Taiwanese director Ang Lee (李安) is trying to decide whether to return to Greater Taichung to reshoot some scenes in his latest film, Life of Pi, his major concern being the excessive media attention he receives when in Taiwan, a city official said.
During the shooting of the movie earlier this year, Lee was upset by the constant media presence and the paparazzi’s hounding of the production crew, which resulted in a crew member being hit by a vehicle, Shih Jing-wen (石靜文), head of the municipality’s Government Information Office, said on Wednesday.
The fondness of Taiwanese audiences for the Academy Award-winning filmmaker also put great pressure on him, Shih said at a city council meeting that raised the issue of local government subsidies for the movie.
Lee also had to worry about whether his foreign production crew members were comfortable working in Taiwan, Shih said.
The 3D film, scheduled for release in December next year, is the first Lee has shot in Taiwan since the start of his Hollywood career in the late 1990s.
Most of the shooting was done on a set at the site of a former airport in Taichung, where some paparazzi climbed the walls to take photographs, Shih said.
Lee said it was for these reasons that he was hesitant to return to his hometown to reshoot some of the scenes, Shih said.
The NT$50 million (US$1.65 million) Greater Taichung Government subsidy for which Lee applied was still under review, which means he has not yet received any of it, Shih said.
The Cabinet has also approved a grant of NT$250 million for the film and that sum would be disbursed over two years, she said.
The introduction of Hollywood-style filming in Taiwan has not only helped to foster new talent, but it has also transferred many new techniques to the local film industry, Shih said.
It is therefore “right and necessary” to give Lee the subsidies, Shih said.
Taichung plans to create a film park on the site of the production set, where a wave pool that cost about NT$200 million was built, Shih said.
The pool, which can create more than 1,000 types of waves and simulate storms and tidal waves, is the first of its kind in Asia, she said.
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