January 18, 2013

By Richard Verrier

Cast & Crew Entertainment Services, one of the industry's largest payroll service providers, is changing hands.

The Burbank company announced that it has been acquired by an investor group led by ZM Capital, ZelnickMedia’s private equity fund. The company was previously owned by Abry Partners.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1976, Cast & Crew provides payroll services, workers' compensation insurance and consulting on production incentives for the motion picture, television, live entertainment and commercial industries. The company has operations in New York; Albuquerque; Atlanta; Baton Rouge, La.; New Orleans; Detroit; Philadelphia; Wilmington; Toronto; and Vancouver, Canada. An office is scheduled to open in London this year.

ZelnickMedia, a partnership of media professionals led by former 20th Century Fox and BMG executive Strauss Zelnick, has diverse holdings in the music, television, video game and interactive entertainment businesses.

Cast & Crew’s current management team will continue to lead the company.

"The ZelnickMedia team values and supports Cast & Crew’s mission to provide the market-leading service and best-in-class products that have defined us for the last 37 years," Eric Belcher, Cast & Crew’s president and chief executive, said in a statement.

"We are thrilled to have a partner who will continue to champion our aggressive investments in technology, personnel and workflow processes with a proven track record of taking media and entertainment companies to the next level of success."

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