Every star needs that perfect moment to shine. Just like the renowned Taiwanese baker Bao-chun Wu（吳寶春）found his opportunity, Taiwan’s film industry is finally grasping its calling. According to recent news reported by CNN, Taipei is becoming one of the must-to-go Asian cities for some of Hollywood's biggest hitters. Not only the famous French director Luc Besson and star Scarlett Johansson have visited Taiwan to film the famous sci-fi thriller “Lucy”but also Martin Scorsese, the director of “The Wolf of Wall Street,” is shooting his latest movie in Taipei now.
“Taiwanese films have boomed into success since Cape No. 7（海角七號）and it is becoming more and more popular in the society and even in the Asian film market since 2008,” said Jennifer Jao（饒紫娟）, head of the Taipei Film Commission（台北市電影委員會）. “Not only did Taipei film commission help numerous local films shot there scenes in Taipei or even just maybe a glimpse of the beautiful citybut also it have assisted 92 foreign film crews shot in the city last year, up from 56 in 2013.”
The Taipei Film Commission was established in the end of 2007 to provide assistance for film production in Taipei city. As a semi-governmental organization with the city mayor as chairman and industry professionals as commissioners, the TFC is very resourceful and flexiblein dealing all the matters related to film making.
What’s amazing was anything related to location scouting, tax credit, traffic control or advertisement broadcasting, almost anything that is associated with filming can be supported by the TFC, which is committed to do its best to make any movie-making project in Taipei as rewarding and successful as possible according to the introduction on the TFC official website.
Tasked with attracting international film makers, Jennifer said it wasn't always this way. “We actually had a great chance to promote Taipei when film crew of Mission Impossible came knocking on the door, but it was a pity that we lost the opportunity in the end.”
The case was been inspected and pushed forward the establishment of Taipei commission, which was set up in 2008 to court international film makers but wasn't until director Ang Lee（李安）, who was born in Taiwan, filmed the Oscar-winning hit “Life of Pi” on the island that it began to earn a reputation for Taiwan as an accommodating and affordable place to shoot films according to CNN reports.
The TFC has also developed strategic plans for strengthening the local film industry. The commission provides not only guidance to the local and national film industry but also extensive online resources in a way to streamline administrative procedures, there by creating a greater environment for Taiwan’s cinema industry.
Without a doubt, Taipei Film Commission have been one of the biggest success behind the scenes of Taiwan Cinemas on local Taiwanese films and international development, and will continue to collaborate with more International film crew to provide a broader horizon for the Taiwan film industry.
“Taiwan has a great film environment filled with versatility of talents of the Cinemas industry. What we need is to promote ourselves to make it shine and seize the opportunity when it comes knocking on the front door.”
