About Us

36 Years. Over 2000 Extras Only™ payroll projects and counting.

History of Sessions.

1979. Sessions Payroll Management started with a two person office in Hollywood. From the beginning, our focus was background talent. First it was the musicians that bring the motion picture soundtrack to life. Next was extras production payroll with our first network television program in 1992. Over the next decade, Sessions added major studio projects to our cable and television client list. More recently, we gained a foothold in the growing online streaming programming space. We’re almost forty and looking pretty good.

1979

First Office

Sessions Opens. It all began in Hollywood with a two person office in the Technicolor building. We are glad to see that the Gnomon School , a college teaching special effects, ended up in our old space.

1979

First Movie

“10” starring Dudley Moore and Bo Derek launched both their careers and ours. We handled the music payroll, which brought Ravel’s Bolero to a new generation.

1981

MTV Launches

We started with music. Sessions began with music payroll right along with the birth of the MTV Generation. The Who, Bruce Springsteen, and The Eagles were some of our first clients.

1986

First HBO Project

HBO. For nearly 30 years, Sessions has worked with HBO on their groundbreaking programming. Some of our recent HBO are Ballers, True Blood and Big Love.

1989

First Decade

1989 was a big year. The World Wide Web was invented; the Berlin Wall came down and....the first episode of Seinfeld aired. It was our first decade in business and more change was coming our way.

1992

First TV Show

Baywatch. We were back on the beach with the Baywatch team, this time on network television with NBC. Over the next couple of decades, Sessions went on to work with the big three on some of their keystone projects.

1997

RealPay

Framework Solutions RealPay custom extra's payroll solution for efficient pre-processing of large-scale payroll batches. Greater volume, scalable payroll and automated accuracy.

1998

New Offices

Sessions moves to Burbank. Neighbors to the Cartoon Network and a burgeoning media center and retail complex, Sessions settles in to their current home base.

1998

First Website

Sessions enters the websphere Web developers still wished for bandwidth for streaming television online, but it was a distant dream. Sessions was poised to leverage the developing websphere.

1999

20 Years

We partied like it was 1999. The human population of the world surpassed six billion and we were deep in the information age. Sessions was growing too with a web-based suite of services.

2002

.Net Upgrade

Sessions software partner Framework Solutions develops a browser based .NET upgrade that includes a new custom invoice workflow for Sessions' entertainment payroll operation. Even faster turn-around for clients is implemented.

2005

Custom Reports.

Downloads. A browser based reporting solution to deliver custom reports in either PDF or Excel format is introduced. Production accountants and line producers have data delivered their way.

2007

PLS Deployment

Data Integration. PSL and other entertainment industry package download introduced. With data integration and downloads available over the Internet, near real-time access to key payroll data is available to Sessions clients.

2007

First iPhone

Apple Boom The Blackberry-loyal entertainment industry reacted enthusiastically to Apple’s smartphone cross platform media potential. Sessions browser based technology made the two a perfect fit.

2009

30 Years

Yes we can! Barack Obama inaugurated as 44th President of the United States. In a volatile world marketplace, Sessions stays the course with a loyal staff and state-of-the-art production payroll technology.

2010

First 3000 Projects

Tremendous Growth And gaining on 4000 pretty quickly. Sessions now has an production payroll database of over 50,000 background and extra talent.

2013

First Netflix Project

Streaming Sessions adds online streaming entertainment to our portfolio. Netflix' Lady Dynamite is one of our newest streaming projects.

2019

40 Years

Anniversary. Our first forty is just around the corner. Always ready to adapt to changes in the industry and technology, one thing that never changes with Sessions is exemplary customer service and dependability. See you at our anniversary party in 2019.

Company Biographies

James Knight, CEO

In 1979, Jim was utilizing his Juris Doctor in Law by working with musicians as a union representative in Hollywood when he realized a need in the marketplace to payroll studio musicians. He founded Sessions Payroll and over the next three decades, directed the growth and diversification of the payroll business into broadcast, film and streaming categories.

email: jim@sessionspayroll.com

Nairi, COO

Nairi started with Sessions in 2001 as a personal paymaster. She was instrumental in the deployment of multiple software initiatives and upgrades as well as development of department procedures. In 2012, Nairi returned to Sessions headquarters from the eastern region and was promoted to Chief Operations Officer. She oversees all payroll and customer service policy implementation.

email: nairi@sessionspayroll.com

Katie, Operations - Eastern Region

Katie joined Sessions in 1999 as a personal paymaster and quickly earned a payroll department lead role. Katie is integral to client relations and payroll department operations as well as being the eastern regional contact to film and production offices. She has an extensive, loyal client roster who return to her year after year with their new projects. Katie is available to answer any quote requests.

email: katie@sessionspayroll.com

Framework Solutions Inc.

Framework Solutions is a developer of custom software, databases and fully integrated websites. Since 1997, the Framework team has been integral in developing and implementing Sessions’ state-of-the-art proprietary payroll system. Framework consultants ensure that data integration and customization requests are fulfilled by providing an on-site, accessible representative.

email: info@fwsi.net

D&M Risk Management

D&M Risk Management is Sessions' Workers' Compensation Risk Management consultancy who aggressively but fairly investigates each claim, arranges approved medical treatment and represents its clients in completing and closing cases so its employees can resume work as soon as possible. Sessions OSHA approved safety manual was developed by D&M, who is a widely recognized expert in their field.

Offices

Regions and Locations

Headquarters and Western Region

Burbank, California 91502
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87109

North-Midwest Region

Portland, Oregon 97230
Seattle, Washington 98112

Southern Region

Atlanta, Georgia 30318
Miami, Florida 33125

Eastern Region

New York, New York 10007
Asheville, North Carolina 28806

800.957.4644