Hi Beth Welch. Thank you for taking the time to share this.

First, I want to reassure you of one thing right away: You can still pay out of pocket if you prefer. Nothing about the new model prevents an individual AD from putting down their own card for the production’s bill.

The change is simply that we now bill per production instead of per individual, because that’s how every other core production tool (Scenechronize, SyncOnSet, RABS, etc.) is structured and because scheduling software should be, in practice, a production expense rather than something ADs personally pay for.

There’s also an industry-wide reality: Individual-based pricing isn’t sustainable for highly specialized professional software. Tools like Excel or Word can charge individuals because billions of people use them. Film scheduling software serves a much smaller professional community, and pricing it as a personal subscription is one of the reasons Movie Magic went decades without meaningful updates. For Cinapse to keep improving, pricing has to align with how productions and studios actually use the product. And practically speaking, you can’t make a movie without scheduling software (unless we all go back to paper boards!).

Aligning pricing with the production ensures Cinapse can continue investing in the tools, speed, and innovation that every AD and filmmaker deserves.

That said, we fully understand that some productions won’t pay right away. In those situations, AD teams are absolutely welcome to self-pay just as before. For example, a 3-person team on a 50-day shoot using the Team plan ($14.99/unit/day for 3 seats) works out to $4.99/day per AD, roughly the price of a coffee and less than four minutes of a DGA AD’s hourly rate. Even a larger team using Team Pro ($49.99/unit/day for 10 seats) still comes to about $4.99/day per AD. Unlimited prep is included; you only pay for shoot days.

You’ll also always keep your personal Cinapse account, all prior schedules, and the ability to start new ones. You can begin a show for free on the Starter Team tier during development and upgrade to Team or Team Pro once it’s officially moving forward.

We built this model so ADs wouldn’t have to go back to Movie Magic and so Cinapse can remain the tool you rely on for every production. We genuinely appreciate your feedback and are here to support you and your team in whatever way works best, whether an individual pays or the production pays.

Thank you!

Agreed. There needs to be a cheaper yearly subscription for individuals, maybe in line with MM10, especially if productions are unable / not willing to pay for a schedule only program for their 1st AD. Hope this will be taken onboard and a happy medium can be found, as I really don't want to have to go back to using MM. Thanks

Beth, Movie Magic is also a paid software, unless someone is using a pirated version. If our goal is to move to a platform that truly addresses all the limitations of Movie Magic, then investing in a better tool makes sense. Ten dollars spread over a month ends up being a very small cost considering the practicality and efficiency Cinapse offers compared to Movie Magic. And at this point, Movie Magic has shifted to a monthly subscription model while delivering far less than Cinapse.

Agreed. There should be a self-pay option (maybe cheaper than the production-paid version that limits the number of admins to the schedule?)