The 7th Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo (MIA), one of the most important events in the European film and television content industry, was held from Oct. 13 to 17. This year, the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) made its first official appearance at the show, becoming the first national institution in Asia to participate. The TAICCA was part of a special industry breakfast exchange entitled "When Italy Meets Taiwan: Co-Production Incentives" on Oct. 14.
Taiwan’s representative to Italy, Lee Sing-ying (李新穎), was invited to give a speech. Other speakers included Iole Maria Giannattasio, representing the Secretariat of DG Cinema e Audiovisivo of the Italian Ministry of Culture; Marco Spagnoli, MIA documentary director; Stefano Centini, Taiwan-based producer of "A Holy Family (神人之家)"; and Chiu Yun (丘昀), head of studio-related businesses at Central Motion Picture Corporation. These participants all exchanged ideas online with Joyce Tang (唐翊雯), representing the TAICCA.
During this exchange session, Taiwan’s post-production advantages and international co-production cases were recommended to producers, film companies, and other related parties from all over the world, taking the lead in promoting Taiwan’s international co-production strengths in the hope of further expanding the global marketing of Taiwanese works.
TAICCA chief executive officer Lee Ming-che noted that from the popular Taiwanese dramas of recent years like "Seqalu (斯卡羅)" and "Tears on Fire (火神的眼淚)," we can understand that the long-term accumulation of effort has dramatically enhanced the production energy of Taiwan’s film and television industry. Therefore, the international outreach of the TAICCA, in addition to marketing outstanding Taiwanese works internationally, is oriented toward recommending the advantages of Taiwan’s film and television production system, encouraging film and television teams from around the world to use Taiwan as a base for the Asian market. Through international joint ventures, more local and international stories can hook into the global market.
Lee said that film and television cooperation between Italy and Taiwan has made fruitful progress in recent years, and the efforts of the TAICCA in film and VR have successfully promoted Taiwanese culture globally, showing that Taiwan shares the same values as many European countries in areas like gender equality and politics.
Founded in 2015, MIA Film & TV Content Marketplace is the first Italian marketplace that brings together film and TV content and is operated with the support of the Associazione Nazionale Industrie Cinematografiche Audiovisive e Digitali (ANICA), Associazione Produttori Televisivi (APT), Italian Trade and Investment Agency (ICE), and the Italian Ministry of Culture, emphasizing cooperation between government and the private sector.