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Curtain Falls on Successful 2018 Taipei International TV Market & Forum – Follow-On Transaction Benefits Estimated to Exceed NT$800 Million

Organized by the Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development, Ministry of Culture, the successful 2018 Taipei International TV Market & Forum was brought to a close today (Nov. 15) at the Taipei Marriott Hotel. Brought together at this year’s grand event were representatives from 24 countries/territories around the globe, with 75 international buyers and 74 domestic exhibitors. A total of 263 television productions were showcased, initiating over 900 copyright purchase and investment cooperation negotiations.

According to the Bureau, the number of buyers from Southeast Asia at this year’s gathering was 53%, and invited buyers came from across the globe, including Europe and West Asia. Negotiated transactions are estimated to have reached US$13 million in value, and the estimated long-term value may reach US$26 million (approximately NT$800 million). Buyers from Iran, Spain, and Norway were in attendance at the Taiwan event for the first time.

On November 15 during the event, the combined “2018 Conferring Television Scriptwriting Awards and Business Matchmaking” was presented for the first time. The Director General of the Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development, Hsu Yi-Chun, along with selection committee members Wen Yu-fang and Huang Chien-ming, jointly announced the winner of the “Award of Excellence” and nine “Grand Prize” winners.

The Bureau further reports that this year’s Television Scriptwriting Awards, the ninth year for the program, continued the two-phase registration process commenced last year. In the first phase, a total of 235 works were registered for participation by talent from across the country. This year’s competition entries were from many different categories. Medical dramas ranged from presenting the early Republican period to storylines from the modern day, stimulating viewers to ponder issues related to the medical system. While developing toward a grand climax, mystery dramas also embraced a sense of caring for the local community. The professional dramas covered a wide range of industries. Among the various other issues addressed were campus bullying, vignette love stories, and family. These works clearly showcase the dynamic energy and creativity powering today’s domestic scriptwriting. After evaluation by the selection committee, a total of 36 works were bestowed with honors. The Award of Excellence, won by Mystery of the Golden Age, came with NT$500,000 in prize money. Each of the nine Grand Prize winning works received NT$250,000. Mystery of the Golden Age is a Taiwan period drama combining adventure, mystery, and science.

To enable more works to be seen, this year the “Finalist Works Business Matchmaking” was integrated with the Taipei International TV Market & Forum for the first time. Participating domestic vendors were invited to engage in one-on-one talks with the various finalists, bringing excellent matchmaking results, with 23 works and 25 enterprises involved. To promote the creation of superior-quality scripts for dramas, in 2017 the Bureau launched the “Television Script Development Subsidy” program. Television program production enterprises are encouraged to invite well-known television series scriptwriters from home and abroad to serve as scriptwriting tutors, helping to recraft finalist and award-winning works into more complete, market-oriented scripts, encouraging the development of original scripts that conform better to international market-type series. Another approach is script adaptations of excellent works of local literature, novels, and comic works. The next step is investment or subsidy policy assistance and production matchmaking. Works that have been past winners in the Conferring Television Screenwriting Awards have already completed production and had great impact on the market, including Karoshi and The Ex-Man. Another wave of viewer interest is one the way, with projects such as Best Interest and Without Her Even Hero is 0 taken on by industry enterprises and set to hit the airwaves.

The Bureau states that in order to stimulate internationalized viewpoints and creative thinking, three International TV Forum sessions were staged at this year’s gathering. Specially invited to take part in Session I was Sheng Fen Hsueh, President of Jason's Entertainment Co., Ltd., Jihee KIM, Head of Format Development for CJ ENM, and Roman Lo, President of Kingshine Entertainment, Inc., who engaged in discussion on the topic “Winning formats: Creating globally popular content.” Invited for Session II was Atsushi Sogo, International Business Development President at Nippon TV, Felix To Chi Hak, Deputy General Manager of Programme and Production at Television Broadcasts Limited, and Carol Wang, Programming Dept. Vice President and Director of City Channel at Sanlih E-Television Co., Ltd., who addressed the theme “A global media strategy: tapping global markets through program rights, transnational co-productions, and IPTV.” Participating in Session III was Hemingway Chiu, Executive Vice President at CTBC Venture Capital, Erica Wang, Vice President at PricewaterhouseCoopers Taiwan, Dennis Yang, CEO of Studio76. Co., and Tang Sheng Rong, President of Greener Grass Production, whose topic of discussion was “Inside capital markets for audiovisual products.”

The Bureau states that the continued staging of this event will serve to strengthen services in various areas, and in future wide invitations to buyers and creative enterprises from new markets and markets with strong potential will be extended to come participate. This will continue to attract a significant stream of funding for Taiwan television content, and open a pathway for the cross-border joint co-funding and co-production of Taiwan works.