The Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) hosted an information session on July 15th for the “Content Development Program: Book-to-Screen Adaptation Open Call” for publishers. Works submitted to the open call will be able to participate in the 2020 Creative Content Taipei in November and directly interact with buyers and investors for matchmaking opportunities.
This program aims to eliminate the challenges of cross-industry matchmaking in the past. Through the introduction of TAICCA’s assistance development funds and a Content Investor Mechanism, projects will be chosen by investors based on its market potential, thus accelerating original IP development. The goal is to turn good stories into good scripts to upgrade Taiwan’s content production capability.
The open call will encourage collaboration between scriptwriters and screenwriters while strengthening the connection between the publishing and the film and television industries, to develop a cultural content industry with diverse style and marketing possibilities.
“The key factor of Taiwan’s content industry is whether stories can be told in different ways, and publishing works are great sources of wonderful original stories and IPs” explained TAICCA’s Chairperson TING Hsiao-Ching, “TAICCA can help amplify these stories and help the publishing industry understand the language that the film and television industry speaks, as well as their selection criteria; thereby more accurately market these works and effectively develop opportunities for a common profit.”
This mechanism will improve two main pain points of the adaptation matchmaking process. First, to allow production companies and investors desperate for good stories to directly pick out projects they are interested in, instead of the traditional evaluation committee that often selects projects with similar tastes.
Second, TAICCA has provided an Adaptation Selection Guide to help publishers better assess which literary works to recommend, while also summarizing the criteria most film and television producers look for in adaptation and filming.
During the matchmaking assessment period, TAICCA will also provide publishers with a “Development Phase Assistance Fund” and “Field Research and Creative Labor Fund”
The assistance funds will not only help develop a proposal that is both easy-to-understand and measurable, but also increases the chances of successful adaptation and increase the willingness of the publishing industry to commit to matchmaking and work alongside screenwriters to strengthen the book-to-film ecosystem.
TAICCA’s Book-to-Screen Adaptation Open Call will accept proposals until August 12, 2020. For information on guidelines, appendix, and application forms, please refer to TAICCA’s website: https://taicca.tw/article/36adb552