Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan’s largest telephone and broadband internet company, unveiled an investment and production program for two new series and two films on Tuesday, the first day of the Taiwan Creative Content Fest.
The new titles are part of the giant company’s efforts to build out the creative industries ecosystem and come a year after a co-financing deal with Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture.
“Chunghwa Telecom is not just a platform and internet service. We must support the content industry,” said Hu Hsueh-hai, president of consumer products.
Hu stated that “content is king and channels are queen,” and explained the company’s three 2025 goals in the content sector. These are intended to support high-quality content and top-quality distribution channels (the company claims 10 million mobile users and 4 million fixed broadband households); and prioritizing healthy business models. This means that we have to use technology and data.
Culture Minister Li Yuan took part in the Tuesday event after attending the Legislative Yuan earlier in the morning. He stood by last year’s commitment to establish a NT$3 billion co-financing program with Chunghwa, saying the arrangement had been approved by lawmakers in May. It appears that the government portion will be financed by Taiwan’s National Development Fund. “We are 20 years behind South Korea, but we want to catch up,” Li said.
Chunghwa’s list is topped by “The Fame,” a crime drama series that spans two seasons of seven episodes each. The three main characters are a celebrated actress, her wealthy businessman husband who is kidnapped and a police officer who was the woman’s friend in earlier years but who has become estranged. The story in the first season requires the estranged friends to work together to fight a devious kidnapper. The second season focuses more on their business dealings.
The show is said to be based on a real case from the 1990s. After relying on additional funding from the Ministry of Culture and the Eastern Broadcasting Service, the show is now in post-production.
Currently in production, the drama “Addicted” follows a female protagonist and depicts the struggles of teenagers as it charts the rise of drug use and incarcerated drug users in Taiwan.
‘Trapped in Yellow’ is a horror film produced by GrX (formerly Greener Grass Productions) and previously presented at the Golden Horse Film Project Market. According to Taiwanese rural folklore, figures spotted in the mountainous forests wearing yellow jackets are not people, but spirits trying to lead the living astray.
The production is in the hands of Hank Tseng Han-hsien and Ivan Chen Shin-chi, who both previously worked on another Taiwanese horror film ‘The Tag along’. Production on the film, directed by Tsai Chia-ying, was first knocked off course by the recent typhoon, but is expected to be back on track in time for a 2025 release.
Chunghwa is also behind “Marching Boys,” a music-themed drama about three youngsters from an elite high school who try to resist the abolition of their marching band. The boys feel the need to fight for what they love, but also to prove to the rest of the world that they are more than just rich kids being crammed academically and groomed for a life of privilege. The film is set for a theatrical release in the summer of 2025.