EDD confused about reporting film industry gig work with multiple start/stop dates

Film industry here too! You should list the payroll company as ONE employer with the first date you ever worked through them as the start date, and the last date as the end date. For example, if you first did a job through Entertainment Partners in 2023 and your most recent gig through them ended last month, that's your date range. For hours, calculate a true average across the entire period. Add up ALL hours worked through that payroll company and divide by the number of weeks in your entire date range. It'll be a small number because of all the weeks you didn't work, but that's normal for our industry and EDD understands this pattern for entertainment work.

i think ur spposed to list each seprate job individually if they have defrent start and stop dates thats what the form says

This is exactly why our industry is so complicated with EDD! I've been through this nightmare multiple times. The key is understanding that your actual employer is the payroll service (EP, Cast & Crew, etc.), NOT the production companies. For dates: Use the FIRST time you ever worked through that payroll service as start date, and the LAST time as end date. For hours: THIS IS IMPORTANT - the average will look really low because of all your downtime, but that's NORMAL for our industry. EDD knows this. Just calculate your total hours worked through that payroll company divided by total weeks in your date range. ALSO CRUCIAL: Make sure you have all your paystubs organized by payroll company because they WILL ask for proof at some point. They might flag you for a phone interview anyway (they always do with entertainment workers), so be prepared to explain your work pattern.

try calling the edd, theres alot of special rules for entertanment industry workers that the regular form dosent explain very well...good luck getting through lol I spent 3 days trying once

Entertainment industry veteran here with 15+ years of dealing with EDD! The others are mostly right, but let me clarify a few things: 1. For each payroll service company (EP, Cast & Crew, PES, etc), you create ONE entry with the first date you worked through them to the last date. 2. For your weekly hours, calculate the TOTAL hours worked for that payroll company during your entire employment period, then divide by the number of weeks. So if you worked 500 hours total through Entertainment Partners over 50 weeks, your average is 10 hours/week. Yes, this looks low, but it's accurate for our industry's intermittent work pattern. 3. Make sure you have ALL your paystubs! EDD will likely schedule an eligibility interview because entertainment work is often flagged for review. 4. In the "reason for separation" section, select "WORK COMPLETED" or "LACK OF WORK" - NOT laid off or fired. If you follow these steps, you should be good. Film/entertainment claims are common but often require extra verification.

Always list the payroll company as your employer - that's the entity that actually paid you and issued your W-2s. If you have multiple W-2s from different payroll companies, you'll need to create separate employer entries for each payroll company. Also, when they ask for your employer's address, use the payroll company's main office address, not the location of the production. Many film workers get confused about this.

NOT DIRECTLY RELATED but since ur in film industry be careful about the work search requirements when u start certifying!!! They make u list 3 work search activities each week and for our industry that can be weird. I list casting calls I applied to, networking events, checking with my agent, etc. Just document EVERYTHING or they might deny ur payments later!!!!

wait i thght gig workers cant get regular unemploymnt??? didnt they have that special program during covid but its gone now??

Just went through this exact process last month as a camera operator! One thing that really helped me was creating a simple spreadsheet before starting my claim. I listed each payroll company (EP, Cast & Crew, etc.) in separate columns with all the dates I worked through them. This made it super easy to see my first/last dates and calculate total hours. Pro tip: If you worked through the same payroll company on multiple shows over the years, don't try to separate them by production - EDD sees the payroll company as one continuous employer relationship even with gaps. I made this mistake initially and had to call to correct it. Also, save yourself some stress and gather ALL your paystubs now. When (not if) they schedule your eligibility interview, having everything organized by payroll company will make that conversation much smoother. The EDD rep was actually impressed that I had everything ready and it probably helped speed up my approval.

Fellow film industry worker here! I just successfully filed my claim a few weeks ago after dealing with this same confusion. The advice about treating each payroll company as ONE employer is absolutely correct - that's the key insight that made everything click for me. One thing I'd add that helped me specifically: when calculating your average hours, don't stress too much about getting it perfect to the hour. EDD understands that entertainment industry averages will look low compared to traditional jobs. I had worked about 800 hours through Entertainment Partners over 18 months, which came out to roughly 10 hours per week average. Felt weird putting such a low number, but it was accurate and they accepted it without question. Also, definitely keep digital copies of everything! I scanned all my paystubs and organized them in folders by payroll company on my computer. When they called for my eligibility interview, I could pull up any document they asked for instantly. Made the whole process so much less stressful. The film industry employment pattern is more common than you think, so don't worry about being flagged as suspicious - they're used to seeing our weird work schedules!

I'm also in film production and went through this headache about 6 months ago! The confusion about payroll companies vs actual productions is so real - I initially tried to list every single show I worked on as separate employers and it was a total mess. Here's what worked for me: treat the payroll service as your employer, period. So if you worked through Entertainment Partners, Cast & Crew, and Central Casting over the past year, that's three employers max, not dozens of different productions. For the hours calculation, I know it feels wrong to put such a low average, but that's genuinely how our industry works. I worked 1,200 hours through various payroll companies over 2 years, which averaged to about 12 hours per week when I divided by total weeks. Seemed ridiculously low, but EDD didn't bat an eye. One thing that really helped: I created a simple table with columns for payroll company, first date worked, last date worked, and total hours. Made filling out the application so much easier and I had everything ready when they called for my eligibility interview (which they definitely will - almost all entertainment workers get flagged for review, but it's routine, not suspicious). Good luck with your claim! The film industry unemployment process is confusing but totally doable once you understand the payroll company principle.