Fundraising skills
To shoot films, you need funding. Where to find that money poses the biggest problem for Taiwan's film industry.
Although the Government Information Office (GIO)-the domestic film industry's "greatest benefactor"-increased its total support of local films from NT$180 million in 2002 to NT$440 million in 2008, the amount it provides per film, which ranges from NT$4 million to NT$15 million, represents just a drop in the bucket for a film with a big-name cast and lots of special effects.
The government knows it's not easy for the film industry to raise money, so it started a film financing system in 2006, hoping to increase the number of channels through which money can be raised to produce films.
For instance, the GIO once asked financial institutions to consider establishing a "film financing seed bank" for the film industry. But due to a lack of familiarity with film production business models, not a single bank was willing to participate. Later, the GIO came forward as a loan guarantor. Moreover, if a film proposal earned the recommendation of its panel of judges, filmmakers could apply for a standard bank loan that the GIO would subsidize by 3% interest over the first three years. After an application process that took seven months, Cape No. 7 borrowed NT$15 million from two banks in this manner. So far it represents the only successful example.
But banks, as businesses, take a business perspective. How much a financial institution is willing to lend depends upon the financial situation of the film production company. Most of these firms are small with low levels of capitalization, and few can obtain much money through these financing channels. For instance, to raise the NT$50 million that it cost to produce Cape No. 7, director Wei Te-sheng ended up having to mortgage his own home to the tune of NT$14 million to finish the film.
Apart from assistance to filmmakers via subsides and bank loans, in 2006 the Executive Yuan decided to appropriate NT$20 billion from the National Development Fund, imitating the venture-capital model used to fund high-tech companies. The money was targeted at cultural and creative industries, as well as digital content, software and other industries connected to film production. How has this initiative worked out so far?
"After feeling our way forward for three years, the total amount invested has been NT$700 million," says James Ho, deputy executive secretary of the fund. "We're still gaining experience."
The fund has invested in Double Edge Entertainment alongside the computer technology firm BenQ. The government put up NT$150 million out of a total of NT$500 million invested in the venture. The plan is for Double Edge to produce ten films in five years. Its ambitions are lofty. It is hiring established Hollywood names for its screenwriters, directors, casts and producers. Its first independently developed project is still undergoing script revisions. But the firm has already invested in three Western films, including Meg Ryan's The Women. And it has also invested in the nearly completed Japanese thriller King of Fighters, an adaptation based on an arcade game that is heavy on special effects and has cost US$12 million to make.
The Double Edge model of taking money from Taiwan to invest in Western films seems to run counter to the GIO's aim of supporting domestic films. At the GIO's well-intentioned suggestion, Double Edge has turned its antennae back to Taiwan. Tango Time, the first domestic film in which it invested, is scheduled to hit theaters in March.
In comparison to the several billion NT dollars it has invested in the petrochemical and biotech industries, the government seems to have taken a less than aggressive approach to investing in film. That is the result of two principles guiding National Development Fund investments: the fund cannot be the chief investor, and its investments must be in joint ventures with trustworthy large firms. But most film production companies in Taiwan are small companies, and new directors are even less likely to know major investors. The bar for government investment in film is simply set too high.
"By investing, the government hopes to use capital to make money," explains Ho. "Under the rules of the game, the government can assume risk, but it cannot accept unfair treatment, such as when a filmmaker only wants to put up 10% of the cost and wants the government to put up 90%."
The Executive Yuan's National Development Fund invested in Double Edge Entertainment 's comedy Tango Time Scheduled to appear in Taiwan's theaters in March, the film depicts a caregiver at a nursing home who excites his charges' enthusiasm for ballroom dancing.