Mumbai, August 7th, 2025: Arena Animation, a leader in animation, gaming, digital content creation, and VFX training and a brand of Aptech Limited, proudly announces the launch of the World Creative Excellence League (WCEL), a pioneering global creative competition platform for its students. Designed to encourage and celebrate artistic excellence among students, the inaugural edition of WCEL invites participation from students of Arena Animation from across the world. The competition, aiming to showcase creative talent on a large scale, marks a significant milestone in Arena Animation’s journey as a truly global creative education leader.
Speaking about the new initiative, Mr. Sandip Weling, Chief Business Officer, Global Retail Business, Aptech Limited and Brand Custodian, Arena Animation, said, “The World Creative Excellence League (WCEL) is more than just a competition; it is an outstanding platform that enables young creators to push their limits, gain recognition, and benchmark themselves against global creative standards. This initiative truly reflects Arena Animation’s long-standing commitment to nurturing creativity, innovation, and world class talent. By connecting students with international exposure and industry leaders, our aim is to build a talent pipeline for the future of the global creative economy.”
Students participating in the WCEL are competing across 12 creative categories showcasing a wide range of skills. The categories range from Comic Design, Brand Identity Design, Motion Graphics, Cinematic Scenes (Unreal Engine), 3D CGI Advertising, to UI/UX Design, Short Story Reel and many more. The top 2 students in each category stand to win from a prize pool of INR 6,00,000. In its first edition, over 5,500 students have registered for the WCEL competition. In addition to individual student recognition, Arena Animation centres will also have the opportunity to earn the prestigious title of “WCEL Centre of Excellence”. The title will be awarded to centres that demonstrate outstanding participation and performance across multiple benchmarks in the competition, which includes highest number of students participants, maximum no. of qualified artwork submissions, the most nominations across categories and top winning entries. It’s a recognition of the passion, mentorship quality and the creative culture nurtured at these top performing Arena centres – setting benchmarks for others to follow.
Participant entries comprise original artworks in their chosen categories highlighting the creative vision, skill, and storytelling abilities of Arena Animation students. All entries are judged by a Grand Jury comprising industry leaders and international experts, ensuring high standards of evaluation and global credibility. This elite panel brings diverse perspectives and ensures that the evaluation is aligned with global standards of creative excellence.
Participating students also benefit from 12 exclusive masterclasses led by experienced mentors, helping them hone their skills conducted by brands such as Adobe, Pantone, and more.
Arena Animation’s existing flagship event, Creative Minds, is also playing a vital role as a qualifying ground for the WCEL. The top artworks from each category at Creative Minds earn a direct spot, handpicked by the jury, into the WCEL. These jury picked entries are in addition to the top artworks from the primary categories, based on the quality of their artwork and skills of the students. These shortlisted students then compete at the international level, where one ultimate winner per category gets crowned.
With the World Creative Excellence League (WCEL), Arena Animation has taken a major step in building a truly international creative education ecosystem. and most importantly, creating a vibrant, competitive, and inspiring global creative community, reinforcing its position as a global creative education leader
