For the treasurer and the committee
What you are being asked to approve
Somebody in your company — probably the stage manager, probably at eleven at night — wants to spend a small amount of the group’s money on this. Here is the whole of it on one page: the cost, the term, what it does, and what could go wrong.
The ask
One production: $129, once
| Amount | $129 | US dollars, plus your local sales tax or VAT, added at the checkout |
|---|---|---|
| Covers | One production | Every member of the company — cast, crew and committee — at no extra cost, however many there are |
| Term | None | A one-off purchase. It does not renew, there is nothing to cancel and there is no minimum term |
| Alternative | $79 / month | Only worth considering at three or more productions a year. At two shows a year the one-off is cheaper and we will say so |
| Paperwork | An invoice | Issued in the group’s name, itemised, with the tax shown separately |
| Who pays | You, once | By card, through a link. You do not create an account, choose a password or learn the software |
What it is, without the sales language
The Half Call is a private workspace for one company’s productions. The stage manager puts in the members, the casting and the performance dates; it works out who is needed at which rehearsal, produces the call sheets, tracks who is off book, and keeps the props and costume budget in one place instead of in a notebook and four email threads.
It is designed to take the script your group has already licensed and split it into each actor’s sides — their lines, with the cue line above each one — and to re-issue them when the director cuts something. That is the part that saves the most hours, and it is the part still being built; see what could go wrong below.
It is not a ticketing system, not a website, not an accounting package, and not a place anyone outside your company can see. Nothing about your production is reachable by anyone who is not a member of it.
What it replaces — honestly
Mostly, it does not replace a line in your accounts. It replaces volunteer hours, and we are not going to dress those up as a cash saving on a page you are reading in order to make a financial decision.
What it takes off somebody’s Sunday, in a typical seven-week run-up:
- Typing and sending a call sheet every week, and re-sending it when a date moves.
- Chasing thirty people’s availability by text message, and holding the answers in one person’s head.
- Going through the script with a highlighter, part by part.
- Doing all of the above again after a cut.
The one cash line it may actually reduce is photocopying — sides and call sheets printed and reprinted through a run. Whether that is worth anything to you depends on what your group currently spends on paper, and you know that number and we do not.
The real argument is retention of the one volunteer who does all of it. A stage manager who spends her Sundays on administration is a stage manager you eventually lose.
What could go wrong
The product is not finished
This is the material one and it belongs at the top. The Half Call is in early build. The scheduling and company workspace are being built now; script parsing, sides, line learning and the assistant are specified and are not yet working. If your approval is being sought on the strength of sides, the honest answer is: not yet. Use the thirty free days to check what is actually there before any money moves.
We are small and new
A supplier this young can fail. What that means for you is bounded on purpose: there is no minimum term and no annual contract, so the most you can lose is the production you have paid for. Everything the product makes — call sheets, sides, the schedule — is printable, and print is treated as a real output, not an afterthought.
The script and the licence
Your group brings its own licensed script. The Half Call never distributes it: no export, no download, no public link, and printed pages carry your licence reference. Where a licensor does not permit copies, the features that would make copies stay switched off and everything else still works. The full position is here, and it is worth two minutes of a committee’s time.
Your members’ personal details
The Half Call holds names, email addresses and, if people give them, mobile numbers — the same information your membership secretary already holds. One company’s data is separated from every other company’s at the database itself, not merely by the application being careful. The privacy notice is here.
Somebody forgets to cancel
They cannot. The Production Pack does not renew, and the free trial has no card attached to charge. If your group takes the monthly Season plan instead, that one does renew until somebody cancels it — which is the ordinary risk of any subscription and worth a diary note.
What we will never ask you for
A charge per member
Not at any tier, not at any size. Your company members are volunteers and pricing that grows with your cast punishes you for a good year.
An annual contract
No minimum term and no notice period. A society that folds should not be pursued for eleven months of fees.
A card to look around
The thirty days need no card, and nothing charges automatically when they end.
A sales call
There is no demo to book and no one will ring your chairman. If you have a question, write to us and a person answers it.
Wording for the minutes, if it helps
Committees minute spending decisions. Take this, change it, or ignore it.
RESOLVED that the committee approves expenditure of US$129, plus local tax, on The Half Call — a production workspace — for the forthcoming production only. The purchase is a one-off with no minimum term and no automatic renewal. An invoice will be issued in the group's name. The treasurer is authorised to pay by card via the link supplied. Further productions would require further approval.
Questions a committee needs answered before it can vote are exactly the questions we want. Ask them.