Join the Crew
Get the best resources for producers delivered to your mailbox
Get the best resources for producers delivered to your mailbox
As the digital era accelerates, it’s no secret that software is having a profound impact on the entertainment industry. Studios and production companies are increasingly turning to new technologies and applications to streamline their operations.
But the production industry is complicated. With dozens of different business functions to manage—onboarding, payroll, accounting, scheduling, and more—most productions are stuck using different apps for each facet of their business. These elaborate and complicated tech stacks are inefficient and often not well integrated.
That’s why a new approach to software is emerging in the entertainment industry: the vertical operating system, or VOS. A vertical operating system is an operating system that solves for multiple business functions within a single industry.
Conventional operating systems that combine all the necessary tools for a specific function—say, accounting—into one package that can serve a wide variety of industries. A classic example of this would be Salesforce, which manages customer information across sales, marketing, and customer service departments, facilitating a unified approach to handling customer interactions. Salesforce is a broad tool—many different kinds of businesses can use it.
Vertical operating systems, on the other hand, aim to be far more specific, combining every tool a specific industry would need into a single system. For a film or television production, that would mean things like payroll, accounting, onboarding, and more. Rather than using different tools for each of these functions, an entertainment-industry VOS would combine them all into a single, easy-to-use package that was already optimized for the production business.
It might sound like a subtle shift, but the VOS represents a sea change in the way technology can serve the entertainment industry, transforming efficiency and promoting better organization.
A VOS is thoughtfully designed to meet the specific needs of a particular sector, ensuring deep process integration and heightened operational efficiency. The entertainment industry, with its unique challenges—fragmented payroll systems, intricate labor regulations agreements, short production timelines—stands to benefit immensely from such a system.
And for productions, adopting a VOS—like Wrapbook, for example—can be transformative. It doesn't just streamline processes like production management and financial oversight; it reimagines the way information moves across a production. It becomes a single source of truth for the entire production.
This concentrated approach enables Wrapbook to enhance a wide array of functions, from hiring, to payroll processing, to production accounting, to compliance.
A vertical operating system serves as the foundational layer of technology that underpins a production. It integrates and manages key data within a company, acting as the single source of truth and the main interface for daily activities. For production companies, who for decades have dealt with PDFs flying back and forth and timecards being shuttled from set to the production office, this kind of data centralization can be transformational. It cuts down on busywork, and reduces the frequency of errors.
Importantly, though, Wrapbook is more than just another piece of software. Where traditional entertainment payroll providers attempt to embed technology into their financial services, Wrapbook is a technology company that embeds entertainment payroll. The difference may sound subtle, but the impact on production is profound. Technology transformation for the entertainment industry is finally here with Wrapbook.
Fragmented production workflows affect both producers and production accountants. What’s more, disjointed software not only hinders productivity, it also compromises transparency, accountability, and importantly, security.
In this context, the call for a VOS-style approach to entertainment tech is not just about keeping pace with digital trends; it's about keeping productions safe and secure.
Embracing a vertical operating system is more than a technological upgrade; it's a strategic decision that positions production companies for success. Wrapbook's platform is designed to be the operating system for the entertainment industry, providing a cohesive and intuitive environment for managing your entire production. It is designed to be the backbone of your production company's ecosystem.
The power of a VOS like Wrapbook extends beyond traditional operational management to include fintech solutions that streamline financial transactions, enhance compliance, and provide financial transparency. This integration of financial technology elevates Wrapbook from a system of record to a comprehensive operating system—one that can manage all the business processes associated with production.
Our platform demonstrates the transformative power of fintech in addressing specific challenges. Says Richard Kerby, co-founder of Equal Ventures, an investor in Wrapbook,
“Customers love that the Wrapbook team has combined its deep knowledge of the creative industry with an impressive technical stack to completely reimagine the tedious process of setting up distributed teams.”
Increasingly, venture capitalists have seen the upside of entertainment VOS-style solutions like Wrapbook, noting their potential to transform the way productions manage their operations and their finances. Their interest has been followed with investment in startups and new solutions to age-old entertainment industry problems. Says Jeffrey Katzenberg, co-founder of Hollywood Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures and the VC firm WndrCo,
“It’s time we bring production financial services into the 21st century.”
The potential upside is obvious. With billions of dollars flowing through the entertainment sector each year, any opportunity to streamline operations and cut back on inefficiency has the potential to prove highly lucrative. And new VOS’s are already attracting serious investment.
But while many fintech solutions are aiming to be the VOS for entertainment, few are closer to actually achieving it than Wrapbook. Says Katzenberg,
“We need a technology solution that will address the increasing complexities of production onboarding, pay, and insuring cast and crew…I believe that Wrapbook delivers.”
Of course, Katzenberg isn’t Wrapbook’s only investor. Nor is he the only one with deep experience in the entertainment sector. Michael Ovitz, co-founder of CAA has also backed the company, as have Institutional Technology Investors, Tiger Global, and Andreesen Horowitz.
For Kristina Shen, General Partner at Andreesen Horowitz, it’s Wrapbook’s extensive knowledge of the entertainment sector that makes them a strong candidate to become the industry’s go-to VOS. Says Shen,
“The Wrapbook team has prior experience in both the entertainment industry and in software businesses. They are uniquely positioned to understand how to leverage software to address the pain points in the industry."
Wrapbook is an all-in-one hub that brings every function a production needs into one platform. This makes life easier for industry workers from producers to accountants. It makes productions more efficient—not by adding another piece of software to their operation, but by reimagining that operation entirely— as something easier, faster and more secure, with automated payroll, real-time financial transparency, and built-in compliance for both unions and taxes.
Wrapbook's role as a bespoke VOS for the entertainment industry underscores its potential to not only meet current demands but also anticipate and adapt to the evolving landscape of production management.
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.
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.
