Entertainment payroll is one of the few disciplines where speed, precision, and legal interpretation collide every single week. Union agreements change. Streaming models evolve. Audits grow more detailed. Yet many payroll professionals are still expected to learn on the job, often under pressure, without structured training that reflects how payroll actually works in film and television.

The FTV Graduate Program was built to close that gap.

Rather than offering one-size-fits-all courses or static reference material, the program is organized into two deliberate learning layers: a Crash Course Series that builds essential payroll literacy, and Advanced Courses that deliver deep, role-ready education for union, SVOD, and high-risk compliance work. Delivered through a modern LMS, the program simplifies complex material, streamlines learning, and connects education directly to better payroll execution and audit outcomes.

This is not theoretical training. It is practical, structured education designed for the realities of entertainment payroll.

The Crash Course Series: Building Payroll Literacy Fast and Correctly

The Crash Course Series is designed for speed without sacrificing accuracy. These courses focus on building core understanding quickly, especially for professionals who are new to entertainment payroll, transitioning from non-entertainment environments, or seeking to strengthen their foundation before moving into more complex work.

Each crash course isolates a critical knowledge area that payroll professionals must understand before they can execute confidently.

Intro to Union Payroll

Union payroll introduces rules and obligations that do not exist in non-union environments. This course provides a clear, practical introduction to how union payroll works in film and television, including covered employees, basic wage structures, benefit contributions, and the role payroll plays in union compliance.

Rather than overwhelming learners with rates and exceptions, the focus is on understanding how union payroll functions as a system. Learners come away with a working mental model that allows them to recognize when union rules apply and why accuracy matters.

Unions, Locals, and Classifications

Unions, Locals, and Classifications zooms out to explain the structure behind the agreements. Learners explore how entertainment unions are organized, how jurisdiction works, and how collective bargaining agreements are enforced. This course is essential for payroll professionals who interact with labor relations teams, union representatives, or benefit funds.

By understanding the purpose and mechanics of unions, learners are better equipped to apply rules correctly and communicate clearly when issues arise. This knowledge also plays a significant role in audit readiness, where context often matters as much as calculation.

Work Hours vs Pay Hours

Payroll professionals cannot rely on assumptions about how time worked translates into time paid. In entertainment payroll, work hours and pay hours are not always the same, and misunderstanding the difference is one of the most common sources of errors, penalties, and audit findings.

This course focuses on how work hours convert into pay hours under wage and hour law and union rules, including straight time, overtime, premium time, meal penalties, and other paid adjustments that do not represent additional work performed. Learners develop a clear framework for breaking down a workday, understanding what triggers additional pay, and accurately translating production schedules and timecards into compliant payroll.

For many learners, this training closes a critical gap. The distinction between work hours and pay hours is often assumed knowledge, yet it sits at the center of nearly every payroll calculation and compliance review.

How to Read a Contract

One of the most common challenges in entertainment payroll is not knowing how to navigate a collective bargaining agreement. This crash course introduces learners to contract structure, common sections, and how to locate relevant language without relying on summaries or secondhand interpretations.

The goal is not mastery, but confidence. Learners finish the course knowing where to look, how to read provisions in context, and how contracts govern payroll decisions.

Advanced Courses: Deep Education for Real-World Payroll Execution

Once foundational literacy is established, the FTV Graduate Program moves into advanced education. These courses are designed for professionals who are actively working in entertainment payroll or preparing to take on higher-responsibility roles.

Unlike surface-level training, advanced courses reflect the complexity and nuance of real productions.

Entertainment Payroll Fundamentals

This course serves as the backbone of the advanced curriculum. It ties together payroll concepts, production workflows, classifications, and weekly execution into a cohesive system. Learners explore how payroll operates from onboarding through payday, including timecards, calculations, approvals, and documentation.

What makes this course critical is its emphasis on consistency and process. Payroll errors often occur not because rules are unknown, but because systems break down under pressure. This course focuses on building repeatable, defensible workflows.

Non-Union Nationwide

Productions rarely stay in one jurisdiction, and payroll professionals are increasingly expected to support multi-state work.

This advanced course dives deeply into nationwide wage and hour compliance, highlighting how rules vary by state and how payroll teams must adapt. Learners examine common pitfalls, overlapping laws, and strategies for maintaining compliance across jurisdictions.

From an audit standpoint, this course addresses one of the most common exposure areas for payroll companies and studios alike.

How to Pay a 1-Hour SVOD Series

High-budget SVOD productions introduce modified rules, sideletters, and evolving interpretations that differ from traditional theatrical or episodic models.

This course focuses specifically on how to apply payroll rules to a one-hour streaming series, including classifications, overtime structures, working condition modifications, and weekly execution. Learners work through realistic scenarios that mirror current SVOD environments.

This course is particularly valuable for payroll professionals supporting platforms where scrutiny is high and errors are costly.

Deep Dives: MPIPHP Benefits and Night Premiums

Some topics require focused attention. The deep-dive courses address areas that frequently trigger audits, corrections, or disputes.

The MPIPHP Benefits course examines how pension and health contributions work, what wages are subject, and how reporting errors occur. The Night Premiums course breaks down premium eligibility, timing, and application across unions and agreements.

These courses are designed for professionals who need precision, not overviews.

Why LMS-Based Learning Matters for Payroll Professionals

Entertainment payroll is complex, but learning it does not have to be chaotic.

The FTV Graduate Program uses an LMS structure to simplify and streamline education. Courses are modular, allowing learners to focus on one skill set at a time. Scenario-based learning reinforces judgment and application rather than memorization. Learners can revisit material as rules change or questions arise.

For companies, LMS delivery ensures consistency across teams. For individuals, it allows learning to happen alongside real payroll work, without disrupting production schedules.

Most importantly, LMS-based training creates documentation. Completed courses, assessments, and scenarios demonstrate due diligence and investment in compliance, which matters when audits occur.

From Training to Audit Outcomes

Well-trained payroll professionals make fewer mistakes, document decisions more clearly, and communicate more effectively with auditors and labor partners.

The structure of the FTV Graduate Program reflects that reality. Crash courses build literacy. Advanced courses build mastery. Scenario-based learning builds judgment. LMS delivery ensures accessibility and consistency.

The result is not just education, but stronger payroll operations and better compliance outcomes.

Final Thoughts

Entertainment payroll will only continue to grow more complex. Streaming models evolve. Agreements change. Enforcement increases.



The FTV Graduate Program is designed to meet that future with structure, clarity, and depth. By combining fast foundational training with advanced, role-specific education, the program equips payroll professionals to work confidently in union, SVOD, and high-compliance environments.

Training is no longer optional. It is infrastructure.