The 'Haunted Hills' team

Source: Ronan Wong

The ‘Haunted Hills’ team

Six genre scripts developed across Asia were pitched at the Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF) today, November 6, concluding the inaugural Rocket Program, an initiative backed by Taiwan’s Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) to help foster projects in the romance, horror and action genres with the ability to travel across markets.

The scripts were developed by Korea’s Bound Entertainment, Thailand’s Transformation Films, and Indonesia’s SinemArt Production alongside AR Asia Productions.

At the session, it was announced that two of the six projects have secured an investor, Taiwan’s Bossdom, for co-investment and co-production.

Bossdom is “proud to bring outstanding Taiwanese IP to the international stage, creating films with strong global market potential,” said Lu Chun-Wei, chairman of Bossdom.

The first of two projects that have received backing from Bossdom is Haunted Hills, a horror film developed for the Thai market. The project will be jointly produced by Transformation, Shine International Cinema, Bossdom, and AR Asia. 

The film is about a cursed outcast boy whose desperate search for his mother awakens vengeful spirits. It is set to be directed by Charles Yang (Lethe) and produced by Kittitat Nokngam and Gavin Luo.

”Haunted Hills mixes Taiwanese emotion with Thai spiritual horror. It’s not only about fear, it’s a story about love,” said producer Luo at the TCCF session, who added that it will shoot in real villages and feature their customs “to make the film feel alive.”

The second project to secure funding from Bossdom is Corpse-Born Child, an Indonesia-Taiwan horror film about a brilliant OBGYN who implants a fertilized embryo into a corpse, invoking a sinister curse.

“It’s not just a horror film, it’s about how much a woman would sacrifice to become a mother,” shared screenwriter and producer Hsu Hao Yi, who hopes the universal theme of motherhood will speak to audiences in both Taiwan and Indonesia. The film is set to be directed by Ling Bo Wei (Shadow on the Terrace) and is also produced by Adrianus Parasian at Sinemart, Rayeagle Ltd, Bossdom, and AR Asia.

The other projects introduced at the pitch session included Masked Warriors, an action film that features Taiwanese and Thai martial artists fighting together directed by actor Huang Jun-Jie; Follow Your Heart, an Indonesia-Taiwan co-production about a young gymnast who becomes possessed after receiving a heart transplant; Love Loop, a time-travel love story mixing Taiwanese and Korean storytelling elements; and Evernight Mountain, a Taiwan-Korea thriller about five strangers who climb a cursed mountain based on a comic book IP from Taiwan.

In a statement, TAICCA noted that “This program marks a milestone for Taiwan’s creators. We are committed to supporting sustainable pathways for international co-production and elevating genre storytelling with a distinctly Asian voice.”

“International co-production is tough, and takes faith, trust, and ability,” said Ronan Wong of AR Asia Productions. “By co-developing scripts across borders and languages, and attracting credible investors, these Taiwanese filmmakers are turning creative ambition into tangible international opportunity.”

AR Asia Productions has had success this year in Japan with Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle, an interactive branching path film in which the audience votes on the direction the story will take. The anime film has earned $16.3m (2.5 billion yen) to date.

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