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Home/Industries/Media & Entertainment

Rippling for media and entertainment

Pay crews, freelancers and staff from one platform. We configure Rippling for project-based work, union rules and talent across jurisdictions, so every production starts with its people ready to go.

Recent projectAudiobook publisher: ADP to Rippling across three entitiesRead the project ↓
Camera operator working on a film set
Every productionStaff · Freelancers · Union crew
The challenge

What makes media different

Teams form and disband with every project. Staff, freelancers and union crew work side by side, often across states and countries, and each production runs on its own budget.

01

Project-based teams

Crews are hired for a production, paid against its budget, then released when it wraps.

02

Freelancers and contractors

Large freelance pools that must be classified correctly, onboarded fast and paid on time.

03

Union and guild rules

Rates, fringes and work rules set by agreements that differ by role and production.

04

Talent in many jurisdictions

Shoots and teams across states and countries, each with its own tax and labor rules.

How we set it up

From greenlight to wrap, every crew paid right

One connected setup across six Rippling modules, configured for studios, publishers and production companies.

All Rippling modules →
1
Structure
HRIS

Entities and productions modelled as departments or cost centers, so every hire lands on the right budget.

2
Hire crew
Contractors

Freelancers classified and onboarded in days, then paid alongside staff.

3
Track time
Time & Attendance

Shoot days, overtime and turnaround captured per production.

4
Pay
Payroll

Union rates, fringes and multi-state tax applied automatically on every run.

5
Cover
Benefits

401(k) rules, match eligibility and loans configured and tested so deductions stay accurate.

6
Report
Integrations

Labor costs synced to your general ledger by entity and production.

Narrator recording an audiobook with a studio microphone
Media & PublishingMulti-state, US
Project spotlight

Moving an audiobook publisher from ADP to Rippling across three entities

A digital media and audiobook publisher with 300+ employees across Maryland, Connecticut and Virginia was migrating from ADP. We ran five workstreams at once: fixing 401(k) integration gaps, building compliant automation rules, advising on the NetSuite GL connector, setting up multi-entity permissions and migrating historical data.

13
401(k) automation rules configured and tested
3
entities under one permissions framework
5
concurrent workstreams delivered
MigrationBenefitsIntegrations
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Frequently asked questions

Can't find what you need? Talk to our team.

Can Rippling pay freelancers and employees together?
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Yes. Contractors and employees are onboarded and paid on the same platform, with the right classification for each.

Can we track costs by production?
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Yes. We set up productions as departments or cost centers so labor and expenses report against each budget.

Does Rippling support union rates?
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We configure pay rates, fringes and overtime rules per agreement so they're applied automatically on every run.

How long does an implementation take?
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It depends on your number of entities, jurisdictions and integrations. We'll give you a firm plan and timeline after a short discovery.

Keep exploring

Related industries

All industries →

Staffing up for your next production?

Tell us how your teams are structured and we'll show you how we'd set Rippling up, module by module.

Film crew setting up cameras in a studio