Sustainability, Spider Cams & Spectacle: The Making Of ‘Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard And Soft (Live In 3D)’

“Spectacular.” That’s the word Nick Power, senior venue manager at Co-op Live uses when asked to describe Billie Eilish’s four nights in Manchester, July 19-23.

They weren’t just any old concerts: all four shows were recorded by a film crew for the movie “Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard And Soft: The Tour (Live In 3D)”, which hit theaters May 8.

Presented in immersive 3D, the film was directed by James Cameron and Billie Eilish, both  Academy Award winners, and offers viewers a VIP seat to the Billie Eilish concert experience, all for the price of a movie ticket. 

As anybody who’s been to Billie Eilish’s “Hit Me Hard And Soft” world tour can attest to, the in-the-round show is a vision to behold. The Manchester shows were no exception. “We did four nights, and each show was spectacular,” Power told Pollstar, adding that “they filmed all four nights in order to get every possible angle they needed. The production is phenomenal in itself, but when you add the filming layer, and the extra infrastructure that went into that, it’s just spectacular.”

The extra infrastructure included lights across the venue (“in areas we wouldn’t normally hang lights”), a spider-cam that flew different routes each night, roaming cameras, which moved across each level on the inner concourse, getting different angles from the fans’ perspective, and overhead cameras above the stage, looking directly down on it. That’s on top of all the production cameras that are part of every show, filming footage for fans to watch on the LED screens.

Power continued, “the camera crew James Cameron brought was some 80 to 100 on top of the production crew for the show, so there’s a lot of bodies on site, and we’re just really lucky that our venue’s so new, and has all the connectivity and power we need, so we can facilitate all these people on site to deliver shows and recordings: so many distro-points on the arena floor, plus we’ve got loads in the roof as well. Our connectivity is up there with the best that I’m aware of in the arena world.”

Bringing all of it together was a massive feat. “It was a really collaborative working effort between everybody, but it was Nicole [Erin Massey], Billie’s production manager, who was the glue and the go-between, between us and the film crew. Everything was funnelled through her, and it worked really well,” Power explained.

Co-op Live general manager Guy Dunstan said the four shows were among the most-attended to date at the still fairly young building, which opened just over two years ago. Being in-the-round is a factor, as is the venue’s large standing-floor, which, despite all the added production elements, was able to host just under 7,500 per show.

According to Pollstar Boxoffice, every show moved over 19,000 tickets and grossed north of $3 million, adding up to 77,931 tickets sold for a total gross of $12,752,033, according to the submitted reports.

Apart from power and connectivity, there’s another reason Co-op Live lends itself so well for TV and film productions: the blackbox design of its main auditorium, where banners, ads, and light bleed from VIP suites have been eliminated as to not distract from what’s happening on stage.

The MTV Europe Music Awards came to Manchester for the first time in 2024 to set up shop at Co-op Live. The BRIT’s landed in February 2026, leaving London for the first time in almost 50 years. Harry Styles recording his “One Night Only” album release concert for Netflix at the venue, which may be less of a surprise as he’s a co-owner of the building. And now Billie Eilish’s 3D movie. “Those shows,” said Dunstan, “were delivered from a TV and film production point of view as well as an arena event point of view. That canvas that we’re providing for TV productions is really strong, and the reputation is growing accordingly. 

More important than any technical capabilities, however, is Co-op Live’s staff, and Power makes no mistake about it. “A lot of the staff have been here since before we opened, they understand the building and how it works inside out. Their expertise is the main reason we’re able to deliver these incoming productions. This team ensures that there is nothing we can’t do. We’ll find a way to make it happen for you.”

With Billie Eilish being a big sustainability advocate, Co-op Live went fully plant-based during her residency. “We worked alongside her mom to develop specific menu items, and we worked alongside her team to hit all the sustainability goals, which included reaching out to the local community to pool the ingredients for the food items,” Power explained, adding, “It was very special to work on an event like that, because it encompassed more than just the show itself.”

Co-op Live won the Billie Eilish Award for Sustainability (Venue) at this year’s Pollstar Awards Pollstar Awards, which made Dunstan particularly happy, as it’s “chosen by Billie and Maggie as the venue that stood out on the tour, that really embraced and drove sustainability. Every single f&b product in the venue was plant-based, and we donated a refillable water station for fans outside the venue as part of our gifting to the artist as well.” 

And he concludes, “it’s been two years since the venue opened. When you look at the artists we’ve attracted, many of whom played one-off shows and exclusives, it just demonstrates the credentials of Co-Op live, and what a great venue it is from a production perspective, from the artist’s point of view, from a fan-experience point of view. On top of that, this venue is such a phenomenal backdrop for any kind of TV or film production. We’re into our fourth or fifth major TV event at Co-op Live, and that’s another facet to this arena that is just going to grow. I can see that being a future opportunity for major artists, as you’re seeing the likes of Netflix, YouTube and Amazon Prime really getting into this space increasingly, looking to engage with artists, and the right venues to host these TV productions. Co-op Live has shown that we will be at the forefront of that moving forward.” 

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