percent over the Bank of England base rate, plus a hundred pounds compensation. That's about fifteen dollars a day. Also... thanks for filming seventy-one confessions." Her stitch overtakes his views. The sponsor pulls out. His nan comments: "Dean. Pay her." Day seventy-two. Darlene adds INTERCOL to the chat. INTERCOL: "Good afternoon Mr Whitworth. We've watched all 71 episodes. Very good. Shall we discuss episode 72?" Deano goes live. Deano: "Day one... of paying the American. Right. Here we go." He pays the forty-eight thousand dollars, six hundred and forty-nine dollars of interest, and a hundred pounds compensation. Forty thousand viewers leave. Twelve stay. Darlene: "Oh! Thank you, Dean!" Darlene now has 2.3 million followers and sells a neon sign that says I'M THE AMERICAN. Payment upfront. Deano: "Darlene. Collab? Sixty more signs. Ninety days?" Seen. The internet forgets. Interest doesn't. INTERCOL. International debt recovery. No cure, no pay.