Frequently Asked Questions

Employer of Record (EOR) means the payroll provider is the legal employer for workers it pays on behalf of client companies. Unified Production Platform supports EOR operations: worker onboarding, payroll, tax withholding and filings, and client billing.

A production is the top-level organization for a shoot or show. It has its own team, settings, and enabled modules, and can contain multiple projects underneath it.

Use the production selector to see every production you have access to and pick the one you want to work in. The rest of the app updates to show only that production’s data.

Create a project under your production, add its basic details, and then start adding team members, talent, and the workflow you need.

Unified Production Platform includes a built-in AI assistant. It can answer questions about your production, help you find things, and guide you through workflows, using your production data and your existing permissions.

Ask it plain-language questions about your production — for example, about pending timesheets or budget status. It understands production context and only shows you data you already have permission to see.

Upload a screenplay and Unified Production Platform extracts characters, scene breakdowns, and location requirements to help build your production breakdown.

Yes. The talent matcher suggests talent for a role based on requirements like skills, availability, and budget, ranked by fit.

Use the report builder to pick data fields, apply filters, and set grouping, then export the result to PDF, Excel, or CSV. Report templates can be saved for reuse.

Yes. Most modules let you export to Excel, CSV, or PDF directly from a data table, or you can build a custom report with just the fields you need.

Yes, with KPI tracking, trend analysis, and customizable dashboard widgets.

Yes. You can import a Movie Magic budget file into Unified Production Platform, and export a Unified Production Platform budget back to Movie Magic format, with category and account-code mapping.

Automated workflows are pre-configured processes that run automatically when triggered — for example, moving a signed contract into onboarding, or a submitted timesheet into approval — cutting down on manual steps.

Yes. Choose a trigger (manual, scheduled, or event-based), add the steps, and set any conditional logic or approval points, then test it before turning it on for production use.

Yes. A workflow can start from an event such as a contract being signed, a timesheet being submitted, or a budget threshold being reached.

Access is controlled two ways: whether a module is enabled for your production, and whether your role has permission for that specific action (view, create, edit, delete, approve, export). Both have to allow it for a feature to be visible to you.

Yes. An admin can create a role with a custom set of permissions and assign it to users, instead of using only the built-in roles.

You can enable an authenticator-app code (TOTP) or a passkey / hardware security key (WebAuthn) in your account security settings for an extra step at login.

A passkey lets you sign in using your device’s biometric check or a hardware security key instead of typing a password, once you’ve registered one in your account settings.

Yes. Unified Production Platform keeps a log of user actions and data changes that admins can view and filter by user, action, and date.

This is usually a dual-permission gap: either the module isn’t enabled for your production, or your role doesn’t have permission for it. Ask your production administrator to check both.

Click Forgot Password on the login page and enter your email address to receive a reset link. The form enforces the current password rules when you set a new one.

Use Help & Support to describe what you were doing, what you expected to happen, and what happened instead, and include any error message plus your role and production context.

Sensitive data such as Social Security numbers and bank account details is encrypted at rest, connections use HTTPS, and access is controlled by role-based permissions.

Check your internet connection and that the file is a supported format, clear your browser cache, and try again. Make sure you have upload permission for that section. If it still fails, contact [email protected] with the error message.

From your production’s user management, invite someone by email and assign their role and permissions. They receive an email invitation to join.

HTG (Hours to Gross) is the step that turns your logged timesheet hours — regular, overtime, double-time, meal penalties, travel time — into a gross pay amount, applying your union agreement’s rate rules automatically.

G2N (Gross to Net) is the calculation from your gross pay down to net (take-home) pay, after federal/state/local taxes, FICA, benefits, other deductions, and any garnishments. Unified Production Platform uses the Vertex tax engine for the multi-jurisdiction withholding part of this.

A W-2 is issued if you were engaged as an employee, with taxes withheld on your behalf. A 1099-NEC is issued if you were engaged as an independent contractor, with no taxes withheld. Which one applies to you is set on your engagement when you’re onboarded. See the year-end tax documents guide for how to download your form.

The EOR payroll module calculates federal, state, and local withholding for each jurisdiction using the Vertex tax engine, and applies reciprocity agreements between your work state and home state where they exist.

The EOR payroll module processes garnishments such as child support orders and tax levies according to federal disposable-earnings limits and the required priority order among garnishment types.

Yes. The EOR module supports benefit plans such as health, dental, vision, HSA/FSA, and 401(k) — enrolling employees, tracking enrollment windows, and managing pre-tax and post-tax deductions.

Unified Production Platform aggregates your payroll data for the year and generates your W-2 or 1099 based on how you were engaged. See the year-end documents guide for where to download your forms once they’re issued.

Overtime and penalties follow your union agreement and are calculated automatically — the details appear on your timesheet and paystub.

Meal periods and any related penalties follow your union agreement. Log your meal break times on your timesheet and Unified Production Platform calculates penalties automatically from the values you enter — the timesheet shows the result.

Turnaround is the minimum rest period required between the end of one shift and the start of the next. It’s set by your union agreement; Unified Production Platform tracks your wrap and next call time and flags violations automatically.

Yes. After a payroll run is processed, checks can be printed with the pay period, gross/net amounts, and itemized deductions for anyone paid by check.

Yes. The ERP integration exports journal entries, payroll summaries, and chart-of-accounts data to an external accounting system, with account mapping and a configurable sync schedule.

Yes. Admin bulk import can create multiple talent profiles from a spreadsheet, then generate an onboarding batch and send invitations. See the onboarding guide for what each new hire completes individually.

Typically an I-9, a W-4 or W-9 depending on how you’re engaged, and direct deposit details, plus any union-specific documents. See the I-9 and direct deposit guides for the details of each.

A document packet bundles the forms needed for a specific purpose — like a new hire or a production start — so they can be completed and signed together instead of one at a time.

The Minor Compliance features support guardian accounts linked to a minor’s profile, work-permit tracking by state, Coogan trust account management for California minors, and routing approvals through the guardian.

E-Verify is the federal system for confirming employment eligibility. Unified Production Platform’s I-9 features can submit a completed I-9 to E-Verify for electronic verification where it applies to your situation.

Create or import a talent profile in Talent Management, then assign them to a role, set their rate, and manage their availability for the production.

Casting is the audition process used to evaluate talent for a role. Booking is confirming and hiring talent you’ve already selected. Unified Production Platform supports going straight to booking for repeat talent, or running a full casting process for new auditions.

When you add talent or crew, you assign their union and classification — for example, a specific IATSE local and role, or a SAG-AFTRA category. Unified Production Platform uses that classification to apply the correct rate rules, overtime, and compliance requirements automatically on timesheets and contracts.

Yes. Admin bulk import accepts a spreadsheet of talent records and creates the corresponding profiles, contracts, and onboarding data in one batch.

Talent can make their profile visible for casting consideration and control who sees it — public, private, or agency-only — and receive casting opportunities based on that visibility.

Create a contract from a template in the Contracts section, fill in the deal terms, and Unified Production Platform produces the document ready to send for signature.

Yes. When a contract is created or approved, Unified Production Platform can send it out for electronic signature and record the signed document once every party has signed.

Yes. Unified Production Platform supports multiple signers on a single contract, tracks signing order, and shows who has signed so far — the contract is complete once every signer has signed.

A deal memo is a short agreement capturing key terms before a full contract is drafted. Unified Production Platform lets you create a deal memo for a quick deal and convert it into a full contract later.

Yes. The Digital Replicas feature tracks consent for AI-generated likeness and digital scans, including usage rights, compensation, and consent-expiration tracking.

Chain of title is the documented ownership history and rights transfers for a piece of intellectual property. Unified Production Platform lets you record ownership, transfers, and rights verification for materials used in a production.

Add the shooting date, call times, scene and location information, and any special instructions, then generate the call sheet as a PDF to share with crew and talent.

Yes. Once a call sheet is created, Unified Production Platform can send it by email to the crew and talent on it and track who has viewed it.

Locations store an address (validated through the shared address lookup), photos, permit and insurance information, and contact details, and connect to call sheets and schedules.

Yes. Availability calendars show who’s free, who’s on hold, and who’s booked elsewhere, and the system flags conflicts so you don’t double-book.

Start from scratch, a template, or an imported Movie Magic budget, then add line items by category and assign them to cost centers. A budget approval step keeps spending under oversight.

Yes. As expenses and payroll are processed, actuals update automatically against the budget, and variance reports show where you’re over or under by line item, category, or cost center.

Crew and staff submit expenses with receipts, which are checked against budget and routed for approval based on amount and category, with multiple approval levels supported when needed.

A purchase order reserves budget for a planned purchase before it’s made, so commitments and vendor spending are tracked ahead of the invoice arriving.

Yes. Set per diem rates by role or location, log petty cash disbursements, and reconcile them against the budget.

Upload an asset and it’s routed to reviewers, who add comments and annotations and either request revisions or approve it, with version history kept alongside the asset.

Yes. Invited client users can view assets through the client portal, leave comments, and approve or request revisions; their feedback and approval history are tracked.

Each asset can carry usage-rights details — territory, media type, usage window, and licensing terms — with expiration alerts so you know before rights run out.

Yes. Music licensing, sync and master rights, and clearance tracking are supported, including cue sheets for performing-rights reporting.

A session estimate calculates the projected total cost of a commercial talent session — session fee, residuals, holding fees, and use fees — based on the usage categories, territories, and distribution plan you set.

Residuals are ongoing payments to talent for continued use of their performance in a commercial. Unified Production Platform supports several distribution methods (proportional, equal, tiered, or fixed) and manages cycle timing and amounts according to your agreement.

In Business Affairs, create or import session estimates for your talent, then configure the cycle length and distribution method for your agreement. The system advances cycles and calculates holding fees and use fees automatically from there.

Holding fees are payments made to talent during an exclusivity period when they can’t work for a competitor. Unified Production Platform calculates and schedules holding fee payments according to your agreement’s cycle.

Use fees are payments triggered each time a commercial airs or is used, based on the usage category and territory in the agreement. Unified Production Platform tracks use fees as part of the payment cycle.

You can track which territories have rights to use a piece of content, with rights windows, exclusivity periods, and expiration alerts before rights run out.

On the login page, click Forgot password? and enter your email address — you’ll get an email with a link to a Reset Your Password screen where you set a new password that must meet the strength rules shown as you type. If you mistyped your password, the login screen tells you how many attempts remain before the account locks; after too many failed attempts you’ll see a message that your account is locked and needs support to unlock it, and a suspended, deactivated, or inactive account shows a similar message. If you see a prompt to verify your email first, check your inbox for the verification link or resend it from that same screen. An account created through Google sign-in or your organization’s SSO can’t log in with a password at all — use the matching sign-in button instead of typing an email and password. If none of these match what you’re seeing, contact [email protected] or visit /help/contact.

Open your profile and, on the Personal Info tab, click Edit Profile. Update your phone or alternate phone number, and start typing your Permanent / Residential Address (or Mailing Address, if you use a different one) and choose the match from the address suggestions to fill in the street, city, state, and postal code automatically. You can also update your emergency contact’s name, relationship, phone, and email from the same tab. When everything looks right, click Save Changes — Cancel discards your edits instead. If something you need to change isn’t editable here, contact [email protected].

Open your profile’s Payroll & Tax tab (or, during onboarding, the Tax Profile step) and set Payment Method to Direct Deposit (ACH) to reveal the Direct Deposit Accounts panel, then click Add Account. Use Instant Verification to connect your bank securely via Plaid for immediate verification, or enter your account and routing numbers manually and attach a voided check to speed up review — a manually entered account starts as Pending Verification until a payroll administrator confirms it. Bank details can’t be edited in place: to fix a typo, remove the account with the trash icon and add it again. Once you have at least one Verified account, use the allocation editor below your accounts to split your pay — add each account as a numbered row, choose Fixed Amount ($), Percentage (%), or Get the Rest for each, check the Preview, and click Save Allocations; only one row can be set to Get the Rest, and a change takes effect on your next payroll run. See also the [Setting up direct deposit] guide.

Open the statement in My Paystubs and click the eye icon for Paystub Details, which breaks your pay into three columns: Earnings (your pay lines, such as Regular Pay and Overtime Pay, totaled as Gross Pay), Taxes (each tax withheld, totaled as Total Taxes), and Deductions (other withholdings such as benefit contributions or garnishments, totaled as Total Deductions). The highlighted Net Wages bar shows what’s left after Total Taxes and Total Deductions are subtracted from Gross Pay — that’s the amount actually paid to you. If a line doesn’t look right, click the question-mark (Explain Pay) icon on that row for a plain-language explanation, and check the YEAR-TO-DATE panel in the details view to compare your YTD Gross, YTD Taxes, and YTD Net. If it still looks wrong after reviewing the breakdown, contact [email protected] or visit /help/contact. See also the [Reading your paystub] guide.

Open My Paystubs — once a payroll has been processed for a period, a statement appears there with its Pay Period, Pay Date, and a Method icon showing Direct Deposit or Check. Click the eye icon for Paystub Details and check the status chip next to the employer name: COMPLETED, PAID, and FILED all mean your pay for that period has been processed and issued, whichever color the chip shows. A direct deposit is sent electronically on the Pay Date, but exactly when it posts depends on your bank and on banking days, since transfers don’t move on weekends or holidays; a Check is a physical check instead, and its arrival depends on how it’s delivered to you. If a statement is showing but the money hasn’t arrived after allowing for banking days, or your pay period isn’t on the list at all, contact [email protected] or visit /help/contact with the Pay Date, Pay Period, and Method shown. See also the [When you get paid] guide.

In My Timesheets, filter by Status: Rejected to find it, open it, and check the Timeline tab for the reviewer’s notes explaining what needs fixing. Click Edit to reopen the form and correct the flagged days — hours, meal breaks, work type, or notes — then click Submit Timesheet to send it back for approval; it returns to the Submitted status. You can only edit a timesheet while it’s in Draft or Rejected status — once it’s Submitted, Approved, or Paid it’s locked, so if you need a change after submitting, ask your approver to reject it back to you first. If you’re not sure what the feedback means, contact [email protected] or visit /help/contact. See also the [Submitting your timesheet] guide.

During onboarding, you sign your federal and state withholding forms as part of the Tax Forms step in your onboarding packet. Afterward, you can update the elections on file — Federal Filing Status, Federal Allowances, additional federal withholding, the 2020+ Form W-4 fields (Step 3 dependents, Step 4 other income and deductions), and the matching State Filing Status and Additional State Withholding — from your profile’s Payroll & Tax tab: click Edit Profile, update the fields under Federal Tax Information and State Tax Information, then click Save Changes. This only changes the numbers on file; it doesn’t tell you what to claim — for guidance on your own withholding, follow the instructions on the form itself or talk to a qualified tax professional. If you need to sign a brand-new W-4 or state form rather than adjust what’s already on file, contact your payroll administrator or [email protected].

Open My Paystubs and switch to the Year-End Documents tab, then use the Year box to pick the tax year you need — it opens on the prior year by default. Download whichever card applies to how you were engaged that year: Standard or Enhanced W-2 if you were an employee, 1099-NEC if you were an independent contractor, plus Tax Summary, Benefits Summary, T4 (Canada), or 1042-S (Foreign NRA) where they apply — a card only produces a file if that document was actually issued to you for that year. Which wage form you get follows how your engagement was classified when you were onboarded; it isn’t something you choose on this page. To let someone else confirm a W-2 is genuine, download the Enhanced W-2 — its QR code and verification link open a public page where they enter the last 4 digits of your SSN, date of birth, and ZIP code to view a verified copy, without signing in. See also the [Getting your year-end tax documents (W-2 and 1099)] guide.

Your pay statements live on My Paystubs, on the Pay Stubs tab — pick a Year, then use Search, Group By, or Filters to find a period; each row shows the Pay Period, Pay Date, Method, Gross Pay, Net Pay, and Hours, and the eye, download, and Explain Pay icons open the details, save the PDF, or explain the amounts. Your upcoming call sheets live separately on My Call Sheets, which lists each one with its title, project, shoot date, and call time. Both pages only show items tied to your own account — a call sheet you haven’t been added to, or a pay period that hasn’t been processed yet, simply won’t appear. If a paystub or call sheet you expect is missing, confirm your onboarding is complete and your assignment is current, then contact [email protected] or visit /help/contact. See also the [Reading your paystub] guide.

Open My Leave Balances from the menu to see a card for each leave type you’re enrolled in — such as Sick Leave, Vacation, Paid Time Off, Personal, Bereavement, or Jury Duty — each showing your current balance alongside Accrued YTD and Used YTD for the year. Click a card to expand its transaction history, which lists each accrual or use with the date and the balance afterward. The summary strip at the top adds up your Total Available, Total Accrued YTD, and Total Used YTD across every leave type you have. If a leave type you expect isn’t listed, you may not be enrolled in that policy — contact [email protected] or your payroll administrator to check.

If your talent profile is set up to work through a loan-out corporation, open My Loan-Out Company to see its details — legal name, EIN, business structure, and state of incorporation — alongside a compliance-percentage chip and a Required Documents list (Corporate W-9, Certificate of Incorporation, Operating Agreement, Good Standing Certificate, and, for an S-Corp, Form 2553 and the IRS S-Corp acceptance letter) showing which are on file. Payments go to the loan-out company’s own bank account rather than your personal one — if none is listed under Bank Accounts, contact your administrator to set up ACH direct deposit for the company, since this page doesn’t let you add one yourself. Your contracts routed through the loan-out entity are listed under My Contracts on the same page. This page is read-only: to correct the company information itself, contact your administrator or production accountant rather than editing it here.

A parent or guardian linked to a minor’s profile gets a Guardian Dashboard covering the dependents they’re linked to, plus My Dependent Talent, Consent Management, and Compliance Monitoring for that minor’s paperwork. From Guardian Financial Access, select the minor under Minor Talent and a Tax Year, then use the Paystubs and Tax Documents tabs to see what the minor has earned and been issued, and the Trust Account tab for Coogan deposits in states that require one — each deposit lists the production, gross earnings, the Coogan amount, its status, and the deposit deadline. Which minors and consent details you see reflects the guardian consent already on file for your account. If a minor’s Coogan state, deposit details, or your linked dependents look wrong, contact [email protected] or your production’s payroll team.

In the Client Portal, open Approvals under Payroll Work — the Pending tab lists every run awaiting your decision as a card with its Payroll #, pay period, pay date, employee count, and Est. Total. Click Review & Approve to open the Proforma Cost Breakdown, which shows Gross Pay, Employer Taxes, Fringes & Benefits, and the Total Amount Due, plus expandable detail on costs, employer taxes, service fees, and a per-employee breakdown — review this, since it’s the figure you’re authorizing. When you’re satisfied, click Approve & Authorize Funding; this both approves the run and authorizes the debit of the Total Amount Due from your funding account, and the run moves to the History tab with a Client Approved status. If something looks wrong, click Request Changes instead and describe what needs fixing so your payroll team can correct it and resubmit — you can’t recalculate or clear a blocked approval yourself, so if the button is disabled with a message about recalculation or a sanctions review, ask your payroll administrator to resolve it, then return and approve. See also the [Approving a payroll run] guide.

On the Billing page (Finance & Reports in the left menu), the Funding Account card at the top is where your company’s payroll and invoices are paid from — click Connect Funding Account via Plaid to link your bank the first time, or Change Bank Account to switch to a different one; the same account covers both payroll runs and invoice payments. There’s no separate pay step for a payroll run: approving it is what authorizes the debit, since clicking Approve & Authorize Funding on a run in Approvals authorizes the debit of its Total Amount Due from this account. A newly connected account can sit at PLAID VERIFIED, AUTH SIGNED, or PRENOTE SENT while it activates — a payment is blocked until the status reaches ACTIVE, so keep an active account connected if you want approved runs to fund without a hold. If a payment won’t go through and the account already shows ACTIVE, contact [email protected] or visit /help/contact. See also the [Funding your payroll] guide.

An invoice bills your company for the full cost of employing the workers on a run, not their combined take-home pay. Open the invoice’s Employee Breakdown tab to see why: its summary cards show Total Wages, Employer Taxes, and Handling Fees, which add up to the bill — each worker’s net paycheck is their wages minus their own withholdings, so it’s smaller than the Gross Labor the invoice starts from, and the invoice then adds your company’s Employer Tax and Handling Fee on top. The Line Items tab shows the Subtotal, Tax, and Total the same way an itemized bill would, and the Deduction Credits tab reduces the total for benefits you fund directly, such as 401(k) or health insurance contributions. If a specific charge still looks wrong after checking both tabs, contact [email protected] or visit /help/contact — billing corrections are handled on the payroll side. See also the [Understanding your invoice] guide.

Open I-9 Status (under People & Compliance) to see each worker’s I-9 verification stage — Completed, Verified, In Progress, Not Started, Expired, Needs Reverification, or Rejected — and a Can Receive Payroll column that shows a green checkmark or a red X for each person; a red X there is exactly why that worker can’t be paid yet. Open Banking Status, in the same section, to check the other common blocker: each worker’s direct-deposit setup shows as Verified, Unverified, or Needs setup, and pay can’t reach an account that hasn’t cleared verification. Both pages are read-only monitoring views — you can search or filter by production and export the list, but resolving a specific I-9 or banking issue is handled on the payroll side. If a worker shows as compliant on both but still isn’t getting paid, contact [email protected] or visit /help/contact.

Open AML Screening (under People & Compliance) to see screening coverage and outcomes for payees in the selected client and production. The page identifies which checks ran — OFAC/sanctions, politically exposed person (PEP), and adverse-media screening — and shows the overall status, category-level flags, potential-match count, ongoing-monitoring status, screening/review dates, and whether payment is currently held. The view is read-only: your Employer of Record investigates flags and resolves holds, while protected watchlist identities and matching personal data remain private. A hold can also block approval of the related payroll run until the EOR resolves it. This differs from an Unverified or Needs setup result on Banking Status, which clears through bank-account setup rather than compliance review. For questions about a specific result, contact your EOR representative or [email protected].

Open Reports (under Finance & Reports) for a Reports & Analytics view with Financial Summary, Production Breakdown, Payroll Run Detail, and Employer Tax Summary tabs, each with its own CSV export for the current view. For pre-built formats, open Standard Reports instead, which offers a Census — Employee Roster, a Historical Payroll Register, a Wages by State breakdown, and an Invoice Cost Breakdown (Fringe Recap) — pick the one you need and it opens its own report screen with its own filters and export. Every report only covers the client and production you’re scoped to, so check that you have the right production selected before assuming data is missing. If a report still looks off after that, contact [email protected] or visit /help/contact.

Open Direct Hires (under People & Compliance) to manage your crew roster before it goes to onboarding. Click Add Crew Member to open the drawer and enter one person’s details — name, contact info, start date, work state, role, pay rate, and employment type (W-2 employee, loan-out, or independent contractor) — and use Save & Add Another to keep entering people without closing the drawer, or use Import CSV to bring in a batch with column mapping instead. Each row shows a readiness status (Draft, Needs info, Ready, and so on) as you fill in the required fields; once your roster looks right, click Submit to PayAdmin to send it to your payroll administrator, who reviews it and releases it into onboarding — the roster’s status changes to Submitted and you can still make changes while it’s in review. This page only covers new crew you’re adding directly; it doesn’t reach into workers already onboarded on other productions.

For most day-to-day questions — a specific invoice, a payroll run, or a worker’s status — start with your payroll administrator or EOR representative, since they can see and act on the details behind what you’re looking at. For platform access issues, or anything you can’t resolve with your payroll team, contact [email protected] or visit /help/contact. Include what you were doing, what page you were on, and any error message or run/invoice number so support can look into it faster.