The Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the organizers of France’s NewImages Festival to boost extended-reality (XR) cooperation and coproductions between the two nations.
First held in 2018 and hosted by the Forum des images, the Paris-based festival is the largest immersive content festival in France, and a pioneer in virtual-reality content and immersive creation, the agency said in a statement.
The agreement will strengthen ties between the XR industries in the two nations by accelerating exchanges between Taiwanese and French creators and professionals, TAICCA said yesterday.
It seeks to provide opportunities for cooperation and business, and help Taiwan become a global leader in XR content, the agency said.
The two organizations are to select 10 Taiwanese XR professionals to attend the fourth NewImages Festival from June 9 to 13, following an open call for applications, the agency said.
Prior to the opening of the festival, a “Taiwan-France XR Day” event is to be held as a platform for Taiwanese and French XR professionals to engage in workshops, discussions and one-on-one matchmaking sessions, it said.
Applications to the networking program are open until March 12, with details available at taicca.tw/article/c061ffca, it said.
Meanwhile, the agency is to invite 10 French XR professionals to attend this year’s Taiwan Creative Content Fest, which held its first event in November last year, it said.
Their participation would facilitate a better understanding of Taiwan’s plans for advancing content, and open up more opportunities for collaboration, it said.
They might join the festival virtually depending on the COVID-19 situation, it added.
Taiwan’s XR ecosystem is developing rapidly, and several important achievements have demonstrated the nation’s success in the integration of XR hardware and software, TAICCA chairperson Ting Hsiao-ching (丁曉菁) said.
The agency and the NewImages Festival share common goals and values about XR creation, Ting said, adding that she is optimistic the partnership would result in stronger contact between XR talent from the two nations.
The agency’s many schemes and international coproduction programs could help take Taiwanese and French collaboration on XR content to the next level, she added.
“We are proud to join forces with the TAICCA to support immersive creation. This partnership reinforces the special and privileged friendship that the festival has had with Taiwan for several years now,” NewImages Festival director Michael Swierczynski said.
“This brand new and unprecedented collaboration between NewImages Festival and the TAICCA offers a unique opportunity to strengthen exchanges, collaborations and synergies and to promote coproductions, as well as the emergence of new talent,” he said.
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