In an attempt to transform Taichung into a city internationally renowned for film production, the city government plans to build a major film studio complex and has earmarked a budget of NT$30 million (US$950,118) per year to subsidize filming in the city.
The city government funded 41 movies last year and supported 50 movies in the first half of this year, while 170 scenes were shot in the city, the Taichung City Information Bureau said.
Blockbusters that have catapulted cities to fame are successful cases of city branding, the bureau said, adding that those cities have seen a sharp uptick in tourism.
Photo: Huang Chung-shan, Taipei Times
The most notable city-branding movie made in Taiwan is Black and White (痞子英雄), which was shot almost entirely in Kaohsiung and successfully promoted the city’s image and encouraged tourism, the bureau said.
With the goal of making Taichung into Taiwan’s Hollywood, the Taichung City Government plans to build a cinematic park in Beitun District’s (北屯) Shuinan area (水湳) that would house a movie center, a film library, a cinema, and performance and exhibition venues, the bureau said, adding that the park would be the largest establishment in Taiwan dedicated to the film idustry.
The city government would seek to appropriate a state-owned property in Wufeng District (霧峰) from the National Property Administration to build a film studio complex, while relocating the wave tanks and 12 wave-making machines that director Ang Lee (李安) used in the filming of the Life of Pi to the planned site, making the studio the only one in Asia to be equipped with a wave-making facility of such capacity, the bureau said.
Apart from building the infrastructure, the bureau said it would set up a foundation to develop the local film and television industry and establish a conduit for international and local filmmaking.
The government’s financial support and the bureau’s prompt assistance to locally made films have earned the approval of the movie and television industry, and attracted more filmmakers to the city, the bureau said.
Applications for film funding can be filed until Aug. 10, the bureau said.
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