Why three top Taiwanese producers joined forces to launch LHB X An Attitude

Producers’ alliance LHB X An Attitude is making ambitious plans to elevate Taiwanese cinema onto the global stage, with a trio of international co-productions — Sabu’s Arrested Memory, Masaharu Take’s Clinch and Singing Chen’s The Ancient Tree — in its line-up.

The cross-generational alliance comprises Lee Lieh, Roger Huang and Justine O. An Attitude’s Lee embarked on an acting career in the 1970s before turning to producing in the 2000s with commercial hits such as Monga, Zone Pro Site: The Moveable Feast and The Pig, The Snake And The Pigeon.

Huang of Yi Tiao Long Hu Bao International Entertainment has a strong production background, from executive producing Columbia Pictures’ 2002 horror Double Vision, to spearheading the adaptation of last year’s 18x2 Beyond Youthful Days, which marked a new milestone for Taiwan-Japan collaboration.

Cutting Edge Films’ Justine O has a growing portfolio of international titles that have premiered at top film festivals, including Cannes features Black Dog and Meeting With Pol Pot (both 2024), Berlinale 2024 Competition title Shambhala and Venice 2025 Competition title The Sun Rises On Us All.

How did LHB X An Attitude come into existence?

Justine O The idea was initiated by Roger, who was among the first from Taiwan to engage in international co-productions.

Lee Lieh Roger and I have known each other for nearly 30 years and share a sibling-like bond. Our first collaboration was 2011’s Jump Ashin! starring Eddie Peng and directed by Lin Yu-Hsien, when Justine was a production assistant starting out in the industry. Over the past decade, each of us have grown in different fields. Having now all gathered in Taipei again — perhaps due to shared values — we found ourselves working together. We share our resources, experience and energy in the service of cinema.

Can you describe the kinds of projects LHB X An Attitude is looking for?

Lee: We focus mainly on original content with IP potential. The goal is to create a cycle where IPs generate commercial benefits that can in turn support the creation of more original works — sustaining a living ecosystem of content. Our core market remains Taiwan and co-production countries with Taiwan as the starting point. In the past, Taiwan’s small market limited the scale of investments. We now hope that by collaborating with other countries, we can expand sales potential and reduce financial risk. We aim to tell Taiwanese stories, with each project tailored to fit its target market.

There is a growing trend for international co-productions. How do you ride this wave to increase the visibility of Taiwanese cinema?

Roger Huang: Everything begins with the story and its quality. We hope to discover strong stories that can offer meaningful direction to both the world and future generations. Once a great story is found, we devote our full effort to it — combining domestic and international resources to help the film reach the highest and farthest possible stage.

What are the key challenges facing Taiwanese filmmakers?

Lee: For a small market like Taiwan, the challenges are even greater after the pandemic. The key question is how can we make ourselves seen by the outside world? We have funding, we have diverse government support programmes, we have talented technical and creative professionals. But how do we let the world know and encourage other countries to collaborate with us? By integrating the resources we already have and developing projects suit­able for international co-production, we hope to bring Taiwanese cinema onto the global stage. This is the goal we are striving for.

Despite the disruption, did the pandemic create new opportunities to develop Taiwan’s soft power?

Justine O: Many experienced Taiwanese film crews returned home from Hollywood, Australia and China because of the pandemic and many decided to stay. In 2022, we began collaborating with them and they helped to elevate production values in a short period of time and helped Taiwanese co-productions gain more visibility on the international stage.

Seeing new opportunities in Taiwan’s content and IP, we are bringing Taiwan’s talent to the global arena. The lead cast in our three upcoming films include top actors such as Ethan Juan, Tseng Jing-hua and Hsu Kuang-han.

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