The rise of Virtual Production in Commercial Filmmaking
Posted on Apr 21, 2026 by Katie Kasperson
Brands are looking to virtual production to save time, money and maintain full creative control on commercial projects
Virtual production opens the door to infinite, often impossible locations, all from a single stage. This is invaluable for commercials, saving brands on time and travel and minimising uncontrollables, all while offering endless creative options.
That inventiveness is apparent on Warburtons’ 150th anniversary advert, called 150 Years in the Baking, which takes viewers on a tour of the family-owned company’s (mostly true!) history.
Handled by Quite Brilliant – an experienced VP specialist that’s based out of London’s Twickenham Film Studios – the commercial propels audiences from a Victorian-era family home via a Top Gun-inspired eighties montage through to the modern day, all narrated by Morgan Freeman and with a special appearance by Paddington bear himself.
“VP allowed us to travel through decades instantly,” begins Declan Lowney, who directed the two-minute-long television commercial. “Once we saw the LED volume in action, it opened up creative possibilities.” Lowney stuck to the campaign’s initial brief: to make an iconic TV advert that showcases a joyful journey through time, celebrating 150 years of the Warburtons brand. The time-travel concept was clearly suited to VP, which enabled photorealistic imagery of each scene, complete with solid colour depth and contrast. Quite Brilliant used micro LED technology as well as some AI-assisted backgrounds, with others built in Unreal Engine or captured on two-dimensional plates.
For the ‘Mission Crumbtrol’ moon landing sequence, Quite Brilliant called on Chaos Arena, a real-time ray tracing solution, in a first for UK television commercials. The tool – a lighting technique that delivers a more true-to-life result – produced window reflections and lit digi-doubles in the NASA HQ-esque virtual environment.
Warburtons’ agency, Joyful & Triumphant, tapped Quite Brilliant about three months before filming began. They previsualised as much as possible and reviewed each environment in the LED volume, allowing them to make regular refinements and ensure everything would be captured correctly in camera.
The production took five days to film 15 distinct scenes, including seven on a soundstage and seven on the volume. Lowney could hardly differentiate the two: “I simply can’t tell what was shot on the volume and what was shot on the stage,” he remarks.
“Our aim from the start was to make the technology disappear,” Russ Shaw states, founder and head of VP at Quite Brilliant. “If the director can focus purely on performance and storytelling, we’ve done our job. We don’t often get the chance to be involved this early on or to push new technologies and workflows, so this was a genuinely rewarding project from beginning to end.”
Across town, meanwhile, Film Soho’s V Studio is also handling VP for commercial campaigns. Operating the largest LED volume in central London, “we find that what is consistently tipping the scales for agencies is our location, which offers both access and efficiency without compromise,” shares Kate Phibbs, head of studio at Film Soho.
“A short walk away from many of the UK’s leading agencies,” says Phibbs, the V Studio minimises logistical challenges for visitors, even offering a drive-in stage for vehicle work. “There’s no need to move talent, clients and crew out of central London, which saves both time and budget while keeping decision makers and execs close to the process.”
Though ‘tucked away’ in Soho’s cosy Portland Mews, she continues, “commercial clients are frequently surprised by the scale and capability of the space. While our volume is not designed for the largest builds, we’ve engineered our 1000 sq ft stage to comfortably handle the vast majority of commercial requirements,” working with the likes of Oreo as well as Netflix’s podcast crew.
“What sets us apart is how much production power we’ve concentrated into that footprint,” Phibbs claims. “The stage is equipped with high-resolution LED panels and a fully integrated VP pipeline,” that includes Kino Flo MIMIK image-based lighting, Unreal Engine’s nDisplay and Assimilate Live FX, “allowing us to deliver high-end, in-camera results with speed and flexibility.”
With a dedicated team of on-site specialists – such as VP producers, supervisors and lighting technicians, Unreal Engine 3D artists and LED wall operators – the V Studio emphasises early communication and collaboration with clients. “Commercial projects demand precision and pace,” explains Phibbs, “so we work closely with agency and brand-side VFX teams.
“With thorough testing and previs, we make sure that what’s signed off in prep is exactly what’s delivered on the day. For brands,” she concludes, “that means fewer unknowns, faster turnarounds and more creative control.”
Learn more about Quite Brilliant at quitebrilliant.co.uk and the V Studio at thevstudio.co.uk
This article appears in the April/May 2026 issue of Definition
