TAICCA (Taiwan Creative Content Agency) is proud to present EMERGE, a program designed to support Taiwanese writers, directors and producers to develop Chinese-language original TV series with hands-on guidance from some of the most experienced producers in Hollywood and Asia, and with the ultimate goal of creating authentic and premium Taiwanese TV series with global appeal. TAICCA is excited to welcome Imagine Entertainment and Sixty Percent Productions to shepherd the inaugural EMERGE program.
The growth of international streaming platforms has continued to explode in recent years. While this surge in demand has created opportunities for local productions globally, it has also created a pipeline for discovering and identifying new talent to feed the demands of the marketplace. Hence, TAICCA has initiated EMERGE to give Taiwanese creators the opportunity to maximize their talents to meet the challenges of a competitive global market. EMERGE will select five projects to undergo an intensive 20-week development program supervised by Imagine Entertainment and Sixty Percent Productions, with experienced global TV producers, showrunners and executives as guest lecturers. In addition to developing high quality materials, the program will also help participants to grow into the role of showrunners.
“The current state of the international content market has intensified the competition between content produced in every country. Therefore, if Taiwan's film and television industry can increase its output of high-quality original content, it can increase its chances of successfully tapping into commercial markets. Chinese-language original content has great potential to connect with audiences and subscribers around the world, thus a focus of the industry at this stage is to create high-quality Chinese-language content that resonates with global markets. TAICCA is actively supporting local filmmakers to meet those goals. We’re excited to bring Imagine Entertainment and Sixty Percent Production to Taiwan through EMERGE, and we look forward to having them share their unparalleled insights on the international market with the local industry”, said TAICCA CEO Izero LEE.
“We believe that creative collaboration can thrive when we share and learn from each other. It is in that spirit that we are thrilled to partner with TAICCA and Sixty Percent Productions on EMERGE. We look forward to working with program participants to help them craft their stories for the local market and globally,” said Imagine Entertainment Executive Chairmen Brian GRAZER and Ron HOWARD, jointly.
Imagine Entertainment Executive Chairmen Brian GRAZER and Ron HOWARD. (Photo Credit Jeff Lipsky)
Vice President of Imagine International Janice CHUA also shared, “I have been inspired by the creativity and talents of the many writers and directors I had the privilege of working with on Taiwan Crime Stories over the last year. I am extremely excited and honored to have the opportunity to work with EMERGE to discover new stories and elevate talented storytellers so that they can be competitive in the marketplace.”
Sixty Percent Productions’ Co-founder and CCO Cora YIM said, “Foreign language content isn’t just restricted to local territories anymore. Through EMERGE, we will gather the best resources from Asia and Hollywood to inspire and equip young and ambitious Taiwanese creators so that they have the space and time to truly focus on development that will lead to high-quality TV shows which I believe the world will come to see and love. I am confident and can’t wait to embark on this journey with TAICCA and Imagine Entertainment.”
TAICCA is now pleased to begin accepting submissions (up until the deadline of July 31, 2022) for writers (or writing teams) and their Chinese-language original TV projects to join the inaugural session of the EMERGE program with TAICCA, Imagine Entertainment, and Sixty Percent Productions. For more information and to apply, visit: https://reurl.cc/d2bAak.