Highlights of the first TCCF day: funding from the Taiwanese government; Japanese company Kadokawa plans global expansion. Korea’s CJ ENM Treaty with TAICCA

The Taiwan Creative Content Fest kicked off in Taipei today with organizer Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA), highlighting its soft power ambitions and growing international collaboration activities, particularly with France, South Korea and Japan.

Taiwan’s Culture Minister Shih Che took the stage at the opening ceremony to discuss Taiwan’s recently approved “One Plus Four – T Content Plan”, which includes US$311 million (NT$10 billion) to support the creative industry.

“We have reached a milestone this year: after supporting the semiconductor and technology industries, it is finally the turn of the cultural content industry, whose support is enshrined in our laws and regulations,” Shih said.

“Taiwan has abundant talent and culture and we are one of the very important entry points to Mandarin-speaking culture. “In the digital space, we play an important role and influence our cultural content on an international level.”

TAICCA’s funding programs, which have been continuously rolled out since the agency’s establishment in 2019, help position Taiwan as an international content production hub. While some government funding is earmarked for Taiwanese films and drama series, some of it is available to international producers working with Taiwanese companies through funds such as the Taiwan International Co-funding Program (TICP).

TAICCA is also in the process of signing a series of memorandums of understanding with international content agencies and private companies, with an initial focus on France – with which Taiwan has long-standing cultural ties – and South Korea’s mature and democratic North Asian markets. and Japan.

Dominique Boutonnat, President of the French National Center for Film and Moving Image (CNC), also attended the opening ceremony of the TCCF, ahead of the signing of an official cooperation agreement between CNC and TAICCA later this week.

“We have already had numerous exchanges with Taiwan in the field of series and TV productions, Series Mania festivals and co-productions, such as: [Algerian-French historical action film] The last queenwhich was co-financed by TAICCA,” Boutonnat said, adding that Taiwan and France share common values ​​politically, industrially and commercially.

Takeshi Natsuno, CEO of Japan’s Kadokawa Corporation, said in a lively keynote speech later in the day that Taiwan is a springboard for the company’s international ambitions. TAICCA signed a memorandum of understanding with Kadokawa last month.

“Our globalization started here in Taiwan and already 20% of our sales come from outside Japan,” said Natsuno. “We want to increase this share to 40%, as there is a demand for animation and content around the world.”

Natsuno added that Kadokawa also has offices in the US, Malaysia and Thailand: “Currently, 95% of our content comes from Japan and is exported around the world, but my goal in ten years is to reach that 50%.” of Japan and 50% of other markets worldwide.”

Kadokawa began as a manga publisher in the 1940s and today has a large amount of intellectual property that it uses for film and television production, games, education and streaming services, including the NicoNico platform operated with Dwango. Criticizing his home country for its lack of innovation, Natsuno said: “I’m jealous of Taiwan’s content industry – you have so much support from your government, we only support boring stuff, not anime and manga.”

Also on the first day of the event, TAICCA signed a memorandum of understanding with CJ ENM Hong Kong, the regional office of Korean studio CJ ENM, Taiwanese telecommunications company Far EasTone and broadcaster TVBS to launch a multi-year content fund for co -content production and distribution together.

In a statement, the partners said the fund “will focus on identifying and funding promising projects.” In addition, financial support, mentoring and valuable industry connections will be provided, with the aim of producing more interesting content through the unique exchange of cultural backgrounds.”

TCCF takes place at Songshan Culture and Creative Park, a converted tobacco factory that hosts a content market, presentation events, seminars and an exhibition of immersive artworks and installations.