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FEATURE: Local filmmakers learning Hollywood's secrets

While most people headed home for family reunions during the Lunar New Year holiday, a group of 12 moviemakers has been busy in the US, taking part in a three-week training seminar on Hollywood film production.

The government-sponsored group is attending a program titled "Producing for Hollywood" at the Argonaut Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

"We came up with a proposal to send moviemakers to study abroad to enhance film production among senior professionals," said Chen chun-che (陳俊哲), director of the Government Information Office's (GIO) Department of Motion Picture Affairs.

Chen said the Argonaut Institute seminar was "a tailor-made program for Taiwanese producers" arranged by Lee Tain-dow (李天鐸), a leading figure in contemporary cultural and media studies in the greater Chinese academic community.

SYLLABUS

Lee said he has worked closely with UCLA since last year to arrange the seminar's syllabus, which includes the basics of feature film development, independent financing, agency packaging, marketing and acquisition, and distribution by both studios and independent companies.

The course began on Jan. 28 and will end on Wednesday.

The programs' instructors include UCLA faculty and top professionals -- independent producers, studio executives, entertainment attorneys and agents -- who are closely associated with the university's regular degree granting Producers' Program, Chen said.

Chiu Shun-ching (邱順清), a former general manager of the Central Motion Picture Co, which once played a dominant role in Taiwan's film industry, said the biggest problem for the nation's film industry is that there is almost no possibility of making a profit.

The domestic film industry has collapsed over the past decade and the market share of Taiwanese cinema is now less than 5 percent of the total annual box office gross, Chiu said.

Chiu described Taiwan's film industry as a "vacuum," in which about 80 percent of film devices are imported -- with the exception of sets and stages.

He said it was also difficult for Taiwan-made films to get time slots at theaters because cineplexs are taken up by Hollywood movies.

CREATIVITY SOUGHT

Aside from the hardware shortage, the creativity needed to develop local subjects for films must also be nurtured, Chiu said.

Senior GIO executive officer Joanne Tien (田又安) said the 12 filmmakers were selected by competition from about 40 entrants.

The GIO hopes the students will be able to learn how to deal with the problems the local movie industry faces, she said.

Part of the curriculum focuses on how Hollywood studios have favored blockbusters since the 1970s, and accelerated this type of production in the 1980s and 1990s, Tien said.

The students will also learn the different ways of finding materials, pitching a project and how to advance a project in Hollywood, she said.

Financing, packaging and marketing in Hollywood is also a main part of the program.

Students will be taught the history and basic elements of independent film financing, and how to develop a business strategy to promote a film, among other courses, the GIO staffer said.

The third part of the program deals with distribution for general, niche and specialized markets.

Panel discussions have been arranged to allow students to talk to prominent agents and managers, studio and development executives, and working writers, she said.

COPYING THE JAPANESE

Chen said the proposal was inspired by a similar USLA program the Japanese government set up for its film professionals.

"We didn't have much difficulty when talking with UCLA about the program because Taiwanese films have grown in popularity [overseas] in recent years, especially after audiences from international films festivals started taking notice," Chen said.

Chen said that the government is planning to offer more seminars periodically as part of its efforts to revive the local film industry.

Filmmakers who complete these courses can serve as "seed teachers" here at home, Chen said.
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