The Ministry of Culture has started accepting applications for a subsidy program to aid Taiwanese dramas seeking to enter international markets.
The Cabinet last month approved a budget for the ministry’s “one plus four T-content plan,” which includes NT$3 billion (US$94.1 million) for next year and NT$10 billion for next year to 2027, the ministry said.
The plan, also referred to as the “Cultural Kuroshio Current,” is centered on art, publishing, cultural creativity, audiovisual works, cultural technology and cultural diplomacy, it said.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
The plan’s first program focuses on promoting the audiovisual industry by soliciting internationally oriented Taiwanese dramas. Applications can be submitted until Dec. 4.
It aims to bolster Taiwan’s content production capacity, support and develop large-scale production companies, foster talent, improve technology, and enhance the competitiveness and influence of Taiwanese content, it said.
The program is looking for international and market-oriented productions that present investment term sheets from domestic and foreign investors — such as international enterprises, TV stations, production companies or streaming platforms — and a specific international marketing plan, it said.
The theme of the drama should be unique and international, and those that represent Taiwanese history and culture are preferred, it said.
A proposed drama series should have a planned production cost of at least NT$10 million per episode, or a total cost of more than NT$100 million, it said.
More than one-fifth of the drama’s production team, such as producers, directors, screenwriters and actors, should consist of people shortlisted for or winners of a Golden Bell Award, Golden Horse Award, or other international film and television awards, it said.
The program combines subsidy and investment for additional funding.
After the ministry reviews an application for the program, the Taiwan Creative Content Agency would conduct an investment review, which is under a separate program under the National Development Fund, it said.
Applications that pass both reviews can receive a subsidy of up to 40 percent of the estimated production cost approved by the ministry, it said.
The program plans to solicit applications every season to provide continued support for the industry, the ministry said.
“In the era of digitalization, Taiwan is no longer an outlier or a small country, but has the unprecedented right to address the world,” Minister of Culture Shih Che (史哲) said.
Countries worldwide can spread their cultural content through over-the-top media services, which are the highways that connects the world, he said.
With growing global attention being drawn to Taiwan, the Cultural Kuroshio Current strives to put Taiwan’s cultural content on those highways to bring entertainment to the world, he said.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition