Participation in the 15th Sharjah International Publishers Conference opens new avenues for book rights holders, highlighting tools that transform stories into animated content.
Sharjah Animation Conference (SAC) took part in the 15th International Publishers Conference this week, capturing strong attention among 1,300 publishing professionals from 116 countries. The SAC booth served as a space to promote the annual animation event while exploring new opportunities for adapting publishers’ titles into animated projects.
SAC’s participation aimed to foster collaboration between publishers and animation creators by demonstrating how literary works can be reimagined as animated series or films. The initiative also sought to encourage the sale of book rights to animation studios and to establish a network of publishers interested in future cross-media projects. Supporting this mission, SAC facilitated an international exchange that included a visiting Japanese delegation of publishers and animation studios who met with Arab and global industry peers.
The booth itself became a creative hub, showcasing interactive storytelling technologies that illustrated how classic narratives can find new life through digital media. In collaboration with Wacom, a global leader in hardware for illustrators and animators, SAC presented tools that empower visual storytelling. Visitors also experienced VRwareEdu’s Story Builder, a metaverse-based platform allowing users to design and experience digital storybooks—combining images, stickers, speech bubbles and voice recordings in a glimpse of storytelling’s interactive future.
Commenting on their participation, Khoula Al Mujaini, Executive Director of Sharjah Animation Conference, said: “The engagement has been exceptionally positive and we have had many publishers enquire for more information and sign up for participation at the next SAC taking place in 2026. By engaging directly with publishers and industry leaders, we are expanding the dialogue around adaptation, innovation, and intellectual property; and this presence reflects SAC’s broader mission to position Sharjah as a global hub for cross-sector partnerships that support emerging talent and sustainable growth within the global creative economy.”
This outreach builds upon the monumental success of the Sharjah Animation Conference 2025, which welcomed more than 5,000 attendees and featured a rich agenda led by 74 international experts. That event spotlighted global storytelling, the role of AI, and the cultural impact of animation, all while emphasising the need to nurture a sustainable creative ecosystem in the MENA region and Africa.
By embedding itself within the Sharjah International Publishers Conference, SAC is actively constructing a creative pipeline with the global publishing industry; and positions itself as a platform where books can begin their journey to becoming the animated series and films of tomorrow.
