UK emerges as global virtual production leader

The UK has seen exponential growth in the development of large scale virtual production capacity. With parallel significant investment, and the emergence of new businesses and services, across the entire virtual production value chain (including hardware, software and creative), the UK has rapidly established itself as an unrivalled centre of excellence.

Over the past 2 years, virtual production techniques, and real time production technologies, have generated a fundamental change in process, production, roles and workflows according to a report from the UK Department for International Trade.

The UK has become the epicentre for large feature film level Virtual Production stages, with an estimated 40 virtual production stages in 2021, second only to the US. London is also the best equipped city, possessing more stages than Los Angeles, Tokyo, Vancouver or Atlanta.

Overall, production expenditure on Film and High End Television (HETV) in the UK in 2021 was £5.6Bn (c.$7.6Bn)– of which £4.7Bn, or 84% of the total, was inward investment.

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