Legal

Terms of Service

Effective date: August 13, 2026

Who we are: Theater1, a service of Time To Sizzle, LLC, based in Missouri, USA ("Theater1," "we," "us"). These terms are a binding contract between you and us when you use jointheater1.com. If you don't agree with them, don't use the service.

We wrote these to be readable. The plain-English summaries are here to help, but the full text is what governs.

1. The short version

Theater1 is an invite-only home for finished work. Creators premiere features and series; fans watch previews free, and buy, back, or support the people who made them. Creators keep 85% of every fan dollar. We sell work, never attention. Be honest, don't steal, don't interrupt the show.

2. Who can use Theater1

You must be 18 or older to create an account, whether as a fan or a creator. Watching free previews requires no account. Fan accounts are created by invite; creator accounts are created by application and admission only. You are responsible for your account and for keeping your password to yourself.

3. Creators

Your work stays yours. Uploading to Theater1 transfers no copyright to us. You grant Theater1 a limited, non-exclusive license to host, transcode, stream, and display your work on the platform, to show your name and artwork in promotion of your work on Theater1, and nothing more. This license is worldwide and royalty-free, lasts only while your work is on the platform, and ends when you remove the work or leave — except that we may keep a title available to fans who already bought it, so their permanent license is honored.

You promise it's yours to upload. You must own or control all rights in what you publish, including music, footage, and appearances. You are responsible for releases and licenses.

Finished work only. Features must be complete at publication. Series must be complete before episode one airs. We may decline or unpublish work that violates the platform's content standards.

The door. Admission is at our editorial discretion, and so is continued presence. We can decline applications and remove work or accounts that violate these terms. If we remove you for anything other than a legal violation, you keep access to your fan list export and your earned balance, and we pay out any earned balance on our normal payout schedule.

Money. Creators receive 85% of every fan payment (purchases, patronage, backing, tips), calculated on the gross amount the fan pays. Card processing costs are borne by Theater1 out of our share, never deducted from yours. The remaining 15% covers the referral share (5% of the fan payment, paid to whoever brought that fan) and the platform share (10% of the fan payment, which is where processing costs land). Every ledger line itemizes all of it: the fan's payment, your 85%, the referral share, our share, and the processing cost we absorbed. Example: on a $12 purchase, you receive $10.20, always. If Theater1 offers revenue-splitting tools in the future (for example, sharing your earnings with collaborators), any such split comes out of your 85% only at your explicit instruction, and never increases our share. Payouts run through Stripe Connect; you must complete Stripe onboarding, including identity verification and tax forms. A $19/month platform subscription applies to creator accounts; it is waived for life for founding creators (including Founding Fifty and Maker Seat). The fee is charged monthly and itemized on your ledger. Prices you set must fall within platform bounds.

Theater1 Presents (optional). You may choose, per title and only by a separate written agreement, to have Theater1 produce that title's release under the Theater1 Presents tier. Under such an agreement your share on that title is 70% (the referral share stays 5%) for a defined window, typically 24 months from premiere, after which it reverts to 85% automatically. It applies only to the title named in the agreement and only for its window; every other title stays at 85%. This is never required to use Theater1 or to premiere, and you can decline it. The specific services and window are listed in that title's agreement.

Your fans are yours. You may export the list of fans who have paid you (display name, email, history) at any time. Fans consent to this sharing when they pay you (see Privacy Policy). Use it lawfully; no spam.

Dispatch. Theater1 may send email or SMS to your audience on your behalf as a prepaid messaging service (Dispatch). Convenience must never become captivity: your full list — including contacts gathered or engaged through Dispatch, opens where we have them, and opt-outs — remains exportable any day, no questions. Dispatch is a service on top of your property, never a wrapper around it. Purchased or scraped lists are banned. SMS requires fresh express consent on Theater1 (or via our text keyword); imported email lists may not be texted. Every message carries a one-tap unsubscribe and our physical address, and opt-outs are honored immediately.

Sponsorship rules. Sponsored support inside your work is allowed with plain disclosure in the credits. No mid-roll interruptions. No work that is itself an advertisement.

4. Fans

Previews are free. No account needed.

Buying a title. A purchase gives you a permanent, personal, non-transferable license to stream the title on Theater1, and to download it where the creator allows. It's your shelf, for personal use. A purchase is not a copyright transfer, and it doesn't include public screening, redistribution, or re-uploading anywhere. If a title must ever be removed for legal reasons, we will make reasonable efforts to preserve your access or refund the purchase.

Backing. When you back a creator's next work, you're charged immediately. The creator commits to delivering the work within 12 months of the backing campaign's close, or you're entitled to a refund of your backing. Backing is support, not investment; you receive no ownership, revenue share, or securities of any kind.

Patronage. Monthly support of a creator is exactly that: support of the person. It carries no promised content, schedule, or deliverables, and you can cancel anytime, effective at the end of the paid month.

Credits. Purchases and backings can place your chosen display name in a title's credits with a backer number. Keep the name civil; we can remove names that violate these terms. You can opt out per purchase.

Refunds. Purchases are refundable within 14 days if you've streamed less than 15 minutes of the title. Backing refunds follow the 12-month rule above. Patronage isn't refundable for completed months. To request a refund, email bear@timetosizzle.com.

5. The rules of the house

Don't upload work you don't have rights to. Don't rip, re-upload, or redistribute titles. Don't harass creators or members, in chat or anywhere on the platform. No hate content, no sexual content involving minors of any kind, no spam, no scraping, no attempts to bypass the paywall or invite system, no reverse engineering. Premiere chat closes when the credits roll; what happens in the room stays civil. We can suspend or terminate accounts that break these rules.

Content you post. Beyond films (covered in §3), you may submit other content — talkback questions and answers, premiere-room chat, messages, and the display name you choose for credits or your profile. For that content you grant Theater1 a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to store, display, and process it as needed to run the feature you posted it in (for example, showing a question on a title's board, your chosen name in a credit roll, or delivering a creator's message to you). You keep ownership of what you post; this license lasts only as long as the content is on the platform, and you're responsible for ensuring what you post is yours to share and follows the rules above.

6. Copyright complaints (DMCA)

We respond to valid takedown notices under the DMCA. Send notices to our designated agent at bear@timetosizzle.com. Include the statutory elements; counter-notices follow the statutory process. Repeat infringers lose their accounts. Full process and our designated agent are on the Copyright & DMCA Policy page.

7. The platform

We host and stream through third-party infrastructure and process payments through Stripe. We'll run the service with care, but Theater1 is provided "as is," and we can't promise uninterrupted availability. We may change features over time; we will not introduce advertising into the viewing experience.

Warranties. Except as expressly stated here, Theater1 is provided without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. Some jurisdictions don't allow certain disclaimers, so parts of this may not apply to you.

Limitation of liability. To the fullest extent the law allows, Theater1 is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits or data. Our total liability to you for any claim is limited to the greater of the amounts you paid us in the 12 months before the claim, or $100.

Indemnification. You agree to cover Theater1 against claims and costs arising from work you upload, rights you didn't actually hold, or your misuse of the service or violation of these terms.

8. Disputes & governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Missouri, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. If something goes wrong, email us first at bear@timetosizzle.com — most issues resolve there. Any dispute that can't be resolved informally will be brought in the state or federal courts located in Missouri, and you and we consent to that venue. Nothing here waives any right you have that can't be waived under applicable law.

9. Leaving

Fans: you can close your account anytime; your purchased titles remain accessible under your license. Creators: you can leave anytime; you keep your work, your fan export, and your earned balance, and we retire your titles from sale within 30 days, honoring existing fan licenses.

10. The fine print

Severability. If any part of these terms is found unenforceable, the rest stays in effect, and the unenforceable part is modified only as much as needed to make it enforceable.

Entire agreement. These terms, together with the Privacy Policy, the Copyright & DMCA Policy, and the Content Standards, are the whole agreement between you and us about Theater1, and they replace any earlier understandings.

Assignment. You can't transfer your account or these terms to someone else. We may assign these terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of the service; your rights under them (including creator ownership of work, fan licenses, and earned balances) survive any such transfer.

Waiver. If we don't enforce a part of these terms in one instance, that's not a waiver; we can enforce it later.

Survival. Sections that by their nature should outlive an account closing do: fan licenses to purchased titles, creator payout rights for earned balances, warranties you made about uploaded work, indemnification, limitation of liability, and disputes.

11. Changes

If we change these terms in a way that matters, we'll email you at least 14 days before it takes effect. Continuing to use Theater1 after that means you accept the change.

12. Contact

bear@timetosizzle.com · Theater1, a service of Time To Sizzle, LLC, Missouri, USA

Also see our Privacy Policy.