Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) is a new government institute under the Ministry of Culture aimed at catalyzing the development of Taiwan’s cultural and creative industries. Taking the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) as a model for development, TAICCA is expected to focus more on cultivating projects with greater market potential rather than those with purely artistic value. Currently, TAICCA follows two directions in accelerating the Taiwanese cultural and creative industry:

Backing movie production with foreign investment or government subsidies

Taiwanese movie companies who have signed production contracts with a major international production company, such as HBO, Netflix, Warner, NBCUniversal or Disney; or, for those who have been granted an official subsidy from the Taiwanese government, may now apply for a loan from banks backed by TAICCA.

This policy aims to reduce the financial pressure Taiwanese production companies face when a movie is still under production. Local production companies generally may not receive all the investment funds or subsidies up front leading to cash flow issues. Based on the policy, TAICCA will pledge up to 90% of bank loans secured by the local production company, keeping production running. Since the local production companies may now secure a loan from banks before the foreign production company fulfills its investment fund obligations, this policy may also indirectly give the foreign investors more flexibility to set a timeline for approving budgets awarded to local production companies.

Co-investing in creative content ventures with private investors

Another major policy for TAICCA to encourage the development of Taiwan’s cultural and creative industries is through co-investing with private investors. Venture capitalists, financial institutions, investment corporations and other investors who have previously invested in creative industries (content distributors, platforms and production companies, for example), may apply for co-investment with TAICCA in establishing creative content ventures by leveraging the National Development Fund.

Studio 76, a new venture dedicated to over-the-top (OTT) TV series production established in 2019 sets an example for this policy. It’s reported that paid-in capital totals TWD130 million, Taiwanese streaming music service KKBOX invested TWD55 million, Japan’s Asahi Broadcasting Group invested TWD30 million and the National Development Fund invested TWD45 million.

Unlike the Ministry of Culture that supports the industry through direct subsidies, TAICCA’s main objective is to accelerate Taiwan’s cultural and creative industries through connecting creative content producers with private investors on one hand, and lowering the barrier for loans from private banks on the other.

However, there are also some special subsidies offered by TAICCA for businesses that integrate emerging technology and creative content, such as VR and motion pictures. TAICCA is currently focusing its attention on movie production compared to other kinds of creative content, in large part because movie production may integrate and accelerate other forms of intellectual property. For those who are interested in the film making business in Taiwan, TAICCA’s next steps are sure to be worth following.

For more information on Taiwan’s creative content industry or intellectual property matters, please contact Gary Kuo at gkuo@winklerpartners.com.