Taiwan Land Development Corp (台灣土地開發) has teamed up with Canada-based Cameron Thomson Group to build a studio park in Hualien County with a view to making it a local version of Hollywood.
The “Huallywood” project aims to create an end-to-end ecosystem in the scenic area to assist global film and TV producers by facilitating content development, production, distribution and monetization, Taiwan Land Development chairman Chiu Fu-sheng (邱復生) said.
The park is part of an ongoing development project in the Hualien Bay area that is to encompass a residential complex, hotels, movie theaters and recreational and retail spaces, Chiu said.
“Hualien has advantages to offer the world production market by creating the next generation of filming facilities for international producers,” said Chiu, who gained credentials in TV and film production before delving into property development.
The park might help local film and TV producers move into the spotlight, taking over as the nation’s main industry from the information technology and communications sectors, Chiu said.
Huallywood is to have eight sound stages of sizes including 3,000m2, 2,000m2, 1,500m2 and 500m2. It is also to have 20,000m2 of production and executive office space, as well as outdoor stages and other facilities, Taiwan Land Development said.
The film industry has entered the era of digitalization, where content development has gained more importance than distribution channels, Chiu said, adding that quality content allows Hollywood to maintain its lead position on the world stage.
“Content creators need advanced facilities, technology and production resources to increase cost efficiency,” Chiu said.
“Huallywood studios is designed to provide world-class facilities to cover every phase of production,” he said.
After its completion, the project will provide jobs for media production professionals in Taiwan and contribute to the national treasury, Chiu said.
Cameron Thomson Group president Ronald Thomson said the digital revolution and intellectual property-based content distribution have caused dramatic changes in the film and TV industry worldwide, driving producers to search for ways to produce better-quality content at lower costs.
“Efficiency enhancement is the key to survival for industry participants these days, and Huallywood intends to provide solutions covering aspects of finance, studio development, operation, production, post production, media asset management and content distribution into its value chain,” Thomson said in Taipei.
Cameron Thomson Group is a major provider of outsourced business development solutions for the media, entertainment and technology sectors.
With an approval rating of just two percent, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte might be the world’s most unpopular leader, according to pollsters. Protests greeted her rise to power 29 months ago, and have marked her entire term — joined by assorted scandals, investigations, controversies and a surge in gang violence. The 63-year-old is the target of a dozen probes, including for her alleged failure to declare gifts of luxury jewels and watches, a scandal inevitably dubbed “Rolexgate.” She is also under the microscope for a two-week undeclared absence for nose surgery — which she insists was medical, not cosmetic — and is
CAUTIOUS RECOVERY: While the manufacturing sector returned to growth amid the US-China trade truce, firms remain wary as uncertainty clouds the outlook, the CIER said The local manufacturing sector returned to expansion last month, as the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose 2.1 points to 51.0, driven by a temporary easing in US-China trade tensions, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The PMI gauges the health of the manufacturing industry, with readings above 50 indicating expansion and those below 50 signaling contraction. “Firms are not as pessimistic as they were in April, but they remain far from optimistic,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference. The full impact of US tariff decisions is unlikely to become clear until later this month
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
CHIP DUTIES: TSMC said it voiced its concerns to Washington about tariffs, telling the US commerce department that it wants ‘fair treatment’ to protect its competitiveness Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reiterated robust business prospects for this year as strong artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand from Nvidia Corp and other customers would absorb the impacts of US tariffs. “The impact of tariffs would be indirect, as the custom tax is the importers’ responsibility, not the exporters,” TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said at the chipmaker’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu City. TSMC’s business could be affected if people become reluctant to buy electronics due to inflated prices, Wei said. In addition, the chipmaker has voiced its concern to the US Department of Commerce