Master Your Craft

Production moves fast, and your tools should too.  In this episode of Master Your Craft, host Shannon Cruz is joined by Cast & Crew ’s Alex Bair , Director of Product Solutions, and Kody Schmidt , Product Manager for Hours+ (Timekeeping). They discuss the biggest 2025 Hours+ (Timekeeping) updates designed to help production accountants move faster, stay compliant, and get more done with less s...

Workflows should work for you, not the other way around.  In this episode of Master Your Craft, host Shannon Cruz is joined by Cast & Crew ’s Alex Bair , Director of Product Solutions, and Jim Gomez , Product Manager for Start+, to explore how the latest Start+ updates will make it easier to manage production at scale.  Smarter onboarding, international deal support, and customizable approval...

Manual entry. Chasing email approvals. Cross-checking systems. For production accountants, the small inefficiencies add up fast. In this episode of Master Your Craft, host Stacy Keeter sits down with Kirsten Thayer , VP of User Experience at Cast & Crew , to explore how PSL+, DPO integration, and a powerful new partnership with Eved are removing those friction points. They talk about how conne...

The old way of working on budgets involved emailing files, waiting for feedback, and sorting through conflicting versions. This made collaboration more complicated than it needed to be.  In this episode of Master Your Craft, host Steve Bizenov is joined by Jeff Beckerman , Head of Production at Rain the Growth Agency , to discuss how Showbiz Budgeting simplifies commercial production. From cloud-b...

Commercial production has always run on paperwork—scripts, call sheets, timecards. But then Covid happened, and everything changed.  In this episode, Jesse Perez talks with Nate Gibson about how that disruption led to a digital transformation. What started as a pandemic workaround has evolved into a smarter, mobile-first solution helping productions move faster, stay compliant, and lighten the loa...

Every standing ovation starts with a spreadsheet.  Before the lights go down, someone has to navigate dozens of union rules, tax requirements, and last-minute cast changes. Sarah Galbraith and Ryan Lympus from Checks & Balances Payroll take us inside the rarely seen world of live theater payroll, explaining how their team keeps the show running behind the scenes.  Key insights from this episod...

There’s no room for error when it comes to payroll taxes. A misstep can be costly. In this episode, Cast & Crew’s Payroll Tax Manager Joe Gutierrez shares how the team keeps up with shifting tax laws, rising tech trends, and the growing role of AI in payroll. Key insights from this episode: How to stay informed about tax regulations  Why payroll tax is deeply personal  The future of automation...

Content is being created faster than ever, which means it’s critical to manage rights and protect every asset.  In this episode, we talk with Rori Floyd and Mark Egmon from The TEAM Companies to discuss the challenges advertisers face with AI, offshore production, and rights management. They also share how expert business affairs help keep content safe and compliant in today’s fast-moving advertis...

This is Master Your Craft, powered by Cast & Crew.  This show goes beyond the basics of production, uncovering the expertise and stories that drive the entertainment industry. From big-name industry leaders to behind-the-scenes pros, each episode reveals how different aspects of production, from financing to performance, come together to create something extraordinary.