Inside Wrapbook's Labor Relations Team

There's a version of a production that runs smoothly where crew agreements hold, union rules are followed, and payroll clears without a compliance question in sight. That version doesn't happen by accident. It happens because someone with deep union expertise did the work long before cameras rolled.

That's the labor relations team.

The evolution of labor relations in entertainment

Labor relations in entertainment has always been high stakes. From the early days of the major guilds to the landmark strikes that reshaped the industry in recent decades, the relationship between productions and the unions that represent their workers has never been simple, and it has never been static.

For much of the industry's history, labor relations was a reactive function. A dispute arose, and someone was called in to resolve it. A contract expired, and negotiations began. The work was important, but it was largely defined by what had already gone wrong.

That's changed. As union contracts have grown more complex, spanning wages, residuals, AI protections, safety provisions, and benefit contributions across dozens of guilds and jurisdictions, the labor relations function has shifted from reactive to strategic. Today, the most effective labor relations professionals aren't just resolving disputes. They're preventing them, advising productions before a single deal memo is signed, and ensuring that the union agreements governing a production are structured in a way that holds up under scrutiny.

The stakes have never been higher. A misclassified worker, a missed fringe contribution, or a misread union contract provision can expose a production to significant liability, the kind that surfaces months or years after wrap, long after the production has closed. Understanding the specific requirements of each guild and each agreement isn't optional. It's the foundation of a compliant production.

Union expertise at the center of what we do

Most payroll platforms treat labor compliance as a background function. At Wrapbook, it's a core service, one backed by a team of professionals whose careers have been built around understanding how union agreements actually work, what they require, and where productions most commonly get them wrong.

Wrapbook's Labor Relations team works at the intersection of union contract expertise and production finance, advising the productions Wrapbook serves on the compliance questions that sit underneath every payroll run. Their work spans guild interpretation, deal structure, fringe calculations, and the nuanced contract analysis that determines whether a production is protected or exposed.

What distinguishes the team is the combination of depth and accessibility. These are professionals with decades of collective experience navigating the most complex corners of entertainment union law, embedded within a platform designed to put that expertise within reach of every production that needs it.

Meet the team

Wrapbook's Labor Relations team is led by Paul Schoeman, Senior Director of Labor Relations, whose career places him at the center of the entertainment industry's most significant union institutions. Before joining Wrapbook, Paul served as Director of Media & Labor Economics at SAG-AFTRA, where he was a point person with payroll companies, led the generation of wage tables for union contracts, and worked on major contract negotiations. Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Contract Administration at the AMPTP, the collective bargaining representative for studios, networks, and production companies in negotiations with industry unions. He also brings 14 years of experience as a VP of Labor Relations across two major entertainment companies, giving him a perspective on how labor agreements are interpreted and applied from the employer side that few in the field can match. 

Over the course of his career, Paul has negotiated and helped create more than 150 union agreements spanning SAG, DGA, WGA, IATSE, and the Teamsters and Basic Crafts. Few people in the industry have sat on so many sides of the table at that level, and that perspective shapes how Wrapbook approaches union compliance across every production it serves.

Steve Dayan, Advisor, Labor Relations, brings nearly five decades of entertainment industry experience to the team, including eight years as Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 399, one of the most significant union locals in Hollywood, representing nearly 6,000 industry workers including drivers, location managers, casting directors, and animal handlers. During his tenure, Steve negotiated contracts, lobbied for California's film and television tax incentive program, and led the Local through major transitions in the industry's labor landscape. 

He has also served as a sitting board member of the California Film Commission for 18 years, a position he was appointed to by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Before his time at Local 399, he worked as a projectionist, assistant editor, and location manager on productions including The Cable Guy and City of Angels.  That combination of on-set experience, union leadership, and long-standing industry service gives him a perspective on labor relations that is genuinely rare, one that informs how he advises the productions Wrapbook serves today.

Patrick Delaney (Principal Manager, Labor Relations), brings over a decade of experience working inside the International Cinematographers Guild, including service as a Business Representative at IATSE Local 600, giving him an intimate knowledge of Local 600 and the broader family of IATSE locals that few outside the union itself can match. At Wrapbook, Patrick serves as a conduit between producers, crew members, and the platform, translating the complexities of union contracts into practical guidance that helps productions operate correctly and confidently. His expertise in regulations, procedures, and contract interpretation makes him an essential resource for any production navigating IATSE requirements.

Lon Huber (Advisor, Labor Relations), brings 30 years of experience representing entertainers' labor unions, including more than 20 years working with SAG and SAG-AFTRA on theatrical and entertainment contracts. He has also spent more than 15 years auditing and ensuring the proper compensation of on-camera talent in motion picture production, work that sits at the precise intersection of compliance, contract interpretation, and performer advocacy. That depth of experience makes Lon an invaluable resource for productions navigating the most nuanced corners of talent compensation and union compliance.

Wrapping up

Union contracts have always governed the business of making entertainment. What's changed is how complex those contracts have become, and how much earlier in the production process that expertise needs to be applied. 

Wrapbook's Labor Relations team represents that reality in practice: deep union expertise, embedded in a modern platform, working to ensure that the productions they support are protected from the first deal to the final payroll run.

In the weeks and months ahead, we'll be sitting down with members of the team for a closer look at the work they do, the union questions they field most often, and the expertise they bring to one of the most consequential and least visible corners of the entertainment business.