What workers comp class code does a film, video or animation company use in California?
A class code is the number a rating bureau gives a kind of work, and comp is priced on the payroll in each one. California’s rating bureau (WCIRB) classifies production companies under 9610, Motion Pictures production, in its manual effective September 1, 2026. The same manual says employees who only edit digital files on computer editing equipment, and employees who create animation with computer or digital tools, are assignable to 8810 Clerical Office Employees or 8871 Clerical Telecommuter Employees, subject to its Standard Exceptions rule. A company doing only computer video post-production for other productions under contract is 7607(1), Video Post-Production. The carrier assigns the codes from what each person actually does.
Tell us the situation.
One licensed human replies the same business day — not five agents, not an auto-responder. If the policy you have is already the right one, we will tell you.
We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.
Send us what you have. We’ll tell you if it’s right.
Your current policy paperwork, a renewal notice, or nothing at all. A licensed agent reads it and replies the same business day.
Who does what, and the California code the 2026 manual points to
Paraphrased from the WCIRB manual effective September 1, 2026. Your carrier assigns the codes from each person’s real duties.
Shooting films, shows, commercials or music videos
- California code
- 9610
- What decides it
- The company specializes in production, on any media
Only editing digital files on computer editing equipment
- California code
- 8810 or 8871
- What decides it
- Exclusively that work, and the Standard Exceptions rule
Creating animation with computer or digital tools
- California code
- 8810 or 8871
- What decides it
- The Standard Exceptions rule
Computer video post for other productions, under contract
- California code
- 7607(1)
- What decides it
- The employer does only that work
Audio post for other productions, under contract
- California code
- 7607(2)
- What decides it
- The employer does only that work
Developing, printing or distributing film for others
- California code
- 4362
- What decides it
- Film-based work, not computer post
Running a music recording studio
- California code
- 7610
- What decides it
- Classed with broadcasting stations
Office staff who work from home more than half the time are 8871 rather than 8810.
The detail
California’s 9610 applies to companies that specialize in producing motion pictures, television features, commercials, music videos, videotaped depositions or court proceedings, or industrial films, whether recorded on film stock, videotape, digital or other media.
Under 9610, employees engaged exclusively in electronic editing of digital files on computerized editing equipment are assignable to 8810 Clerical Office Employees or 8871 Clerical Telecommuter Employees, subject to the manual’s Standard Exceptions rule.
Under 9610, employees who create animation using computer or digital applications are likewise assignable to 8810 or 8871, subject to the Standard Exceptions rule.
In 9610 the pay of actors, musicians, producers and the director responsible for all aspects of the production counts toward the premium only up to $171,600 per person per year, prorated by the weeks worked. Assistant and associate directors are not capped.
7607(1), Video Post-Production, applies to employers engaged exclusively in computer or electronic video post-production for other concerns on a contract basis, includes their clerical staff and outside salespeople, and counts each employee’s pay up to $171,600 a year.
Video post-production a production company does on its own productions is not 7607(1). The manual sends it to 8810 or 8871, subject to the Standard Exceptions rule.
Audio post-production done for other productions under contract is 7607(2), Audio Post-Production, and music recording studios are classified with broadcasting stations under 7610.
8871 applies to clerical office employees who work more than half their time at home or in other office space away from any of the employer’s locations.
New York’s 9610 covers a production’s operations up to the development of the negatives, and developing, printing and editing are rated separately under 4360, which the manual says includes digital editing and editing tape received from others.
New Jersey’s 9610 counts the pay of directors, players, entertainers and musicians up to a maximum average of $3,320 a week each.
NJCRIB, New Jersey Rate and Classification Handbook, effective January 1, 2026, code 9610
The bureau class lists for North Carolina and Wisconsin both list motion picture production in studios or outside under 7610, the code they use for radio and television broadcasting stations.
What this means for you
- Describe each job, not the company. A production company is 9610, but the manual looks at people. An editor who never leaves the edit bay and a grip on a night shoot are different exposures, and the application should say who does which.
- “Assignable” is not automatic. The clerical codes for editors and animators come with the Standard Exceptions rule attached. Whether a given person qualifies depends on their actual duties, and the carrier makes the call at binding and again at audit.
- Doing post for others is its own class. A company that only does computer post for other productions under contract is 7607(1), with every employee in it. Cutting your own shows in house does not make you a post house.
- Crossing a state line can change the code. New York rates editing apart from production under 4360, New Jersey caps performer pay by the week, and the North Carolina and Wisconsin lists put production under 7610. A crew that works in several states is classified state by state.
- An AI studio is read the same way. The California wording already covers animation made with computer or digital applications. Staff who work only at screens are described by the clerical exception, and anyone on a stage, a set or a location shoot is production work.
Want this handled? Get a quote.
One licensed human replies the same business day. We do not sell your details or pass them to lead networks. Privacy policy.
Related questions
- Is an AI film or animation studio classified as motion picture production in California?
It depends on what the people do. The 2026 WCIRB manual applies 9610 to companies that specialize in production on any media, digital included, and says employees who create animation with computer or digital applications are assignable to 8810 or 8871 under the Standard Exceptions rule. Staff on a set, a stage or a location shoot are production work. The carrier decides each person’s code from their duties.
- Insurance for AI animation and video studios
- Does California cap the payroll counted for actors and directors?
Yes, in 9610. The manual effective September 1, 2026 counts the pay of actors, musicians, producers and the director responsible for the whole production up to $171,600 per person per year, prorated by the weeks they worked. Assistant and associate directors are not capped.
- We edit our own shows in house. Are we a post-production company?
Not for this purpose. California’s 7607(1) is for employers doing only computer or electronic video post for other productions under contract. The manual says post work a production company does on its own projects goes to 8810 or 8871 instead, subject to the Standard Exceptions rule.
- What is the Standard Exceptions rule?
It is the rule in Part 3 of the California manual that governs when an employee can be assigned to 8810 clerical or 8742 outside sales. The 9610 and 7607(1) wording both point editors and animators to it, so whether a particular editor qualifies is decided under that rule, by the carrier, from what the person actually does.
- How is this different in New York and New Jersey?
New York’s manual (2020 edition, pages reprinted through October 2026) limits 9610 to production up to the development of negatives and rates developing, printing and editing under 4360, digital editing included. New Jersey’s 2026 handbook also uses 9610 and counts directors, players, entertainers and musicians up to an average of $3,320 a week each.
- Workers comp in New York
- Can a wrong code be fixed?
Usually, and the audit at the end of the policy is where codes get checked against payroll records. If your editors or animators are in 9610 and spend their days at a workstation, ask your agent to raise it with the carrier with a description of their duties. Do not describe anyone’s job as something it is not, because the audit and any claim will test it.
- What a workers comp audit checks
Need this handled?
Reading about it and having it handled are different jobs, and the second one is ours. We place the accounts other brokers decline — claims history, a cancellation, an unusual operation, a business nobody wants to underwrite twice — and we will tell you when the policy you already have is the right one. Tell us the situation and a licensed human replies the same business day.
Want this handled? Get a quote.
One licensed human replies the same business day. We do not sell your details or pass them to lead networks. Privacy policy.
Written by Kevin Kelsey, founder and principal agent, CA License #6011822, at Boring Insurance. Last updated 2026-10-27. See all guides.