Film

Giving Cityscapes Their Best Shots

• Byline:KELLY HER
• Publication Date:02/01/2011

Au Revoir Taipei, which features a love story that takes place over the course of one evening in Taipei, has won awards at several major international film festivals. (Photo Courtesy of Atom Cinema)

Several cities and counties in Taiwan are making all-out efforts to lure filmmakers.

Many people get to know a city via a movie before they have the chance to make a visit, with classics like Roman Holiday, Sleepless in Seattle and Manhattan becoming good promotional vehicles for their cities. Recently, the locally made movie Au Revoir Taipei, which features a love story that takes place over the course of one evening in Taipei, has presented the attractions of Taiwan’s capital city to an international audience.

In 2010, Au Revoir Taipei featured in film festivals in the European Union, the United States and Asia, winning the NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) Award for the Best Asian Film at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Jury Award at the Deauville Asian Film Festival in France, the Audience Award at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, the Golden Durian Award at the Barcelona Asian Film Festival and Best Narrative Feature at the Asian Film Festival of Dallas. And besides box office success in Taiwan, the film’s distribution rights have been sold in some 20 countries.

“Taipei has become an increasingly friendly environment for filmmaking. It’s thanks to assistance from the public and private sectors that we were able to shoot the film on location and complete it within one-and-a-half months,” says Liu Wei-jan, producer of Au Revoir Taipei. “In return, we’re glad to introduce Taipei’s vitality and diversity—the hustle and bustle of its nightlife and its friendly people—to the international community.”

One reason the city can offer a high level of help is the Taipei Film Commission (TFC), which was established by Taipei City Government’s Department of Cultural Affairs in January 2008 and has become an important resource for filmmakers, Liu says. The TFC serves as a channel of communication with different public agencies including the police, fire and transportation departments, as well as private groups and citizens, she says.

City-Wide Service

For example, Liu says the TFC liaised with the 24-hour Eslite bookstore, local borough authorities in downtown Taipei and business owners and residents in the Shida Night Market area to enable filming in those locations. Liu says her production crew was also grateful to obtain permission to film at a Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station and inside a running train (specially arranged for their shots), and with the TFC’s help in coordinating between relevant agencies and private citizens, the crew was also able to set up outdoor scenes with the kind of lighting and wet roads it desired in order to create the movie’s dream-like atmosphere. Moreover, Liu’s film was able to secure a NT$3.5 million (US$113,000) production grant from the Taipei City Government because it featured the city.

TFC Director Jennifer Jao, who helped take Au Revoir Taipei to the Berlin International Film Festival, says she was deeply touched when witnessing the rapturous applause that the film received at its premiere at the festival on February 14, 2010. “Two reporters from Geneva came to tell me that having seen the film, they really wanted to go to Taipei,” Jao says. “All of our endeavors in assisting with the production and marketing of Au Revoir Taipei did pay off handsomely!”

No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti, filmed in Kaohsiung, is based on the true story of a working-class father who fought authorities to reclaim custody of his little girl. (Photo Courtesy of Atom Cinema)

The TFC provides domestic and international film, television and music video producers with a wide variety of services. These include scouting and filing applications for the use of locations, recruiting temporary production workers, marketing and introducing finished works to film buyers. The commission also partners with a number of local businesses to issue production concession cards that render discounts of up to 60 percent on accommodation, dining, transportation, car rental and laundry services to production teams filming in Taipei.

Moreover, apart from subsidies for films made in Taipei, the TFC gives priority assistance with marketing to those that win any of the major awards at the Taipei Film Festival or films in which Taipei is featured in more than one-fourth of recognizable cityscape scenes. The marketing assistance ranges from help entering films in international film festivals to promoting them through the city government’s own advertising channels, as well as organizing media conferences and interviews.

“We strive to function as a one-stop service window for filmmakers planning to shoot in Taipei,” Jao says. “With the city mayor as chairman and related government authorities and industry experts as commissioners, the TFC can draw on extensive resources and has built an efficient administrative system to help filmmakers realize their dreams.”

As of the end of October 2010, the TFC had assisted with the production of 180 films, 100 television dramas and 126 commercials and music videos, including 50 international collaborations, since it began operations. The commission estimates that as many as 4,000 job opportunities and NT$7 billion (US$226 million) in economic benefits have been created through these productions.

Taipei City Government’s budget for subsidizing moviemaking projects in Taipei increased from NT$12 million (US$381,000) in 2008 and NT$22 million (US$665,000) in 2009 to NT$33 million (US$1.1 million) in 2010. “We don’t like to say how much we’ve contributed to the gradual recovery of Taiwan’s film industry, but we’ve helped many crews save time and money on their productions,” Jao says. “We’re glad to see all these different films unveiling the various facets of Taipei—its varied nightlife, pretty urban landscape and landmark buildings including the skyscraper Taipei 101, the National Palace Museum and Taipei Guest House—and at the same time stirring the audience’s interest in the city.”

In recent years, in addition to Au Revoir Taipei, a number of other Taiwanese films have gained widespread critical and popular acclaim including Cape No. 7 filmed in Pingtung County, southern Taiwan; Monga shot in the old Wanhua District of Taipei City; as well as No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti and the television drama Black & White, both produced in Kaohsiung City, southern Taiwan.

Monga, which tells the story of a group of gangsters in Taipei’s Wanhua District in the 1980s, has brought tourists and filmmakers to the area. (Photo Courtesy of Key Stone Communication Corp.)

These popular movies and programs have also helped boost the tourism sector by attracting streams of visitors from Taiwan and abroad to tour the locations used in the films. Moreover, the production teams’ need of temporary workers during shooting creates alternative job opportunities, and that, together with the crews’ spending on accommodation and dining, is also conducive to local economies.

Chasing Productions

With their recognition of movies as an efficient tool for city marketing, major cities in northern, central and southern Taiwan have formed commissions or special taskforces to cooperate closely with film and TV production teams. Taipei City, Kaohsiung City and Taichung City are the most aggressive in courting the film industry and offer a wide range of services and financial incentives for local projects.

In fact, Kaohsiung was the first city in Taiwan to make a conscious effort to provide interested filmmakers with all-round administrative and financial support. In late 2004, the city government set up the Kaohsiung Film Commission (KFC) to formulate policies for the development of the film and TV industry in the city, and also established a team to render filming-related services. In 2009, the team formally became the Filmmaking Assistance Center. Currently, the center’s services include consultancy, location scouting, negotiating with public and private agencies for the use of venues, as well as sourcing extras for scenes and storage space for equipment.

Shih Che, director-general of the Kaohsiung City Government’s Bureau of Cultural Affairs, indicates that Kaohsiung has a number of advantages as a filmmaking destination. For one, it offers multi-faceted views of the ocean and the city’s harbor, as well as urban districts featuring skyscrapers, upscale shopping malls and a number of gorgeously decorated MRT stations. All of these locations can be reached within 30 minutes from the downtown area.

Unlike some highly developed cities that are very crowded and have heavy traffic, Kaohsiung still has much open space that can be utilized for filming and fewer restrictions about shooting on location, Shih says, not to mention the city’s good weather conditions all year ’round, relaxed lifestyle and friendly people. All these factors can expedite the filmmaking process and consequently reduce production costs.

Still, given that more than 95 percent of Taiwan’s TV and film production companies, equipment companies and crews are based in Taipei, what can Kaohsiung do to lure film crews to relocate to the southern city? “We know that accommodation is a big part of expenses for film production teams so we offer subsidies, as well as address any other of their needs as best we can,” Shih says. “Also, we offer grants of between NT$1.5 million (US$48,000) and NT$3 million (US$97,000) for film projects that use Kaohsiung as the backdrop or the central theme.”

The police and crime TV drama Black & White obtained assistance from the Kaohsiung Film Commission to shoot a wide range of scenes throughout the city. (Photo Courtesy of Prajna Works Entertainment Co.)

Shih adds that Kaohsiung’s initiatives to promote the film and television industry have motivated other cities including Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung and Tainan to follow suit. He believes such concerted efforts to build a movie-friendly environment will invigorate the domestic film industry and attract more foreign filmmakers to shoot in Taiwan, consequently increasing the nation’s international exposure.

Chen Wen-pin, co-writer and lead actor of No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti, says the Kaohsiung City Government provided his film with substantial financial and administrative support while shooting scenes in the city in mid-2008. Besides offering a production grant of NT$1.5 million, the city government subsidized the accommodation expenses of Chen’s crew during their three-week stay in Kaohsiung. That was a big help for the film, which had a budget of just NT$6 million (US$194,000), Chen says.

Government Follow-Through

Still, what impressed Chen the most was the administrative efficiency of the city government in responding to the film crew’s needs. The city helped by closing off streets, controlling traffic and renting public vehicles—a patrol vessel, police car and public bus— for filming. “One time, the director wanted to add a scene featuring four police officers in a police car, so we filed the request. In less than 30 minutes, they arrived and were at our disposal. Another time, late one evening, we asked for a patrol vessel for early the next morning, and the next day there it was, anchored at the port, just as we wanted,” Chen recalls. “That shows the city’s civil servants recognize filmmaking is an important task and so are willing to support our work.”

No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti, directed by Leon Dai, is based on the true story of a working-class father who fought authorities to reclaim custody of his 7-year-old daughter. In 2009, the film took prizes for best picture, director, screenplay and best Taiwanese film at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards, as well as awards at the International Film Festival in Goa, India, Macau International Film Festival and the Asia Pacific Film Festival.

The police and crime TV drama Black & White was another program that obtained much assistance from the KFC during 2008 and 2009. The help ranged from enabling aerial shots filmed from helicopters to gunfights and explosions in streets, parks and restaurants, through to chase scenes filmed in Kaohsiung Harbor and inside MRT trains and tunnels. By featuring many of Kaohsiung’s distinctive landmarks and scenic spots, the series, which gained high viewer ratings, has contributed to greater numbers of tourists visiting the port city since then, according to local hotel operators. To make the most of the craze, the city government’s Tourism Bureau has introduced Black & White-themed tour packages in cooperation with local hotels.

Starring ... Kaohsiung

The hit series also scored a landslide victory at Taiwan’s 2009 Golden Bell Awards, Taiwan’s highest awards for television production, pocketing five awards for best drama, drama director, leading actor, drama marketing and best art and design. In his acceptance speech for the prize, director Tsai Yueh-hsun especially thanked the Kaohsiung City Government for its abundant support in helping him produce the series, saying that he was able to make it look as glamorous as if it had been “filmed in Miami.” Tsai has since decided to produce a movie version of the TV drama.

Kenting, in Pingtung County at the southernmost tip of Taiwan, where
internationally acclaimed Taiwanese-American film director Ang Lee plans to shoot scenes from his upcoming film Life of Pi (File Photo)

Producer Chen Hong-yuan says that the planned budget for the Black & White movie is NT$300 million (US$9.7 million) and that 80 percent of its scenes will be shot in Kaohsiung, 10 percent in Taipei and 10 percent in Beijing. “The film commissions set up respectively by the Taipei and Kaohsiung city governments are composed of film professionals and government authorities. They know our needs and how to communicate with other public agencies,” Chen says. “Thanks to their aid in handling paperwork and coordinating with the agencies involved, we were able to resolve many problems related to shooting on location.”

Likewise, Lin Jin-tian, a marketing specialist at Key Stone Communication Corp., the company that handled media publicity for Monga, says the film got substantial support from Taipei City Government. This included a NT$4 million (US$130,000) grant from the city, as well as enthusiastic support from the TFC during filmmaking and for its marketing campaigns at the Cannes International Film Festival and other events. The TFC organized some 20 meetings involving a total of more than 500 people, including police, traffic, environmental and fire officers, local borough chiefs, merchants and temple keepers on behalf of the film. “We called for three large-scale street closings during filming,” Lin says. “With the help of public authorities, we managed to carry out our work smoothly and minimized the inconvenience to local residents.”

Monga, which tells the story of a group of gangsters in Taipei’s Wanhua District in the 1980s, was released in early 2010 and did very well, eventually raking in NT$270 million (US$8.7 million) in its domestic release, which is considered a box office success for a locally made film. Distribution rights for the film have been sold in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and mainland China. The historic site Bopiliao in Wanhua District, once a dilapidated city block, has since become a popular tourist, as well as filmmaking, destination.

Recently, the internationally acclaimed Taiwanese-American film director Ang Lee has made fact-finding tours to Taichung and Pingtung in the central and southernmost parts of Taiwan to locate suitable sites for his new 3-D film Life of Pi. The film is based on the fantasy-adventure novel of the same name created by the noted Spanish-born Canadian writer Yann Martel. Lee said at a media conference in October 2010 that Life of Pi would start filming early this year and that 75 percent of its scenes would be shot in Taiwan, largely at sites in the former Taichung Shuinan Airport and in Kenting, Pingtung County.

It appears that through its various efforts to create an inviting film production environment, Taiwan is gaining favor with local and international filmmakers. That is not only conducive to the development of the film industry on the island but also an enhanced public profile of its cities.

“With the pleasant experience that we had while shooting Monga in Taipei, we believe that Taiwan has the potential to become a popular filmmaking destination,” says Lin Jin-tian of Key Stone Communication. “We’re really thankful for all the support we received here, so we’ll do our best to take our film to the international arena to help promote Taipei and Taiwan as a whole.”

Write to Kelly Her at kelly@mail.gio.gov.tw