From where productions are happening to how ideas move from concept to screen, the media and entertainment (M&E) world is shaping up for yet another year of excitement and change.
In a recent interview with TVBEurope, the creator of V-Ray and Chaos CTO, Vladimir Koylazov, shared his thoughts on where the M&E industry is heading in 2026.
Vladimir Koylazov (Vlado), CTO, Chaos
AI will continue to reshape previs & production expectations
Artificial intelligence is starting to change how teams approach the earliest stages of visual storytelling.
“One thing that we noticed in 2025 was AI-generated concepts creeping into the planning phase. This shakes up the previs stage of productions, moving teams away from working to figure out what something could look like and shifting the conversation to how we get to the desired visual, “ stated Vlado.
At the same time, the ready availability of instant imagery has created new expectations around production speed and effort.
“When someone is able to generate a compelling image in minutes, they start to think that production can happen that quickly as well,” he says. “Managing these expectations has been an ongoing conversation.”
Built-in intelligence woven into virtual production tools & rendering engines
In 2026, you can expect more intelligence to be built directly into the tools that artists and crews use every day.
“We’ll start to see more intelligence embedded directly into virtual production tools and rendering engines, not as separate apps, but woven in,” Vlado predicts.
“For virtual production, you’ll probably see a continuation of the optimization of ICVFX workflows in real-time, like what we’ve seen in the introduction of products like Chaos Arena. The European facilities investing in this infrastructure now, both physical stages and the data side, will be setting themselves up for success in 2026.”
That could mean smoother real-time workflows, tighter integration across stages, and fewer interruptions between creative intent and execution.
Test shoot using virtual production technology, Chaos Arena
Studios will prioritize local infrastructure
With cloud costs becoming more transparent and with data sovereignty concerns (especially in Europe with GDPR), local infrastructure is becoming more important.
“Studios want models running on their own infrastructure,” Vlado notes. “It’s about IP protection, but also latency for real-time decisions on virtual production stages.”
Production pipelines may become shorter as stages are eliminated
Another thing that Vlado anticipates for 2026 is “step deletion”.
“Instead of asking “how fast can we render this?” the conversation is shifting to “how many pipeline stages can we eliminate?” The ability to go straight from concept to production-ready environments, cutting out the translation layers, is where we’ll see the real differentiation.“
Europe will continue to gain momentum in film & TV production
Lastly, Vlado highlights a shift in where production momentum is growing.
“Something that’s been fascinating for us, especially as an organization headquartered in Europe, is watching productions move back to the UK and Europe,” he says. “There’s world-class talent here, the infrastructure is maturing fast, and the costs make sense.”
While the UK has long been a production hub, growth in Central and Eastern Europe is gaining steam, with facilities and investment following creative demand.
Read the full interview on TVBEurope.