Audition Side Formatter

What this tool is for. Casting sends sides in whatever format casting uses — a PDF screenshot, an email with mixed formatting, a Final Draft export, a Google Doc with stage directions blocked in. The first ten minutes of your prep usually disappear into re-typing the side so it actually reads. This tool eats whatever format you paste in, drops the stage directions and parentheticals, and gives you a clean character-by-character read you can take straight to a scene partner.

How the detection works. The parser recognises three formats: NAME: line (screenplay-export style), NAME on its own line followed by dialogue (Final Draft style), and inline character labels with stage directions in brackets or parens. Stage direction blocks starting with INT., EXT., CUT TO:, FADE, or wrapped in parens are dropped automatically. Parentheticals inside dialogue are removed because casting wants to hear how you make the choice, not read the writer's note.

Where this fits in the prep week. Format the side the night you get it, then drop straight into a first read with our scene partner. Use the monologue cutter on the long character if the side runs over your audition slot, and the prep schedule builder to lay out the rest of the week if the audition is more than a day away.

Tip: if a character's first line is on the second line under their name (Final Draft block style), the parser still picks them up — paste as-is. If a name is not detected, check it is in all caps with no extra punctuation. The parser treats lowercase or mixed-case prefixes as dialogue, not character names.

Once you have the formatted side, run it cold against our scene partner and the side stops being homework and starts being rehearsal.