A helping hand from the Ministry of Culture
The birth of an animated film involves many discussions and much brainstorming in the planning phase, only entering the production stage once a basic storyline has been developed. From there, a massive amount of manpower needs to be invested in creating an outstanding film. Faced with the technology-intensive nature and high production costs of the animation industry, “the ministry considers it very important that we have a two-track approach, offering help both through investment and financing, and through grants and subsidies. Grants alone will not drive the creation of a real industry,” says Deputy Minister of Culture Ting Hsiao-ching.
In the past, subsidies for animation mostly focused on production, but a strong story and good writing are the real keys to drawing in audiences. With this in mind, in 2018 the Ministry of Culture launched a “forward-looking development plan” of its own for the animation, comics, and gaming industries. By investing resources at the preproduction stage, the ministry aims to help support creators in preparing better-quality work.
At the same time, Ting also encourages creators to learn to deal with banks. Compared with most other countries, Taiwan offers an unusually large range of government grants to the content industry. Take a look at Japan. A couple of years ago animator Makoto Shinkai broke out with the box-office hit Your Name, but few among the general public realize that this came only after his having toiled in the industry for some 16 years.
Throughout that whole time, Shinkai received a total of only ¥5 million in grants from the Japanese government. His main source of funding was bank loans that his boss helped him secure, which had to be repaid from earnings after each work was completed. He barely broke even each time. All of this borrowing and repayment helped Shinkai gradually build his credit score, which ensured he could continue to secure funds for his work.
In 2018, the Ministry of Culture’s Office of Professional Assistance in Cultural Investment and Financing began helping creators successfully obtain working capital from banks through a commissioning contract system. In the past, banks felt that contracts with creators had little value, but in the content creation industry, such contracts function as guarantees of completion. If banks can provide assistance with working capital in the early stages, then once the film is finished they will get their money back.
Jack Shih has high hopes for the Taiwanese animation world, continually creating and working to cultivate new talent. (photo by Lin Min-hsuan)