Systems and methods for processing a live video stream are provided. An ingestion component receives segments of a live video stream in association with a request to process the live video stream. A control component generates an instruction graph for the live video stream based on predetermined criteria. The instruction graph defines a workflow for processing the live video stream, the workflow comprising a set of services for processing the segments. A transcoding component employs a subset of the services to process the segments based at least in part on the instruction graph and a distribution component then streams the segments to a device in response finishing process of the segments. With the live video processing system, segments of a video stream are processed and distributed as they are received. Thus segments of the video stream are processed and distributed prior to processing of the entire video stream.