Wrapbook and 1099Policy

Wrapbook covers the crew on payroll. The 1099s need their own policy.

Wrapbook's workers' comp covers the employees and loan-outs it pays. Anyone Wrapbook pays as a Contractor, or who invoices you directly, isn't covered.

Wrapbook's help center says it directly: a worker classified as a Contractor is not covered under Wrapbook's workers' compensation policy. Read the source

These aren't competing products. Wrapbook runs production payroll and accounting, and it provides workers' compensation for the people it puts on payroll. On most commercial shoots a few people stay 1099 anyway: the one-day specialist, the editor, the retoucher. Eligible contractors can pick up coverage for the assignment through 1099Policy, in their own name, with certificates issued before the first shoot day.

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Side by side

Wrapbook runs production payroll. 1099Policy places coverage in the freelancer's name.

Wrapbook and 1099Policy comparison table
FeatureWrapbook Pays the crew1099Policy Places coverage
What it's forProduction payroll, accounting, and AP for film, TV, and commercial workInsurance for US contractors on an assignment, and the certificate that proves it
How the worker is engagedOn payroll as a W-2 employee, or through a loan-out companyStays an independent contractor and holds the policy in their own name
Workers' compProvided for production employees and loan outsPlaced in the eligible contractor's own name, per assignment
Crew who stay 1099Wrapbook publishes that it doesn't provide workers' comp for contractorsEligible contractors get covered for the assignment before work starts
General liability and specialty linesNot published as part of the payroll productAvailable in the contractor's name alongside workers' comp
Pricing (Oct 2026)Payroll estimator shows a platform fee and employer costs, workers' comp included, as percentages of gross wagesTwo costs, two payers. The contractor pays the premium as the named insured; you pay for platform access, quoted at program setup
Best fitProductions putting crew on payrollThe freelancers who stay 1099 alongside that payroll
The honest version

If everyone on the job is on Wrapbook payroll, you don't need us.

If everyone on the call sheet goes on payroll, you're done and there's nothing for us to add. Wrapbook is a better payroll and production accounting system than we'll ever be, because we don't do payroll at all. This page is only about the names that stay 1099 next to that payroll. If a freelancer is on payroll only because a client wanted proof of insurance, that one is worth a second look.

Wrapbook's help center answers the coverage question directly:

"If you are classified as a Contractor, you are not covered under Wrapbook's workers' compensation policy."

Wrapbook Help Center, Understanding your worker classification. Read the source, checked October 2026.

Wrapbook's project setup documentation tells producers to enter only the employees and loan outs they plan to pay when the production applies for workers' compensation. It gives the reason in one line:

"Wrapbook does not provide workers' compensation insurance for contractors."

Wrapbook Help Center, Project Setup: Workers' compensation. Read the source, checked October 2026.

Wrapbook details on this page come from what the company publishes. Last checked October 2026, next check January 2027.

How the two fit together

Wrapbook covers its employees and loan-outs. Freelancers outside that need their own coverage.

On payroll

Crew hired as employees, and loan-out companies, run through Wrapbook. Their workers' comp comes with that payroll. Nothing changes and we don't touch it.

Handled by Wrapbook

Staying 1099

Anyone invoicing you directly sits outside that payroll, and outside the coverage that comes with it. Eligible contractors pick up coverage for the assignment while they onboard, in their own name, with the certificate issued before day one.

See how coverage gets issued →

About the coverage. Written per assignment in the contractor's own name and backed by a licensed carrier. Available to eligible contractors. Eligibility depends on underwriting for the type of work and the state. Workers' comp is available in 46 states and Washington, DC. North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, and Wyoming run their own state funds. Construction trades aren't covered. Insurance doesn't change how a worker is classified.

For how agencies set this up across a whole freelancer roster, see how agencies insure freelancers without an employer of record.

Illustrative example

A three-day commercial, and the six names nobody planned for.

An agency books a three-day shoot. Thirty-one crew go on payroll through Wrapbook, union and non-union, plus four loan-out companies. Their workers' comp comes with the payroll, and that part is settled before the first call time.

Six more people invoice the agency directly: a colorist, two editors, a retoucher, a motion designer, and a stills photographer brought on for one afternoon. None of them are on the payroll, so none of them are inside its coverage, and business affairs finds out when it asks for certificates in week two. Eligible contractors in that group can be covered for the assignment during onboarding, which moves the question to the front of the job instead of the middle of it. If none of them carried workers' comp, your carrier's auditor can add what you paid them to your own premium.

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Common questions

What production teams ask when Wrapbook is already in place.

The questions business affairs and producers ask most when Wrapbook already runs payroll.

No, and it couldn't. Wrapbook runs production payroll, accounting, and AP. We don't do payroll at all. If Wrapbook is your payroll system, it stays your payroll system.

You can pay them through Wrapbook, but they won't be covered. Wrapbook's workers' comp applies to employees and loan-outs, not to workers it pays as Contractors. Wrapbook also says contractor status is rare in entertainment, and that many states, California among them, require most on-set workers to be employees. Freelancers who stay independent, usually in post and other off-set roles, need workers' comp in their own name.

TakeOne is the employer of record Wrapbook uses for workers' comp. Its own FAQ says there's no coverage for independent contractors or workers it doesn't pay. Read TakeOne's FAQ

Because of how their own documentation scopes it. Wrapbook's setup guide tells producers to enter only the employees and loan outs they plan to pay, and says that Wrapbook doesn't provide workers' compensation insurance for contractors. Anyone invoicing you directly as a 1099 sits outside that.

Yes. Payroll crew go through Wrapbook. Contractors who stay 1099 hold coverage in their own name, placed through 1099Policy, and the certificate can be collected wherever you already collect certificates.

You can, but it changes the job. Wrapbook pays them as employees, so their tax status changes and you pay employer costs on top of their wages. Wrapbook's payroll estimator lists those costs, workers' comp included, as percentages of gross wages. When a freelancer stays independent, their workers' comp has to be in their own name.

Wrapbook's guide says the production company is the employer of record for anyone it pays as a Contractor. The classification call stays with you. Wrapbook also says contractor status is rare in entertainment and is set by the production.

Wrapbook's documentation puts loan outs inside the coverage it provides. The gap is the contractor invoicing as an individual or a sole proprietor with no policy behind them, which on commercial work is often the post and specialty roles.

Yes, if they're eligible. Coverage is written for the assignment in the freelancer's own name and runs only as long as the job, up to one year.

Two costs, paid by two parties. The contractor pays the premium as the named insured, rated against the engagement. Your company pays for platform access, quoted when the program is set up. See pricing

Workers' comp is available in 46 states and Washington, DC. North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, and Wyoming run their own state funds, so coverage is bought from the state there. Construction trades aren't covered.

No. Insurance doesn't determine how a worker is classified. Classification turns on the whole relationship and the test that applies in your state, and should be reviewed with counsel. In New Jersey, since October 1, 2026, coverage a company requires or encourages a contractor to carry doesn't count as evidence of independence under N.J.A.C. 12:11. What changes in New Jersey

Call to action section for 1099Policy

Payroll is handled. The 1099s don't have to be a scramble.

Coverage for eligible contractors who stay 1099, in their own name, with certificates issued before the first shoot day.

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