Taiwan launches two funds to help boost co-productions, distribution and promoting local IP

Two funds aimed at expanding the reach of content from Taiwan were launched at the opening day of the Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF, November 4).

The Taiwan-Korea Entertainment & Cultural Content Fund, which has a total size of $31m (NT$960m) and is supported by a $15m (NT$470m) investment from Taiwan’s National Development Fund, was created in partnership with Korea’s CJ ENM alongside Taiwan’s Far EasTone Telecom and Liann Lih Technology (TVBS Group).

The fund will focus on investing in and co-producing audiovisual content plus distribution and marketing.

Meanwhile, the Far EasTone - Enjoy Entertainment Fund, which totals $19.4m (NT$600m) with $9.5m (NT$294m) from the National Development Fund, was created by Fubon Cultural Creative, Far EasTone, and TAICCA, and will “focus on promoting Taiwanese IP internationally and introducing world-class works to Taiwan.”

At today’s press conference Sean Cho, executive vice president, head of global business division at CJ ENM, said that the firm is “thrilled to deepen its collaboration with Taiwan… the fund is not simply an investment, but our joint buisiness blueprint for next phase of Taiwan’s creative era.”

Cho added that the fund will “leverage CJ ENM’s production expertise to deliver tangible outcomes and empower Taiwanese IP to travel beyond borders and resonate worldwide.”

Sheena Liu, president of TVBS, said “Korean content is a global success story in brand building and monetization,” and that the fund represents a “tremendous chance to create a sustainable ecosystem to push more Chinese-language content from Taiwan to the global stage.”

Chee Ching, president of Far EasTone Telecom, which launched its streaming platform friDay Video a decade ago, called her firm the “new kid on the block” in terms of content creation.

“We are now investing in content because streaming platforms like Netflix are everywhere,” said Chee, whose firm recently backed the Japan-Taiwan co-production 18x2 Beyond Youthful Days. “We used to be just a buyer, but now we have become an investor.” Chee noted that the firm will leverage the fund to “invest heavily in locally produced content in Taiwan.”

TAICCA chairman Sue Wang, who noted that TAICCA, CJ ENM, Far EasTone and TVBS Media signed a memorandum of understanding at TCCJ in 2023 that served as the basis for the funds, said that “this fund will push Taiwan content onto the global stage,” citing Korea’s example: “Everyone knows how K-pop and K-culture are popular around world, but not many understand the efforts put into upgrading the industry, which is how K-mania was really made.”

Also on stage was Minister of Culture Li Yuan, who noted that the biggest political challenge when he took office was simplifying the review process to access Taiwan’s National Development Fund.

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