PH content sparks global interest at prestigious Asian festival

A sound strategy for going global always includes penetrating the Asian market. This is especially true when talking about creative content. Given how Japan and South Korea have mastered the use of cultural dissemination to increase their respective global soft power, the Asian content marketplace is one where the Philippines must establish itself, not just to expand its audience but also to learn the current market demands, the latest data-driven insights, and the best practices in marketing its creative talents and products in the Asia-Pacific region. 

This makes the country’s debut participation at the most recent Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF) crucial. Held last November 4 to 7, 2025, at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center in Taipei, Taiwan, TCCF is recognized as Asia’s premier content marketplace. Although it was launched only in 2020, the record-setting numbers and success stories from its pitching, forum, and market platforms throughout its six editions have made it one of the must-attend content festivals on the continent. With the Philippines looking to evolve its game-development and animation sectors to become more future-ready, it definitely got a boost from the pitching and networking opportunities presented by the festival. 

The country’s participation was organized by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), in cooperation with the Philippine Trade and Investment Center - Taiwan (PTIC) and the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP). The organizers also worked with Sonik Philippines, the Game Developer Association of the Philippines (GDAP), and the Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc. (ACPI) to put together the Philippine delegation to Taiwan, resulting in nearly a hundred Filipino creatives from the game development, animation, and music sectors, plus 10 Filipino animation studios looking to expand into the Asian market. Also part of the Philippine contingent were independent Filipino production companies Fire and Ice Media and Rein Entertainment.

Original Filipino series emerged as a TCCF Pitching favorite

With over 700 submissions from 44 countries, TCCF 2025’s Pitching Conference proved how vibrant and competitive the Asian content creation scene is. Fire and Ice Media’s original series Never the Bride, co-produced by France’s Ghost City Films and Taiwan’s Volos Films Ltd., represented the Philippines in the Series: Themed Session category. It ended up nabbing two awards: The audience-voted 2025 TCCF My Pick Project Award, which came with the prize money of NT$100,000, and the Series Mania Award. The latter earned the filmmakers an invitation to participate in the Series Mania Forum 2026, to be held in Lille, France. 

The recognition is a testament to the international market’s growing confidence in Filipino creators. With each pitching session across various content categories (film, series, animation, and immersive content) consistently at full capacity, all Filipino entries got the chance to receive much-needed exposure to potential investors and buyers. The creatives received invaluable industry insights as well through Pitching Workshops, which invited experts across different creative disciplines to serve as mentors and facilitators. 

Encouraging opportunities spotted for PH film, animation, and publishing 

Throughout the four-day festival, the Philippine contingent conducted 29 business meetings and generated 31 qualified buyer leads—very promising figures for a first-time participant. These leads are a combination of opportunities for co-production, distribution partnerships, and the sales and licensing of completed, ready-for-release content. 

Within the current creative ecosystem supported by TCCF, representatives of the Philippines’ film and animation sectors received the highest volume of buyer inquiries, followed by the publishing and comic creation segments. However, the game development and music segments received only limited visibility. 

Still, the value from the connections made through the business meetings will prove beneficial to all of the Philippines’ creative sectors. For example, the government-backed Taiwan Creative Content Agency expressed interest in participating in next year’s Manila International Performing Arts Market (MIPAM). The Taipei Music Center was also enthusiastic about a continued collaboration with CREATEPhilippines, including the provision of a model on how infrastructure, policy direction, and industry leadership can support and scale an entire creative sector. Other notable international organizations that the Philippine delegation connected with were Warner Bros. Discovery Kids Asia, which stated its commitment to exploring its participation in Animahenasyon 2026, and YouTube’s major licensing partner Xiaowu Brothers, which is interested in acquiring ready-made episodic Filipino animation or live-action content.

Both the Pitching and Market sessions of TCCF demonstrated the robust buyer interest for co-production opportunities, distribution partnerships, and market-ready intellectual properties—areas where the Philippines is notably competent. Thus, the country’s successful debut at TCCF 2025 strengthened the organizing agencies’ resolve to continue working together to make the Philippines a regular presence, not just at TCCF but in the international creative content circuit. In particular, CITEM, PTIC - Taiwan, and FDCP look forward to supporting the Philippine animation industry’s global expansion into a sourcing destination of choice for original content—a dream that may soon become a reality, thanks to the increased positive international attention it has been gaining.

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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).

As the country's first government-led content and community platform for the local creative industries, CREATEPhilippines 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 portfolio and engage with a global audience.