Yes, you can post a show for free from your studio's admin tools. There are size limits for shows in the free tier and some advanced tools are only available with a paid upgrade (compare plans). Alternatively, you can use the DIY Director Demo to explore all the tools on a fake show that already has a full cast list.
Cast98 is FREE for nonprofits and schools. There are size limits for shows in the free tier but even the paid upgrade is designed to be affordable for nonprofit and educational organizations. See pricing
Yes, you can absolutely use Cast98 as long as you don't mind nomenclature like auditions, rehearsals, and shows. Dance studios, schools, drama clubs, chorus groups, film studios... heck, even sports teams, study groups, and non-performance-based organizations can benefit from Cast98's powerful scheduling tools.
Yes, you can start adding rehearsals to the schedule right away after you post a show. You'll likely want to add some characters and groups to tag as attendees, which does not require a cast list.
However, if you wish to navigate conflicts then your cast members will need to submit the audition form. Then you can add them to the cast list which unlocks cast resources for them on your show (like the rehearsal schedule).
In addition to capturing conflict calendars, your show's audition form is how performers give their permission for directors to see and use their private information. Privacy is paramount!
Honestly, it would be a disservice to your performers if they don't get direct access to it on Cast98 because they could not use the "Just Mine" filter or the one-click save to calendar - two of the most popular tools on our platform!
No, and for good reason. This is a long answer, but I promise it's worth the read!
The whole reason I built Cast98 was to make scheduling easier for directors - that's the original and still primary mission. In the beginning, I too thought a CSV import tool was the obvious place to start. But what quickly became apparent in the early days as I interviewed directors is that everyone has their own spreadsheet formatted in their own way and they've been doing it that way since the dawn of time.
So in practice, offering an import tool means establishing a universal format for CSV files (row headers, date formats, time formats, cast member names, assigned roles, groups and/or scenes, notations, blah blah blah). Each director would have to comb through their spreadsheet and make it conform to the established format. That's a lot of time you personally would have to spend (probably 4+ hours even for a small show) before you even get into Cast98, not to mention having to double-check it after the import to make sure everything is in order. This is decidedly NOT reducing the burden on directors but rather adding a new layer.
The much easier way - as it became clear to me trying to build the tools - is for you the director to simply ask your cast members to take 5 minutes and submit their conflict calendar (again) so that it gets into "the system we'll be using for the rehearsal schedule". You send that invitation (there's a template you can use in your shows's Director Tools > Email Templates), go have dinner, and by the time you return to your laptop most of your cast will be in the auditionee dashboard ready to go!
Plus, now that the performers have their own individual accounts and you've put them on your cast list, they can:
These are the glorious fringe benefits of including your cast and inviting them to use Cast98, and it's really no surprise these are the most popular features on the platform.
I guarantee you'll save time in the long run - even if your current show is already past auditions. Still not convinced? Well then hopefully you'll come back when you're gearing up for next season!
Yes! If anyone who submitted the audition form for your show later makes changes to their conflict calendar, you will see a notation on your auditionee dashboard. You can open up an individual audition form to Save & Sync Conflicts on a case-by-case basis, or you can use the Sync All Conflicts button at the top to approve all changes for everyone with a single click.
The built-in audition form includes all the most common information asked at an audition, including contact info, past experience, and of course the conflict calendar. With an XL studio membership, you can unlock full customization to disable and enable sections or even write your own questions.
Yes you can! Repertory companies do this every year - they hold one big audition call and cast multiple shows, usually in the summer. Here is a help guide explaining how to have one audition for many shows.
The gist is to post all your shows and create one extra. Give the extra an arbitrary name like General Auditions, and use it to manage your audition process. Once you sort out your casting decisions, have cast members submit the audition form on the appropriate real show - a step that only takes them 2 minutes because all of their info (including conflict calendar) is saved on their profile from the previous audition submission - so each show director can fill their cast list and start booking rehearsals.
Headshot and resume uploads are included for performers on their profile. They can update these at any time and the auditionee dashboard will always show the current version.
Yep! The one-click save to calendar is one of our most popular tools. Your cast and crew can export any rehearsal to their preferred calendar app.
If you need to reset your password, follow the Forgot My Password prompts next time you try to login. If you don't receive the password reset email within a couple minutes, confirm that your registered email address is correct and check your spam folder. Add "noreply@cast98.com" to your email address book to ensure delivery.
If you don't receive the reset email after confirming there are no typos in your email address, and you confirmed that it didn't land in spam, please contact support and ask for a direct link to reset your password.
The system checks time slot capacity whenever an auditionee loads the final step of the form, so it is possible if several people are signing up at the same time that the system may not have a chance to block a popular time slot for everyone. This has the highest chance to occur when you first announce that auditions are open, since that's likely when the most people will hurry to get their preferred time.
To lessen the chance of overbooking, schedule audition times for small groups insted of individual sessions, if possible. For example, you might schedule 6 people in 30-minute intervals (call them "arrival times") instead of booking individual time slots every 5 minutes. Auditionees usually don't mind waiting a few minutes, you will be less likely to overbook, AND you'll be less likely to fall behind schedule when someone inevitably runs late.
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