First Read Studio

First Read Studio runs on Macs with macOS 15 or later. Core editing works offline. Optional cloud tools need an internet connection and the connection you choose for that service.

A few tools need newer software. The First Mark Touch Workspace on iPad, for example, requires macOS 27 or later.

Choose $19.99 a month or $149.99 a year, each with a 14-day free trial for eligible Apple Accounts and renewing until canceled, or pay $295 once for a Lifetime Unlock with no trial and no renewal. Every plan unlocks the same full app.

Without a plan, the app is read-only. Every project still opens, exports, prints and emails, so your work is never held hostage, but editing, starting new projects and the AI tools need a plan.

• Companion apps. Included at no additional charge when they arrive.
• Creator Casting. The first 50 auditions are included, with paid tiers for more.
• Production Portal. $14.99 per seat for team members who don’t use First Read Studio. Anyone who already has the app joins at no charge.

Choose one of four ways to begin:

• New Script. A feature or short screenplay.
• New Documentary. Opens First String.
• New Channel. Opens First Creator.
• New Production. The producer’s file for a film or documentary. It opens without a script and connects to the writer’s pages through Script Link.

Each project becomes a folder inside your First Read Studio folder, with a place already set up for every tool’s exports, so you’re never asked where to save in the middle of a task. To reuse a setup you trust, choose New from Existing. It copies only the setup you select and never your creative material.

From the Launcher, start a new project or bring in a Final Draft (FDX), Fountain or Highland file. When First Proof fixes something, the change writes back to your original FDX or Fountain file, and nothing else is reformatted.

Notes from outside the app come in through Reader Notes, from annotated PDFs, Final Draft ScriptNotes, Word or Google Docs comments and more. Each note is anchored to the line, page, scene or character it’s about.

Each mode’s demo card offers two ways in. Take the Tour is a visual introduction to that mode’s tools, and Open Sample opens the same demo project with no tour. Neither one touches your own projects.

For a first screenplay, First Steps coaches you through one part of the draft at a time. Press Command-K at any time to search your projects and the Launcher’s actions at once.

You don’t need AI to use First Read Studio. First Proof, the breakdown, scheduling and budgeting all work offline.

When you do want AI, you choose the engine for each tool: Apple Intelligence on your Mac or through Private Cloud Compute where your Mac offers it, or a cloud model such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude, using your own connection or API key in Settings. Before any AI feature runs, you see its engine, its purpose and the data it will use, and nothing is sent until you approve it. A log records every machine action, and productions can limit AI tools or turn them off.

To choose the language AI writes in, open Settings, then General, and set AI Output Language.

Access starts at nothing. People you invite see only the tools you give them, and you can preview exactly what they’ll see before you send an invite.

Documents open as pre-filled Mail drafts, and nothing is sent or published without you. Cast and crew who don’t use First Read Studio can join a production through the Production Portal on the web, and applicants can send auditions through Creator Casting.

When a paper edit is ready, send it to your editor as a timeline for Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve or Avid Media Composer. The timeline comes with markers, notes, a reference video and a folder holding only the media the cut uses.

When the editor sends a cut back, First Read Studio compares it line by line and shows what was kept, trimmed, spliced, added or dropped. Nothing changes until you approve it, so the paper edit, claims and consent stay in step with the real cut.

Each cast and crew member gets one pass in Apple Wallet on iPhone for the whole production. When a new call sheet goes out, the pass updates with the new call time and location, and it appears on the lock screen that morning.

At base camp, a Mac scans the pass using a connected iPhone as its camera, and the scan starts that person’s timecard. The code changes daily, so yesterday’s screenshot can’t check anyone in.

VoiceOver, Full Keyboard Access, Voice Control, Switch Control, reduced motion, reduced transparency and increased contrast work throughout the app.

Your project file lives on your Mac, and the app can reach only the files you open, a limit macOS enforces. First Read Studio doesn’t run a server that syncs your projects.

The web portals, Creator Casting and the Production Portal, use First Read Studio’s hosted services only when you choose to use them. Cloud AI requests go only to the provider you pick, after you approve them.