With Automated Software Program, More Television Productions Are Processing Time Cards Like Clockwork
When the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced this year’s Emmy nominations, it was no surprise to Media Services, Inc. that over 40 percent of the Emmy nominations went to shows using its flagship software, Showbiz Time Cards. A large portion of those shows are produced by ABC and NBC, which have purchased site licenses to use Showbiz Time Cards.
Clients of this proprietary software include television productions like “The Office,” “Friday Night Lights,” “Lost,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “The Apprentice,” as well as feature film productions including “Chuck and Larry,” “Evan Almighty,” and “Halloween.”
Media Services, Inc., one of the entertainment industry’s leading providers of accounting and payroll services, developed Showbiz Time Cards over the past seven years, introducing the first software that calculates hours-to-gross totals, with automatic calculations for straight, overtime, and gold pay for almost every union and guild contract. The company offers various versions tailored to the specific nuances of the film and television, and commercial markets, as well as a special SAG (Screen Actors Guild) version with SAG rules built into the program.
With no other product on the market today, the software has become the industry standard for production accountants who save time, costs, and payroll errors when moving from a manual, 10-key method to an automated system of processing time cards. The software can be used with Media Service’s payroll services as well as other entertainment payroll companies such as Axium, Cast & Crew or Entertainment Partners.
Otter Huntley, Vice President of Business Development at Media Services, Inc., who was instrumental in the design and development of this innovative product, says, “Showbiz Time Cards and other Showbiz Software products have become widely popular through word of mouth in the entertainment accounting industry. Listening to our payroll and accounting clients, we wanted to fill a much-needed niche by developing a tool that instantly calculates and tracks everything from episodic crews, multiple units, meal penalties, daily labor costs, overtime, night premiums and split days to re-rate and gold time.”
According to Huntley, productions can deliver time cards to their payroll services at least a half a day earlier, save on delivery costs, and avoid payroll errors that often occur when numbers are handwritten and faxed. Plus the software enables accounting to generate a wide range of reports including daily “Hot Costs” for any person or period of time.
Showbiz Time Cards, along with other Showbiz Software products, are available online at www.Showbizsoftware.com or at the company’s Los Angeles and New York Showbiz Software stores. Product demonstrations are available online and in person.
About Media Services, Inc.
Media Services, Inc. has been one of the entertainment industry’s leading payroll and software companies since 1978, serving feature, television, commercial, corporate and Internet productions world-wide as well as music video and residual clients. Under the umbrella of the entertainment accounting firm Oberman, Tivoli & Pickert, Inc., the company also provides production and post-production accounting services with a full service, bi-coastal accounting staff. Media Services, Inc. is headquartered in Los Angeles with an office in New York. It offers a wide range of entertainment industry software, books, tapes and supplies at its Showbiz Software Stores in West Los Angeles and New York as well as its online store, www.showbizsoftware.com.