NDAs, signed on the production’s own pages
When a casting email arrives with an NDA, the actor signs that document, in the app. If they share sides with a fellow actor to read opposite them, that reader signs the same NDA before anything opens. Nothing is reformatted or replaced: each person fills in and signs the production’s own form, in its own blanks, and the production’s signature lines are left untouched.
Until the reader signs, our servers refuse every part of the scene: the lines, the sides PDF, recordings, and the live video call. Hiding them in the page would be easy to get around, so the lock lives on the server.
Every signed copy ends with a signing record:
- the signer’s name and email, as they entered them
- the date and time they signed, to the second, with their time zone
- the IP address and device they signed from
- their signature, drawn or typed
- a SHA-256 fingerprint of the exact document they were shown, so any later change to the original can be detected
- their confirmation that they read the agreement and agreed to sign electronically
The signed copies come back to the actor, and can go out with the self-tape link so casting can download them beside the tape. In the US, the ESIGN Act and UETA, and in Canada, provincial electronic commerce law, generally treat an electronic signature with a record of intent and consent like this as binding. Your own counsel is the right judge of that for a given agreement.
Scripts and sides
The actor’s scripts, notes and markup live on their own device, protected by the device’s encryption. Members who turn on sync keep them in their own iCloud account. There is no Subtext account holding a library of scripts.
To set up a rehearsal, the text of the sides is read by our AI provider, Anthropic, to find the characters, scenes and lines. Anthropic’s commercial terms forbid training on that material. We don’t sell or share scripts with anyone.
Sharing with a reader
A reader gets a private link that opens in their browser, with no app and no account. Each link carries a long random code that can’t be guessed or listed. The link closes after 14 days, and everything shared through it (the sides, the NDA, the recorded lines) is deleted from our servers after 15.
Live reads run over an encrypted video connection. The actor’s own link and the reader’s link are different, and an unsigned NDA keeps everyone but the actor out of the room.
Self-tapes sent to casting
A tape link opens a clean, Subtext-branded page where casting can watch and download the tape, plus any signed NDAs. There are no ads and no other company’s branding. Like reader links, it carries an unguessable code. The link and the files behind it are removed after 7 days.
The audition inbox
Actors can give Subtext its own email address and forward casting emails to it. Each email, its sides and any NDA are stored only long enough to land in the actor’s app, then deleted: 7 days after the app collects them, or 60 days if it never does.
Who handles the data
Subtext runs on a small number of established providers, each doing one job:
- Cloudflare runs our servers and stores shared files, encrypted in transit and at rest.
- Anthropic reads script text to set up rehearsals and to find the blanks on an NDA. Its terms forbid training on it.
- ElevenLabs provides the rehearsal voices and real-time speech recognition. We have opted out of model training on our account.
- Apple distributes the app, handles in-app payments and hosts members’ iCloud sync.
- Stripe handles payments on the web. Card numbers go to Stripe and Apple, never to us.
How long things are kept
What we’re straight about
An NDA is a legal promise, and no software can stop someone who can read a page from repeating it. Subtext’s job is to make sure the right agreement is signed before anything is shared, that there is a solid record of it, and that the material doesn’t linger anywhere it shouldn’t.
- Signers are identified by the name and email they enter. We don’t verify the email with a code, so the actor should send each link only to the person who will read.
- Anyone holding a link can open it until it closes, the same model as a DocuSign or WeTransfer link.
- Subtext is a small company. We don’t hold certifications like SOC 2. If your team needs specifics for a review, ask and we’ll answer them directly.
Questions
For security questions, a review, or to report an issue, write to [email protected]. It reaches the person who built Subtext. See also our privacy policy and where we stand on AI.