2021 Golden Horse FPP Prize Money Totals TWD 5.5 million, Past Selections Dominate Golden Horse Awards Nominations
As the Golden Horse Film Project Promotion (FPP) enters its 15th year, as many as 119 of its previously selected projects have already been successfully completed, achieving fruitful results. Over 15 works have been released this year alone, with many receiving Golden Horse Awards nominations and generating buzz at overseas film festivals through their stellar performances. Drifting, American Girl, Gatao - The Last Stray, Dead & Beautiful, Listen Before You Sing, Far Away Eyes, Raydio, A Letter to A’ma, Days Before the Millennium, The Amazing Grace of Σ, A New Old Play, Madalena, Girls, Be Ambitious!, Shiro – Hero of Heroes, and Blood of the Blue were all completed this year and released one after the other. Furthermore, highly anticipated projects such as The Western Journey of Pigsy, Borrowed Time, Incantation, A Holy Family, and Salute have all entered post-production.
To encourage the continued development of even more promising projects, the 2021 Golden Horse FPP will be presenting the TWD 1,000,000 Grand Prize as well as 10 other awards thanks to the enthusiasticsupport of our industry partners. The combined prize money totaling TWD 5,500,000 comprises the Taipei Golden Creativity Award, CNC Cash Award, FPP Visionary Award, TAICCA Original Award, CATCHPLAY Global Spotlight Award, MirrorFiction Story Award, Central Picture Corporation Award, Taipei New Horizon Screenplay Award, SCREENWORKS Series Award, and myVideo Creative Series Award.
This year’s Golden Horse FPP Jury, which will select the winner of the Grand Prize, features LIAO Ching-sung, Sinje LEE, YEE Chih-yen, and Dennis WU. The four jury members all have rich film and television industry qualifications and experience: Editing master LIAO Ching-sung handled countless New Taiwan Cinema works by renowned filmmakers before turning to producing and actively cultivating the next generation, earning him the Golden Horse Special Contribution Award; Golden Horse Award-winning actress Singje LEE’s works span Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, and she even won two awards at last year’s Golden Horse FPP as a producer; acclaimed screenwriter and director YEE Chih-yen previously won Best Original Screenplay at the Golden Horse Awards, and his new work, City of Lost Things, won the Grand Prize of the 2011 Golden Horse FPP and Best Animated Feature at the Golden Horse Awards; Dennis WU distributed Hollywood blockbusters such as The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and is experienced in overseas film distribution rights, artist management and local film production, participating in domestic box office hits such as Little Big Women and The Bold, The Corrupt, and the Beautiful.
To assist project representatives with their pitch preparations, the Golden Horse FPP has also organized a special workshop headed by senior film producer and Golden Horse Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year winner YEH Jufeng and Sony Pictures Release (Taiwan Branch) Managing Director Ken YU as FPP Pitching Trainers, and with Golden Bell and Golden Horse nominated screenwriter HO Hsin-ming and Hong Kong author and screenwriter CHAN Wai as Scriptwriting Trainers. For Series projects, Phil TANG, famed producer of The World Between Us and Tears of Fire, and Cora YIM, who developed the Taiwan-US co-production series Taiwan Crime Stories, have been named Series Pitching Trainers. These Trainers will guide the representatives in making pitches and help them build the firm foundations of a quality project.
In addition to providing a generous cash prize, the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) is also offering special funding programs for 2021 Golden Horse FPP projects. All selected projects that meet specified requirements can apply for TAICCA’s “Creative Content Development Program – Script Development Support” and “Taiwan’s International Co-funding Program” for the opportunity to receive up to TWD 2,000,000 in development support and up to USD 300,000 in production investment funding.
The 2021 Golden Horse FPP will be held in Taipei from November 22 to 24, with the awards ceremony taking place on November 24 at Taipei New Horizon. This is where the promising filmmakers and potential masterpieces of tomorrow prepare for take-off. Please stay tuned.