The Program
I'm running the Live Film Creative Lab at the St. Kilda Film Festival — a high-intensity, two-day live cinema workshop in which four pre-formed filmmaking teams devise, shoot, and perform interconnected short live-broadcast films entirely in real-time.
This is not a standard workshop. There's no editing suite, no safety cut, no second take. Every camera movement, every performance beat, and every editorial decision is broadcast live to an audience as it happens. The result is a seamless 40-minute collaborative narrative where the end of one team's story feeds directly into the opening of the next.
The Premise
"4 teams. 4 stories. Zero safety net. Don't just screen a film — perform it live."
The Format
Four pre-formed teams work across two intensive days to create four interconnected short films. The films are structurally linked: the final moment of one team's story feeds directly into the opening of the next, producing a single coherent 40-minute live narrative from four distinct creative visions.
All technical equipment is provided. I brief each team on the live cinema workflow, the signal chain, and what it means to direct and perform inside a broadcast window with no margin for error. The pre-session briefing happens the week prior — that's where we map out story territory, discuss the interconnection points, and make sure every team understands what they're walking into.
The tension between preparation and what actually happens on the night is the experience. I've run versions of this format before — at South Side Festival, in residencies, in rehearsal rooms — and the thing that never changes is that the most alive moments are always the ones nobody planned.
Who I'm Looking For
Teams of 3–4 people who function like a single unit. I'm not selecting on technical credentials — equipment is fully provided. What I'm looking for is creative chemistry, a clear collaborative instinct, and a genuine appetite for working under pressure in front of a live audience.
Prior filmmaking experience is welcome but not essential. What matters is that the team has a point of view and the willingness to commit fully to the conditions of live cinema. The pre-session briefing the week prior is where we establish the framework — from that point, the teams own their stories.
On Live Cinema
"Live cinema strips filmmaking back to its fundamentals: a camera, a subject, and the irreversible present. The Lab exists to give teams a genuine encounter with that pressure — and to discover what they make when there is no safety net beneath them."
How to Apply
Applications close at 11:59pm on Sunday 24 May 2026. Successful teams will be contacted from 24 May and will need to pay a $30 team participation fee to confirm their place. From there, I'll be in touch to arrange the pre-session briefing.
Apply via the EOI link at the St. Kilda Film Festival website. If you want to know more about the live cinema format before applying, my work at South Side Festival and previous projects give a sense of what the Lab is built on.