Online platforms boost cross-Straits cooperation

Microfilms, the internet and new media offer new opportunities for cross-Straits cooperation in the film and television sectors, experts say.

The past year has seen more young people from Taiwan seeking collaboration in these areas with the Chinese mainland, where the internet is rapidly developing, Taiwan Cultural and Creative Industry Association president Lee Yong-ping said at the ninth Straits Film and Television Festival held from June 17 to 19 in Fujian province's Xiamen.

Microfilms, for example, are inexpensive, and offer more dynamic marketing and distribution channels beyond cinemas, she says.

"Also, they allow more innovative and creative topic selections," she says.

"This promotes the exchange of ideas among young people."

Expanded cooperation could resolve such problems as funding and enhance technological solutions in such areas as crowdfunding and livestreaming, she says.

The most popular products in Taiwan's and the Chinese mainland's respective markets were awarded in five categories at this year's Straits Film and Television Festival.

The Legend of Miyue, about how a woman from the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) defeats her enemies, engages in several romances and finally rises to the royal court's top position, was awarded as the most popular mainland TV drama in Taiwan.

"The audience rating at the premiere was almost as high as for Nirvana in Fire," Lee says.

"And it stayed high. The theme of women rising resonated in Taiwan."

Taiwan director Simon Hung's film 10,000 Miles was awarded as the most popular Taiwan film on the Chinese mainland. It tells the story of a young marathon runner, who finishes 10,000 miles during a limited time to honor a commitment to his female coach.

"It's a story about a young man achieving his dreams," the 36-year-old director says.

It harks to Hung's dream of becoming a director, and he says the award was a surprise.

Hung majored in biology in college and began shooting films out of interest.

He met his wife, who's the film's producer, at college.

Hung sold the copyright to China's video-streaming platform, iQiyi.com, which made the film accessible to its VIP members.

"Maybe the idea of fighting for one's dreams is shared among young people," he says.

Lee says: "People across the Straits have much in common concerning tastes, values and emotional needs. Good stories based on shared feelings lay the foundation of further cooperation."

Taiwan's films and TV dramas are good at portraying Chinese culture in ways foreigners understand, she says.

"Taiwan's market is very small," she says.

"If a producer can't shoot films from an international angle, they'll find it difficult to survive."

Lee says the Chinese mainland is still Taiwan's biggest market and investment source.

Last year, the mainland's radio, film and television industries' total production value exceeded 500 billion yuan ($73.25 billion), Tong Gang, deputy director of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, said at the award ceremony.

"The past nine years have seen stable progress in cross-Straits communications in the film and television industries, ranging from programming to human resources, releases and distribution," Tong says.

The Chinese mainland's radio broadcasters, TV stations and websites are encouraged to introduce more of Taiwan's TV programs, films and cartoons. And people in Taiwan are also welcome to invest in the Chinese mainland's video and new-media sectors, he says.