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The Wrapbook Team consists of individuals who are thrilled about building modern software tools for creators. We’re a team of compassionate and curious people dedicated to solving complex problems with sophisticated solutions. You can find us across the U.S. and Canada.
At Wrapbook, we pride ourselves on providing outstanding free resources to producers and their crews, but this post is for informational purposes only as of the date above. The content on our website is not intended to provide and should not be relied on for legal, accounting, or tax advice. You should consult with your own legal, accounting, or tax advisors to determine how this general information may apply to your specific circumstances.
Hollywood loves the version of its story told in box office grosses, gold statuettes, and names above the title. But there’s another story people don’t see, the one that plays out behind the behind-the-scenes. It’s not flashy, and most people don’t even know it exists: the late nights, the impossible deadlines, and the pressure to know every last detail of entertainment union contracts, plus the decidedly unglamorous wage-and-hour laws of all 50 states and beyond.
That’s where the Paymaster lives, quietly making sure everyone who made the magic happen actually gets paid.
The paymaster role is one of the oldest in production. In the early days of the studio system, it was largely logistical: distribute checks, keep records, move on. But as union agreements multiplied and the rules governing classification, fringes, and contributions grew more complex, the job required a different kind of expertise entirely.
Today, a paymaster is part compliance expert, part financial analyst, and part strategic partner. Modern payroll platforms have taken the most repetitive manual work off their plate, freeing them to focus on the judgment calls that actually matter: catching a misclassification before it becomes a problem, advising on deal structure, or helping a payroll account understand the real cost of a seemingly innocuous payroll decision. The best paymasters today aren't just processing payroll. They're protecting productions.
The productions Wrapbook serves span a wide range of the entertainment industry: independent films, network and streaming television, commercials, and projects across the studio ecosystem. Each comes with its own contract landscape, its own compliance requirements, and its own financial pressures.
What makes a paymaster invaluable in this environment isn't just technical knowledge, though that matters enormously. It's the ability to translate that knowledge into practical guidance at the moment a production needs it most. When payroll has to go out on a Thursday and a question arises about a worker's meal penalties or overtime, a paymaster's answer isn't just a number. It's a decision that protects the production, the worker, and the company behind it.
Wrapbook’s paymaster team brings that combination of expertise and accessibility to every production they support. Working within our platform, the team serves as a dedicated resource for the productions that rely on them. The platform is designed to give finance teams real-time visibility into payroll status, cost reporting, and compliance documentation, equipping the team to handle the complexity that production finance invariably generates.
Here's a closer look at the people behind that work.
Wrapbook's Union Payroll team is led by Renee Sadono, Director of Union Payroll, whose experience spans both the operational and strategic dimensions of production payroll. Under her direction, the team has built a deep bench of expertise across the full range of union payroll work in entertainment.
Jess Ryan and Hazel Garganera serve as Managers, Union Payroll (FTV and Commercials, respectively), bringing a ground-level command of the team's day-to-day operations and a deep familiarity with the productions the team supports.
On the FTV side, Joel Chung, Rae Gibson, Haide Callejas, Cookie Hardy, Me’Lana Irvin, and Tracy Kinder handle union payroll for film and television productions, work that spans a wide range of production types, budget levels, and contract landscapes.
On the Commercial side, Tim Murphy, Candy Sce, Catalina Vizcarra, Janee Antwine, and Dee Velez manage union payroll for commercials, bringing the kind of responsive, hands-on support that keeps productions moving without interruption.
Daniel Su, Lead Union Paymaster Product Consultant, holds a distinct role at the intersection of payroll expertise and platform development, ensuring that the people building Wrapbook's tools are informed by the people who use them most.
The Contracts Team, led by Pat Cahill, Manager of Union Payroll, Contracts, makes sure projects are set up for success from the start. Susana Hernandez, Hillary Kidwell, and Shawna Wood handle customer contract intake and review, ensuring every project launches with the right pay rules and rates in place from day one. Remy Saint-Satyr and Barb Lund serve as Contributions Specialists, keeping the compliance of Wrapbook’s union benefit billing and reporting at top quality.
The paymaster has always been essential to the business of making entertainment. What's changed is the scope of that role and the tools available to do it well.
Wrapbook's Union Payroll team represents what that evolution looks like in practice: deep expertise, backed by modern infrastructure, in service of the productions that depend on getting it right.
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 productions they've supported, and the knowledge they bring to one of the industry's most demanding and most important roles.
