Not a filmmaking course.
A filmmaking event.
Most filmmaking courses teach you how film works. This one makes you do it — under pressure, in public, with no safety net. Over five intensive days in Melbourne, you'll work in a small team to conceive, shoot, and perform a short film using the Live Cinema method: every cut made in real time, every image captured live, the edit happening in front of witnesses.
The final performance takes place in a theatre. Your audience watches the film being made. What they see is not a recording — it's the thing itself, unrepeatable and unrevised. That's the standard we hold ourselves to. It's the standard we'll hold you to.
HERE & NOW has done this at St Kilda Film Festival, at Abbotsford Convent, and at South Side Festival for paying clients. The intensive gives you access to the same process — the same pressure, the same infrastructure, and the same creative direction.
This is a live production course.
Not a theory class.
By the end of the week, you will have operated in a working live production environment — not a simulation. The technical skills you acquire are the same ones used across HERE & NOW's professional commissions. They are transferable to any live production context: broadcast, event streaming, live theatre capture, multi-camera events.
Multi-camera live switching. Operating a live vision mix during a real broadcast. Learning to read the cameras, make editorial decisions in real time, and hold a coherent visual narrative across multiple feeds simultaneously.
Live streaming infrastructure. SRT protocol, stream encoding, bonded cellular field units, and the signal chain from camera to screen. Understanding what makes a live stream reliable — and what makes it fail.
Camera operation for live production. Holding composition under pressure, hitting marks without a rehearsal take, moving through unpredictable locations while maintaining a clean signal. The specific skills that separate a live camera operator from a regular one.
Story structure for real-time filmmaking. How to develop a narrative that can be captured without coverage — where every moment counts because there is no editing suite to fix it in. Storytelling as a live discipline.
Production under pressure. Decision-making in a live environment where nothing can be deferred. The mental discipline of live production — staying present, communicating clearly, and delivering the work in front of an audience.
All technical equipment is supplied. Participants leave with hands-on experience on LiveU bonded cellular field units, Sony broadcast cameras, and professional live switching software — the same rig HERE & NOW uses on its commercial productions.
Five days. One performance.
Participants are placed into teams on day one. From that point, everything moves toward a single outcome: a live cinema short film performed in a Melbourne theatre on Friday evening.
Four rules. No exceptions.
Every film made in this intensive follows the Live Cinema Dogma — the set of principles developed by Michael Beets that define the form. These are not guidelines. They are the conditions of the work.
Real-Time Execution. Every cut, camera move, and compositional decision is made and executed in the present moment of the performance. No deferred action. No post-production revision. The edit happens now, in front of witnesses.
Zero Pre-Record. No footage in the film was recorded prior to the performance. Every image is captured live, in the space, during the event. The camera reaches into the present — never an archive.
The High-Wire Act. Technical risk is not a problem to be solved — it is a structural feature to be preserved. The possibility of failure is essential. A film that cannot fail is not a live film.
The Live-Film Nexus. Live Cinema exists at the exact point where live performance and cinema become a single, indivisible event. Neither discipline is subordinate. The tension between them is the form itself.
We've done this before.
At festival level.
HERE & NOW has delivered Live Cinema productions for major Melbourne festivals and cultural institutions. The intensive is taught by the same team that directed these commissions. You're not learning from someone who teaches filmmaking — you're learning from practitioners who do it professionally, under the same pressure you'll face on Friday night.
Filmmakers who want
the real thing.
This intensive is not a beginner's introduction to filmmaking. It's designed for practitioners — people who already understand cameras, story, or performance — who want to work at the edge of what's possible in real time. Previous participants have come from film, theatre, live event production, visual art, and dance.
The format is deliberately small. Ten participants maximum. That's not a marketing line — it's the number that allows every person to have a meaningful role in the final performance. If the cohort doesn't meet that threshold, it doesn't run. The work requires people who are ready to commit to five full days and a public outcome.
You don't need to be an experienced editor or cinematographer. You need to be someone who can hold a creative position under pressure, collaborate inside a tight team, and stand behind the work when it's performed in public.
What you need to know.
What equipment do I need?
None. HERE & NOW supplies all camera equipment, streaming infrastructure, and live-switching hardware. You bring yourself and your creative instincts.
What level of experience do I need?
Some background in filmmaking, theatre, or live production is assumed — but there is no formal prerequisite. Apply and tell us where you're coming from. We'll let you know if it's the right fit.
Where is the final performance held?
A Melbourne theatre venue confirmed with applications. Venue details are shared with accepted participants on confirmation of place.
What if the October cohort doesn't reach minimum numbers?
The intensive requires a minimum of 10 participants to run as designed. If we don't reach that number, accepted applicants are offered a full refund or priority placement in the next cohort. We don't run an undersized version — the work depends on the group.
Is $750 all-inclusive?
Yes. The $750 covers the full week of tuition, all equipment, production infrastructure, and your place in the final performance. Participants cover their own accommodation and travel to Melbourne.
What is Live Cinema?
Live Cinema is a form of filmmaking in which the film is made and screened simultaneously in front of an audience — no editing in post, no pre-recorded footage. Every image is captured live; every cut is made in real time. Read the full explanation here.