CHICAGO—Newly released surveys of Hollywood film producers, directors, and studio owners indicate that these professionals expect the recent rapid growth of virtual production to continue in 2023, with nearly nearly 80% of virtual production studio owners anticipate booking more work this year than last year, according to Showrunner’s new “State of Virtual Production Report.”
The report also found, however, increasingly polarized attitudes toward virtual production and complaints about inadequate tools, with 53.1% being excited by the technology and 22.3% expressing skepticism.
"Virtual production is one of the fastest-growing trends in filmmaking right now," explained Showrunner’s chief executive, Shane Snow. "But as the data shows, the industry needs to make sure the hype translates into tools and education that make filmmakers confident that they can actually do virtual production well."
The report was based on a survey of nearly 800 filmmakers along with 72 virtual production facilities operators. Key insights included:
- More than 60% of working film producers anticipate doing at least a little virtual production work in 2023.
- Nearly 80% of virtual production studio owners anticipate booking more work this year than last year.
- A majority of virtual production professionals are both excited about the future of virtual production and unsatisfied with many of the current tools to do it.
- About one-third of virtual production work currently being produced is for car/auto shoots. Film and TV projects each make up nearly 20%, with commercials, music videos, and live events making up the rest.
- About 34.6% agreed with the idea that virtual production is more cost effective, while 20.5% disagreed and 44.9% were not sure.
- 41.1% agreed with the statement that virtual production was faster while 53% said they weren’t sure and 5.9% disagreed.
- 35.7% agreed that virtual production can be of higher quality than traditional while 22.7% disagreed and 41.6% were not sure.
- 35.1% agreed that virtual production was more technically difficult, while 21.% disagreed and 43.8% were not sure.
- 36.8% agreed that it was more liberating than traditional production but 20% disagreed and 43.2% were not sure.
- 51% of those working virtual production facilities said they were unsatisfied with real-time rendering technology while 28% were very satisfied and 21% were moderately satisfied.
The full report is available at https://showrunner.tech/state-of-virtual-production-2023
