YouTube Opens Door To Creator Institute Sessions With Live Streaming Broadcasts

Did you apply for the YouTube Creator Institute but not get in? The program, which consists of real-live college courses at USC School of Cinematic Arts and Columbia College Chicago taught by video professionals and media experts, had a limited number of spots available--far fewer than the many who applied. But now YouTube is doing a good deed that should make those applicants smile: they're live-streaming select courses throughout the summer.

I personally know a few video creators who applied but did not get in. Competition was stiff, and that's because the learning power at Creator Institute is off the charts. But now these folks can reap many of the same benefits as those who were accepted, by catching some of the classes on YouTube's live streaming broadcasts.

YouTube Creator Institute Live Stream Schedule

From the YouTube blog here's a rundown of the schedule they've released:

May 25: Jon Landau, Academy Award-winning Producer of Avatar and Titanic
Submit a question | Watch Live May 25 @ 7pm PT

May 31: Melissa Rosenberg, Acclaimed Writer and Producer of the Twilight Saga, Dexter and many others
Submit a question | Watch Live May 31 @ 7pm PT

June 1: SuzAnn Brantner, Head of Alternative Distribution and Marketing for Music, Film and Books at William Morris Endeavor
Submit a question | Watch Recorded Lecture from June 1

June 2: MysteryGuitarMan and FreddieW, YouTube Partners with millions of subscribers and views
Submit a question | Watch Live June 2 @ 7pm PT

June 14: McG, Director of Terminator Salvation and Charlie's Angels, and Executive Producer of Supernatural, The OC and many others
Submit a question | Watch Live June 14 @ 7pm PT

July 7: Barely Political, one of YouTube's most subscribed channels and creators of Obama Girl, Key of Awesome and Autotune the News
Submit a question | Watch Live July 7 @ 4pm PT

That's a pretty impressive list of speakers, if you ask me.

I have no idea if YouTube had something like this planned all along for Creator Institute, or if they just received so much feedback from applicants disappointed they didn't get in that they decided to open things up a bit. Either way, these sessions represent some fantastic educational opportunities for aspiring filmmakers, and now any of them can watch along from home. Nice work, YouTube.

They close their announcement by telling readers to stay tuned for even more surprises related to Creator Institute and Next Up, so I doubt this is the last gift to creators we're going to see this summer.