Stars fall to earth in local films

Using pretty TV actors is another trend for the younger

generation of filmmakers. Alice Wang (王毓雅) is a 30-something film director who has made four films in two years and as such is one of the most prolific local directors.

"My idea was to bring Taiwanese actors to mainland China and Hong Kong. A star is not born by appearing in just one film. You have to keep making movies to make them remembered by a wider audience," she said.

Wang's Karate Girls (空手道少女組) stars Chinese TV actor Chen Kun (陳坤), Hong Kong actress Anita Yuen (袁詠儀) and Taiwanese TV actresses Lin Yi-chen (林依晨) and An Yi-xuan (安以軒).

The film, co-produced with Bona Films in Beijing, was made with the Chinese market in mind. Thus, Wang was able to quickly raise funds for her next film, West Town Girls (終極西門), a film about gangster teenage girls in Taipei's Ximending. It started shooting last week and the film will again star idols of TV dramas, such as Wu Chen-chun (吳辰君) and Yang Chin-hua (楊謹華).

"For a long time, Taiwanese filmmakers have forgotten the basic social function of going to movies: that is to go to movies with your date, your family and friends," said Wold Chen (陳鴻元), CEO of Mata Entertainment. "Now, we are happy to see a younger generation going in a different direction," he said at the conference.