Why Producers Are Moving to Virtual Production

Budgets are tighter than ever. Studios and clients everywhere are looking for ways to make their content as cheaply and quickly as possible. And while everyone is arguing over how business models will have to change, you still have to get out there and make it work right now.

As a result, many producers are turning to virtual production to make their days without sacrificing scope or quality. But what solutions does virtual production offer? Is it really a substitute for a traditional shoot?

Let’s take a look.

Still from "We Meet Again" (2025), courtesy In Old Ranchos, LLC and L.A. Castle Studios

1. Instant Gratification

There’s no getting around it – virtual production is a computationally intensive visual effect. But gone are the days when camera tracking and chroma keying were the exclusive domain of post production. Virtual production stages like the one at L.A. Castle Studios in Burbank offer real-time composites, meaning you can monitor the full image as you’re recording it – no different from a traditional production.

From action to cut, you’re seeing your talent mapped seamlessly to the virtual set, so you can make adjustments before you’re in the edit room. And while some other volumes don’t easily allow for set, prop, and lighting manipulation during your shoot, the Castle’s stage is so much more flexible. Want to move that chair? Turn on that table lamp? Take the roof off the building? It’ll take two minutes, and you can let your art department enjoy their coffee.

2. What Travel Budget?

Option 1: A month of location scouting, permit acquisition, travel coordination, and crossing your fingers for perfect weather.

Option 2: You’re on the beach in the morning and on an alien planet by the afternoon. 

No travel, no company moves, no permitting. Your cast and crew are in a comfortable studio environment all day. It’s easy to see how producers are increasingly drawn to a solution that allows them to shoot more pages, and with near-infinite location flexibility. 

3. Design Within Reach

Sometimes finding or building the set that’s described in the creative is an ominous task, and often it leads to cutting corners or re-imagining the approach to fit it into scope. With virtual production, if you can dream it, you can film it. 

The set you’re looking for could be already available on a marketplace – a full medieval castle can be downloaded for less than your PA’s day rate. And customizing the sets is easy. In a virtual set, all of the objects from furniture to props to the very walls themselves can be moved, deleted, re-lit and re-colored with the click of a mouse. 

4. On Time and Under Budget

Big location shoots can add up. Travel, builds, permits – none of it is cheap. And sometimes these expenses are the right call for your production. But when a virtual shoot gets you the same or better results – and can do it cheaper – you start to see a lot of smiles from the folks writing the checks.

That’s because on a virtual stage, you’re not paying sky-high fees per location, applying for a dozen permits, waiting for clearance, finding parking for 60 people on a crowded street, or renting space while your set is being physically constructed. 

Many producers in both the narrative film space and also for television talk shows and game shows are drawn to virtual production simply to get that $300,000 set build line item down to $50.

7. A Greener Way to Film

Virtual production also has a smaller environmental footprint. Fewer physical sets mean less material waste, and no need for crew and equipment to travel reduces carbon emissions. As sustainability becomes more important in filmmaking, virtual production offers an eco-friendly alternative.

So What’s Right for You?

No tool in filmmaking is one-size-fits-all. Every production has a unique set of needs and objectives. But so many producers are turning to virtual production because the technology has really started catching up to reality. 

For producers who need more speed and flexibility without sacrificing creativity, they’re looking at virtual production more and more. People used to say this was the future of filmmaking, and now it’s the present.