The future of virtual production: Education, innovation, and industry

The global screen and performance industries are experiencing a significant shift with the increasing adoption of Virtual Production (VP) technologies. VP is frequently promoted as enabling greater creative control, logistical flexibility, and possible environmental efficiencies. At the same time, however, critics have highlighted a range of substantial challenges associated with its uptake. These include the technical complexity of VP systems, the steep learning curves required for their operation, the considerable infrastructural investments they demand, which all complicate their implementation. As VP becomes more widely embedded across screen, performance and educational contexts, it raises important questions concerning workflow, aesthetics, labour practices, sustainability, and equity within the creative industries. This special issue addresses these concerns by examining how VP is encountered in practice across diverse institutional and geographic settings. The collected articles draw on a wide range of methodological approaches–including practice-based experimentation, participatory action research, systematic review, production ethnography, and interview-based qualitative inquiry– and explore VP in contexts such as animation studios, higher education, news media organisations, participatory research settings, and state-owned museums in China.