The Korea effect
In March, as a springtime cold snap hit Taiwan, work in developing the film and television industries in both the north and the south of the island was in full swing.
The Ming Jincheng-directed television series My Volleyball Team Lover, currently shooting in Kaohsiung, has already spent a week shooting on the banks of the Love River, before shooting indoor sequences at a new community near Zhengqing Lake. The stars, from old hands like Long Long to rising stars Gabriel Lan, Godfrey Tsao, and Cindy Sung, all said it had been a long time since they'd been to Kaohsiung, and that they hadn't realized how much it had changed. The older stars were surprised by how Zhengqing Lake was now neighbored by communities and tall buildings, while the younger ones fell in love with the beautiful weather.
As for Taipei, the TFC has recently begun working with director Tsao Jui-yuan on the television series Niyada, which tells a story of a child of a single parent, and which has had scenes shot in the Presidential Palace. Next up they will be helping with Thai television series Eternal Flame, which will be shooting in the newly restored Bopiliao area of Wanhua District.
"Give us your best shot-nothing is too difficult!" declared Taipei mayor Hau Lung-pin, hyperbolically adding, "Even if you want to blow up City Hall, we'll see what we can do for you!"
The authorities have opened their arms enthusiastically to the film and television industries, marking a complete 180 from their old ways of being difficult to deal with, and the key to this has been the concept of
"city marketing."
"Cities around the Asia-Pacific region are clamoring to build an image for themselves and draw in tourists, and Taipei is naturally doing the same," notes Taipei's deputy mayor Lee Yong-ping. This emphasis on marketing the city is a natural and necessary response to the competition Taipei faces.
South Korea, for example, has proven adept at using the film and television industries to market itself, and provides a stellar example of turning around the image of not just a city, but an entire country.
Before the "Korean wave" broke across Asia, Japan and Bali were the leading tourist destinations in the region. About 15 years ago, though, South Korea began integrating tourism and television, building a powerful marketing juggernaut through series like Winter Sonata, Jewel in the Palace, and Full House.
Winter Sonata, for example, not only transformed the image of Korean men from one of gruff men who treated their wives poorly to one of elegant, sensitive gentlemen, the main filming locations-the island of Namiseom and Yongpyong Resort in Gangwon-became must-see destinations for fans.
Deputy Mayor Lee says that after seeing the impact of Korean film and television, even pop-cultural powerhouse Japan began to follow suit, as did other nations like Thailand and India. While Taiwan could rely on similarities in language and culture to attract tourists from China, to reach those in other regions it would have to make use of television and film marketing. In recent years, pop groups like F4 and Fahrenheit have been sent as "tourism ambassadors" to Japan and South Korea, and the popularity of their respective television series Meteor Garden and Hanazakarino Kimitachihe proved an attractive way to market Taiwan.
Thanks to their ties to film and television, Kaohsiung's Love River (featured in Black & White), the town of Jiufen (from A City of Sadness), and the suburban hills of Taipei (from Au Revoir Taipei-the third photo from the top shows the film's director and leading actors) have all been etched into audiences' minds. In the lowermost photo, we see a Singaporean tour group visiting Kending to see the home of Cape No. 7 protagonist Aga.