LIVE THEATER CAPTIONING
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Whether you’re just getting started with a captioning system for your space, need an overhaul, or an upgrade, we can help. We’ve helped performance venues of all shapes, sizes, and budgets create the perfect solution for displaying captions. Maybe you want to display captions for the entire audience to see—what we call “open captioning”—or need to broadcast them to personal devices that won’t disturb other patrons (you guessed it: “closed captioning”). Perhaps you need a portable captioning kit? Lucky you! We've designed them.
Don't spend 40+ hours trying to use an app like Powerpoint to make your show accessible to your d/Deaf/Hard of Hearing patrons! We've done it, it's awful, and that's why we built CaptionPoint. Send us a caption-ready script instead, and we'll quickly turn it into captions that you can edit yourself, online. Once you're happy, you export your captions with a click of a button that you can run for a weekend, a week, or every performance of the production, on any laptop you own and on any display you choose.
Where you are doesn't matter. We have designed captioning setups and built captions for theaters we've never visited. Minnesota, Tennessee, Virginia, Wisconsin, and even Cannes! and the process works exactly the same as it does across town here in the Windy City. Your theater runs every show night with the help of our software, our documentation, and our sexy 100% human support, but using your gear and your team, so you can make your patrons happy. Nothing in our price list requires us to be in the room.
Matt Bivins has spent his life in and around live performance, and has been typing code into computers for almost as long. Lindsay is a lifelong theater lover who is profoundly deaf. Being married to her made the problem impossible to ignore: the art form Matt loves most was built as if she didn't exist. So together they figured out a way. Now they're helping to make the world more accessible, one script at a time.
Lindsay has lived a lifetime watching captions. So she knows how to turn any script into artful and descriptive text that can be displayed on any screen. Once upon a time the only way she could see a live play is if she read a script beforehand, which is lame. Thanks to her work, she doesn't have that problem any more.
Let's talk hardware. Our DIY Captioning Videos tell you everything you need to run our captions, and with any budget, from "gotta borrow from Uncle Phil" to "we're eyeing that 8k Sony TV". Open captioning, closed captioning, we've done it all, and we'll tell you how to do it. If you need more in-person TLC, we can also video chat from afar or even take a road trip and really be hands-on at your space, for an additional cost (see "more TLC" below).
You send us the final script of your event, an archival video, and an additional sound recording. We custom-build captions for your specific performance, ready for the date you need them (and beyond) and send them in a "just double-click on it" app format that can be opened in any computer. With instructions on how to run your captions that any proud IKEA furniture owner can readily understand.
You run the captions on the day/evening of your performance/event. Or days/evenings of your performances/events. They are yours to keep. Use the gear that you know, the staff that you trust, and provide captions to the patrons that you love depend on and adore. The more shows you caption, the more you're making theater and other live events inclusive to everyone. We salute you, you DIY Captioning Legend, you.
Setting up a TV connected to a laptop with an HDMI cable to run captions isn't particularly tricky. But you might have a very unique space. If our expertly-filmed and written documention mentioned above isn't quite enough to get you started, or if you just really don't like to read or watch things, we would be happy to help you, either in person or through the magic of the internet. A remote or on-site consultation guarantees that we are there to help you build the perfect captioning setup for your venue, whether you use us to build captions, build them yourself, or go elsewhere, for some reason. We want you to get the hardware part tight.
So you like the idea of this whole "CaptionPoint" thing. We look like we're serious about helping you provide accessibility to your d/Deaf and hard of hearing patrons (we are). And you understand that we're able to cut costs for our services because we expect you to do some of the work: put together hardware to view the captions, run the captions during the performances. But you don't actually want to do any work—your time is money, honey. Send us a note here and we can talk about being with you every step of the way: installing, building, running, and probably having a grand old time in the process.
You've got your hardware, you are running our captions at your performance(s) like a freaking captioning machine. But you want even more. More control, even more customization. Plus, you want to stop paying our asses to build captions for every single production. Soon* we'll be able to give you the ability to build your own captions from a script, using the same software that we use, specifically designed to build, edit, and run captions for live events.
Let's talk hardware. Our DIY Captioning Videos tell you everything you need to run our captions, and with any budget, from "gotta borrow from Uncle Phil" to "we're eyeing that 8k Sony TV". Open captioning, closed captioning, we've done it all, and we'll tell you how to do it. If you need more in-person TLC, we can also video chat from afar or even take a road trip and really be hands-on at your space, for an additional cost (see "more TLC" below).
You send us the final script of your event, an archival video, and an additional sound recording. We custom-build captions for your specific performance, ready for the date you need them (and beyond) and send them in a "just double-click on it" app format that can be opened in any computer. With instructions on how to run your captions that any proud IKEA furniture owner can readily understand.
You run the captions on the day/evening of your performance/event. Or days/evenings of your performances/events. They are yours to keep. Use the gear that you know, the staff that you trust, and provide captions to the patrons that you love depend on and adore. The more shows you caption, the more you're making theater and other live events inclusive to everyone. We salute you, you DIY Captioning Legend, you.
A "caption ready" script is a version of the script without stage directions, page numbers, or other information that you wouldn't want to be included in your final captions. Just the character names and their dialogue, please! By converting your script to text format (not PDF), you're saving us a TON of time, and therefore help us to cut the costs for YOU! Click here for an example.
We then get to work "captionpoint-izing" your script! This converts your text-based script into an evening's worth of captions that are still completely readable and therefore editable! When we're done, we add this CaptionPoint-formatted script to our CaptionPoint Online Editor, where you can make any corrections, additions, or tiny tweaks that you like. Most importantly, you'll be able to include the sound descriptions that are so important for your d/Deaf and hard of hearing patrons' enjoyment of your show!
When you're happy with the final product, you click the "Export" button in the Editor, as many times as you need. This converts the script into a downloadable file that any laptop can open and use, with or without internet access. We provide a set of instructions on how to run them live; if you've ever given a slide presentation, you can run captions.
The captions are yours to keep, forever. Get wacky: upgrade your "Accessibility Weekend" into an "Accessibility Week" and allow more people to enjoy your inclusive production. Ask us about how we've provided on-demand "closed" captioning solutions successfully in many spaces. Use the gear that you know, the staff that you trust, and provide captions to the patrons that you depend on and adore. The more shows you caption, the more you're making theater and other live events inclusive to everyone. We salute you, you DIY Captioning Legend, you.
Every performance is included. We build a production's captions once, then your team runs them as many nights as you like, for the whole run and every remount after, at no extra cost.
…but what if I don't have a way to display your beautiful captions, yet?
The CaptionPoint team has a combined 30+ years of design and development experience, theater background, and disability perspective.
We have a unique understanding of a theater's time and budgetary constraints, and know how imperative it is for CaptionPoint to be both affordable and easy to use.
Matthew Bivins has been performing on stage since he was five and typing code into computers for almost that long. He and his brother Evan always preferred designing for non-profits and artsy types; becoming an advocate for accessibility was just the obvious (and correct) choice.
Lindsay Jean provides the CaptionPoint team with the most important perspective of all—that of a person who is deaf. Her insights shape the way the team approaches building this entire system. She's also the very best at turning a script into tasty artful captions.
Alison Kendrick is a recovering actor who took the logical career next step: sales and marketing. After 15 years of honing her digital marketing savvy for other business empires, she created one of her own (AK Shouts!) and happily hopped on board the CaptionPoint Team.
Evan has been designing for web, apps and print since 2008. He and his brother Matt are the perfect team in all things: working on social good projects, non-profits sites, rock and roll, or podcasts about nerd-tastic things. His mission is to make the CaptionPoint user experience effortless, intuitive and effective.
