Keep your costs in check by managing your entire slate, not just one project. We design payroll solutions that support your bottom line across every shoot, whether it’s a commercial, campaign, or music video.
Skip the hassle of explaining production quirks. With decades of payroll experience and a team of industry veterans, we already know how your world works. From onboarding to payments to reporting, we make payroll and crew management the smoothest parts of your process.
What you get with our commercial payroll services
- Stay on top of budgets with commercial accounting software built for job costing and profit analysis
- Take payroll off your plate with full employer-of-record services for every crew member, union and non-union
- Protect your production with workers' comp and unemployment liability coverage included
- Get clear answers fast with guidance from industry experts who know your world inside and out
Onboarding and Timekeeping
Cut setup time and minimize errors with our fully integrated digital platform. Crew onboarding, timecards, and approvals all flow in one place, backed up by our AICP- and union-enabled Hours-to-Gross calculator. It’s customizable to your production and easy to navigate. With real-time oversight, automatic syncing to the CAPS Pay payroll system, and centralized crew info, you’ll spend less time chasing paperwork and more time running your shoot smoothly.
CAPS+ Commercial Accounting
Keep every production on track with CAPS+, commercial accounting software built for short-term, project-based work. Support job costing and corporate accounting in one cloud-based platform. Manage AP, AR, budgets, P.O.s, and actuals at the job level with subaccounts, and use the included job profit worksheets to see where each project succeeded.
Showbiz Budgeting 10
Take the stress out of budgeting with Showbiz Budgeting 10, built for commercials, web projects, TV, and features. Easily budget, track, and report expenses while collaborating online in real time with Showbiz Cloud. Use AICP templates and commercial templates for the UK and Australia to simplify multi-city and multi-country budgets, so you can focus on getting your projects done on time and on budget.
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Your Team
Jodi Steagall
VP and Head of Commercial Sales
Jesse Perez
VP of Commercial Sales
Steve Bizenov
VP of Commercial Sales
Talent payroll
Make paying talent simple and worry-free. Our payroll team handles session fees and ongoing residuals or usage for union and non-union actors, extras, voiceover artists, singers, and other performers across all advertising content. As an administrative Employer of Record, we manage every detail for W-2 employees, including wage calculations, tax withholding and remittance, union benefit contributions, unemployment claims, workers’ compensation coverage, and year-end W-2s. We also handle payments to loan-out corporations, covering talent incorporated as a C-Corp or S-Corp.
Talent business affairs
Ensure your project runs smoothly when working with union performers on any marketing content, whether a broadcast commercial, online video, live appearance, or combination of services. Our Business Affairs team brings deep expertise in union contracts, labor laws, rights, and accurate usage tracking, helping you manage both union and non-union talent with confidence and keeping your project on track from start to finish.
Our services help you manage talent with confidence:
- Ensure talent contracts and releases are accurate and complete
- Prepare talent agreements quickly and correctly
- Review scripts and storyboards to properly evaluate cast categories
- Estimate session fees and residuals or usage for all talent
- Support casting spec development to streamline the process
- Handle cast clearance management efficiently
- Prepare and submit Taft-Hartley reports on your behalf
- Prepare and submit PSA waivers as needed
- Provide clear guidance on SAG-AFTRA, AFM-CFM, ACTRA, and UDA agreements and guidelines
Signatory
Our wholly owned third-party signatory entities allow you to work with union actors, voiceover artists, singers, and other performers, even if your company is not union affiliated. Because these entities are signatory to many of the following unions’ agreements, you gain seamless access to top talent:
- SAG-AFTRA
- ACTRA
- UDA
- AFM
- CFM
Celebrity and influencer engagement
Work with celebrities and influencers confidently. We guide you from concept to contract, manage payment schedules, and ensure all union benefit contributions are correctly handled, so your campaign stays on track and compliant.
Additional Support & Technology Solutions
Global talent and rights management process creation
Keep your talent and licensed element data organized and consistent. We work with advertisers to create a clear system for recording data, standardizing naming conventions, and aligning with your corporate brand structure. Then we help implement that system across your entire creative supply chain, so everyone stays on the same page and your projects run smoothly.
Traffic
Get your advertising content where it needs to go, on time and without confusion. Our traffic team organizes and manages the logistics for broadcast, cable, radio, and print, providing clear instructions and bridging the gap between creative and media agencies. We handle the growing complexity of multiple players in the distribution process, so your campaigns reach the right outlets efficiently.
Network clearance
Ensure that your ads get cleared and seen by the right audiences. We navigate each network’s standards and practices, analyze scripts and storyboards before submission, and flag elements that could block approval. We also suggest alternatives that stay true to your creative vision, helping your project pass review faster and reach niche consumer groups across multiple platforms.
Music publishing administration
Maximize revenue from original music in your commercials. Our experts handle the specialized, ever-evolving process of collecting performance royalties, staying up to date on digital monitoring, fingerprinting and watermarking, payment eligibility, and new streaming technologies so you capture every dollar your music earns.
Vendor payments
Help your in-house production team move faster and stay on budget. Our system provides:
- Expedited payment of production vendors
- Transparent reporting of expenditures per project
- Cost-effective fee structure
Manage talent and licensed content with ease using our Talent and Rights Management platform:
- Track talent usage and expiration dates
- Monitor licensed elements for each project
- Record essential metadata on usage conditions
- Upload reference versions of assets
- Store key document copies securely
- Generate custom reports quickly
Clearance platform
Simplify commercial clearance with a platform designed by industry experts for efficiency. Our intuitive system helps you stay on top of approvals:
- Submit scripts, boards, and videos to as many stations as needed for clearance
- Track each station’s response and provide additional files when required
- Receive updated clearance statuses in a single, unified report
Cast & Crew Live Entertainment is the leading provider of employer-of-record payroll services for Entertainment Touring, Live Theater, Sports Leagues and Teams, Venues, Festivals, Pop-Up and Experiential Events, and the wide range of production services companies that support the entire ecosystem.
Simplify payroll for your live events and touring productions with Cast & Crew Live Entertainment, the leading provider of employer-of-record services for touring, live theater, sports leagues, venues, festivals, pop-up and experiential events, and the production services that support them.
We make managing your crew and venue workforce easier, handling everything from onboarding and timekeeping to direct deposit pay. Whether you’re running a festival, managing a venue, overseeing a sports league, or producing a tour, our tools and expert support ensure payroll is seamless and stress-free.
What you get with our employer-of-record services:
- Simplified payroll for all crew, union and non-union
- Protection with workers’ compensation, unemployment coverage, and claims administration
- Seamless onboarding and timekeeping for crews across events and productions of all types
- Compliance across North America with full employee and employer tax filing and remittance
- Full access to integrated tools and technology that streamline crew management and reporting
Music payroll
Manage music payroll with confidence. For over 25 years, our team has handled payroll for singers, musicians, composers, and music preparation personnel at major and independent record labels, film and TV studios, and independent recording studios.
We cover union and non-union session work for original recordings, as well as union residuals and non-union use payments for compositions and licensed work across:
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The recording industry
- Motion pictures
- Television
- Advertising
- Animation
- Internet, mobile, and other digital media
Our experts guide you through staffing requirements, working conditions, and payment details so you can make informed decisions that support your creative vision. We also provide interpretation of AFM and SAG-AFTRA agreements, helping you navigate the rules for singers, musicians, and composers with ease.
