From talent pool to powerhouse: The Philippines prepares to be the next global animation hub with Animahenasyon 2025

The country’s animation industry has come a long way since legendary Filipino cartoonist Larry Alcala created a short black-and-white animated clip featuring a girl doing jump rope and a boy playing with a yo-yo on 8mm film in 1953. 

According to the Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc. (ACPI), in 2024, the Philippines contributed approximately US$60 million in revenue to a US$413 billion-worth global animation market and employed over 7,500 professionals locally. The Filipino animation industry is also projected to be worth US$141 million and employ over 15,000 professionals by 2028, making it an even more significant driver of economic activity and job creation in the country.

The promise of exponential growth in the next few years signals the local industry’s readiness to take the next step, and Animahenasyon aims to lead the way. Organized by ACPI, the country’s premier annual animation festival partners with the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions’ (CITEM) CREATEPhilippines to stage its 19th edition, which happens on November 24 - 26 at multiple points across Metro Manila. 

Since its inception in 2007, the festival has provided both veteran and emerging animators with a platform where they can showcase their works and keep updated on global industry trends. Its signature activities make a return this year, not just to champion Filipino animation talents but also to make independent Filipino-made titles accessible to the public. 

Animahenasyon 2025 opens on November 24 with the film screening ceremony AniSine at The Shangri-La Red Carpet Cinema. Then, on November 25, it will hold AniTalk, a conference discussing the latest trends and developments in animation, at The Samsung Hall of SM Aura Premiere in Taguig. Immediately following the activity, also at The Samsung Hall, will be the annual AniKompetisyon Awarding, a prestigious ceremony that recognizes and gives Filipino animators the impetus to further push their skills and combine artistry and storytelling with technical excellence. This year, the award-giving body received more than a hundred entries, each one vying to be part of the top 10 finalists for the chance to win in the following categories: the Animehenasyon Audience Choice Award, the Toon City Choice Award, and the Grand Prize in the Student and Professional divisions.

Animation festival’s new trade component a potential game-changer

Animahenasyon 2025 aims to build on the Philippines’ position as a trusted center for outsourced creative talents and animation houses and studios, and transform it into a new international animation hub that can produce world-class original titles and content.

With CREATEPhilippines as its co-presenter, this year’s edition will bring in international and local buyers, producers, and publishers who could potentially do business with local creatives. The B2B convention AniBusiness, to be held at Seda BGC on November 26, will be the concluding activity for Animahenasyon 2025.

This trade component is a first for the festival, and it will open up new avenues for international partnerships, outsourcing solutions, and co-production ventures for all players in the local animation ecosystem. Original Filipino content will also get the necessary exposure to be spotted by potential investors and distributors, which could help raise the country’s profile as a veritable animation intellectual property (IP) generator.

CREATEPhilippines will facilitate Animahenasyon 2025’s trade component. With the support of different Philippine Trade Investment Centers, it will invite foreign buyers and prospective investors and offer them incentives for joining the animation festival, as well as promote the event internationally. Networking and business-matching services will be complemented with the signature Filipino hospitality, giving guests a closer look into the rich Philippine history and culture that inspire the local talents’ imagination. 

In particular, a bleisure (business plus leisure) program will be offered to foreign buyers as part of the buyer incentive package. Through AniXperience, guests will be taken on a tour through some of the country’s premier destinations to take in the sights and enhance their visit to the Philippines while also meeting and networking with local animation studios and creatives. The first stop will be an exclusive tour through Intramuros on November 27, hosted by Intramuros Administration, one of Animahenasyon’s government partners. Other destinations will be San Fernando and Bacnotan in La Union, which buyers will visit on November 28.

The Animahenasyon 2025 partnership between CREATEPhilippines and ACPI was cemented during a Memorandum of Agreement signing held last October 13. ACPI Executive Director Daniel Enriquez, President Marlyn Montano, and Project and Administration Officer Micah Ronquillo met with CITEM Executive Director Leah Pulido Ocampo and members of the CREATEPhilippines team to discuss collaborative efforts that will uplift the local animation industry and raise its profile worldwide. 

“Filipino animators and creatives have long been key players in bringing some of the most favorite animated titles to life on the web and in film and television. It’s high time that the local industry gets the recognition it deserves as a major force in the global animation scene,” CITEM Executive Director Leah Pulido Ocampo says. “Through this partnership with ACPI, we hope that this year’s Animahenasyon is the start of the country making that leap toward the next stage of the Philippine animation industry’s evolution.” 

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Animahenasyon happens on November 24-26, 2025 across multiple locations in the metro. Buy your tickets here.

CREATEPhilippines is the official co-organizer and co-presenter of Animahenasyon 2025. As the country's first government-led content and community platform for the local creative industries, it is the ultimate resource for stories and updates on the Philippines' creative community and a centralized directory and sourcing platform where Filipino creatives can share their portfolios and engage with a global audience.

CREATEPhilippines is a promotional program for the creative industry by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), the export promotion arm of the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).