Gwangju, South Korea— The 20th ACE Fair was held on 28-31 August 2025 at Kimdaejung Centre, Gwangju, South Korea.
A panel discussion titled “Next-Gen Talent & Global Collaborations: India’s Animation, Gaming & VFX Evolution” reinforced this message. Speakers, including Tarun Chilikapudi (Greengold) and Bejoy Arputharaj (Phantom FX), offered Korean studios practical advice on collaborating with Indian counterparts. They highlighted the potential of combining Korean creative storytelling with India’s technical expertise to produce world-class content.
SXILL and Chandigarh Design School were part of the panel discussion organized by ACE Fair Gwangju on the topic of Next-Gen : Talent and Global Collaborations specially involving Indian Animation and FX community.
Our goal today is to move beyond the outdated notion of India as just an outsourcing destination and to explore the real, high-value partnerships possible in animation, gaming, and VFX. We have leaders here from across the Indian ecosystem to tell us how.
On the panel you can spot Vineet Raj Kapoor (Director SXILL), Mohit Soni (CEO, MESC), Shyam Kurup (Distributor) + Bejoy (CEO, Phantom FX) + Tarun Chilikapudi (Animation IP Studio)
The Studios had between 12-20 pre-arranged B2B meetings each. Each participating studio was picked up (and dropped back) from Incheon Airport, Seoul and provided with a full time interpreter as well as a free ticket to the CDC Conference. They were also invited to a grand welcome party on the opening day.
The night time was a time of bonding with other Indian Studios and helped them understand each other’s capabilities and possibilities of collaboration.
On Day 3 the ACE Fair organized a City Tour for the Indian Delegation. They were taken for the Korean Traditional Experience wherein they were provided various Korean Dresses to wear and explained their importance in terms of the customary village ranks and file. They also went through traditional Korean wedding rituals. Then they had a traditional Korean Lunch, and graciously vegetarian options were provided for Indians. Finally after a short visit to the Korean Cultural Center, they went for the Gwangju Design Biennale which allowed them to witness Korean Innovation firsthand.
Hyun-young Jun, Project Manager (International), ACE Fair Secretariat, said, “I would like to sincerely thank the Indian exhibitors for their participation in this year’s Gwangju ACE Fair. Your contributions in the fields of animation and content have helped to promote cultural and business exchanges between Korea and India. I hope to continue building on this collaboration in the future.”
Vineet Raj Kapoor, Founder SXILL, Chandigarh, and Leader of the Indian Delegation, commented, “I am really happy that we have been able to support the Indian Animation community with their international marketing in South East Asia. I am especially happy that every year we have been able to guide and expose many smaller Studios to learn the approach to get their IPs to foreign markets.”
Subhashish Muzumdar, CEO, Media Guru, Mumbai, was delighted to share, “This is my second visit to ACE Fair. I am really excited by the quality of organization and detail of planning at ACE Fair, which enables us to plan all our meetings well. Virtualsoft has done a lot to bring ACE Fair to India over the last many years. It has led to the exposure of Indians to Korean culture and content and vice versa.”