Disclosed herein are computer-implemented method, system, and computer-readable storage-medium embodiments for implementing template-based excerpting and rendering of multimedia performances technologies. An embodiment includes at least one computer processor configured to retrieve a first content instance and corresponding first metadata. The first content instance may include a first plurality of structural elements, with at least one structural element corresponding to at least part of the first metadata. The first content instance may be transformed by a rendering engine running on the at least one computer processor and/or transmitted to a content-playback device.