EXCLUSIVE: Golden Horse Awards frontrunner A Foggy Tale has been revealed as the first project backed by Thunder Entertainment, a new film fund set up to support and facilitate Taiwanese film and TV production.
The Taiwanese fund has been set up by acclaimed producers Lee Lieh and Roger Huang, veteran distributor Steve Wang and private investor Rick Lei.
Further projects to receive the first wave of backing by the fund include Japanese director Sabu’s upcoming action comedy Arrested Memory, on which filming is underway in Taiwan until late November. The Taiwan-Japan co-production has Shozo Ichiyama as a producer along with Lee, with Ethan Ruan leading the cast.
“What sets our fund apart is we don’t just provide financial support. We also offer the knowhow and experience to support filmmakers when developing their projects from scratch, even without a script,” Lee told Screen. “We’ll follow through from development, production to marketing and distribution.”
Lee serves as a producer to the projects backed by Thunder Entertainment to ensure production quality. The seasoned producer is behind commercial hits Monga, Zone Pro Site: The Moveable Feast and The Pig, The Snake And The Pigeon.
Lee is a producer of A Foggy Tale along with fellow Taiwanese producer Yeh Jufeng. Directed by Chen Yu-hsun, the historical drama opened the Golden Horse Film Festival on November 6 and is the frontrunner at the upcoming Golden Horse Awards with 11 nominations. The ceremony is set to take place on Saturday (November 22).
Advance screenings are rolling out this weekend from November 21-23, ahead of its theatrical release on November 27 through Wang’s marketing and distribution company Activator, which has handled several major hits such as Detention and Incantation.
The film is backed by Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA), Yeh’s Mandarin Vision, Thunder Entertainment, Arrow Cinematic Group, and The Millet Films.
A further project backed by Thunder Entertainment is The Ancient Tree by Singing Chen, the Taiwanese director who has previously won two top prizes at Venice Immersive. Her latest feature is a co-production with France’s Zorba Production. Filming is scheduled to begin by year-end, with Nadim Carlsen (Border, Holy Spider) as cinematographer and Matthieu Laclau (Ash Is Purest White, Black Dog) as editor.
Thunder Entertainment co-founder Lei has more than three decades of experience in the tech industry, having served as vice president at Acer and chief strategy officer at BenQ. Now retired, he also runs a separate Glory Foundation for Taiwan’s creative industries.
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