The inaugural program will give creative talent from Taiwan master classes, shadowing opportunities, opportunity for development deal
Fox Networks Group Asia (FNGA) selected six directors and producers from Taiwan today to participate in its inaugural Fox Creative Lab: Taiwan 2018. This is part of Fox Creative Lab’s objective to create a pipeline of well-rounded creative talent for Fox in Asia, and to increase the diversity of ideas in the continent’s film and TV industry. Fox Creative Lab is an extension of the 21st Century Fox Global Inclusion talent development initiatives.
“FNGA has always been a key player in the Chinese content ecosystem,” said Zubin Gandevia, President of Asia Pacific and Middle East, Fox Networks Group Asia. “Of late with the support of our Global Inclusion team and creative/production executives in L.A., we have ramped up our efforts by launching this first ever, fully immersive Fox Creative Lab, a synergistic initiative in furthering our Chinese content investment.”
Fox Creative Lab: Taiwan 2018 is a dual Taiwan-U.S. program that began on May 21, in Los Angeles. The six fellows are currently participating in a weeklong series that includes a master class; meetings with showrunners, directors and senior executives from FX, National Geographic Partners, Fox Television Studios and 20th Century Fox Television; and attending LA Screenings.
When the fellows return to Taipei, they will take part in a six-week intensive course developing original material, honing their writing craft and learning how to navigate the television/film studio business. They will also have the opportunity to shadow shows currently in production by FX and 20th Century Fox Television; and to hear from experienced writers, showrunners and directors throughout the program. Once the Lab ends in July, the fellows will pitch their material to FNGA for an opportunity to receive a development deal.
“We are particularly thrilled to have six Taiwanese creative talents who come from diverse backgrounds and unique experiences joining the Lab,” Zubin said. “We hope they will have a fun, engaging and fruitful time with us. We look forward to working closely with the fellows and playing a part in their pursuit for inspiration and creativity in storytelling.”
Read more about each of the six fellows below. Fellows were selected based on their ability to deliver unique stories, multicultural potential and innovative perspectives, among other criteria.
(From the left) The six fellows of Fox Creative Lab: Taiwan 2018 include Howard Cheng, Charles Sun, Jimmy Hsu, Li Nien-Hsiu, Laha Chen, Sean Chen.
Laha Chen
Laha is the first female Taiwanese aboriginal film director and TV producer. After graduating from Shih Hsin University in film production, she started her career in the film industry. In 2011, Laha made her directorial debut with “Finding Sayun,” a film about the stories of aboriginal people during Japanese occupation. In 2016, Laha directed her second film “Hang in There, Kids!” The film was selected as Taiwan’s entry into the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film and won five awards at the Taipei Film Festival, including Best Director and Best Narrative Feature. Laha also worked as a producer in Taiwan Indigenous TV producing documentaries and programs.
Sean Chen
As a Taiwanese female director, Sean gained fame in 2010 through her documentary series “My Arena,” focusing on Chinese athletic stars. Sean, in collaboration with HK production studio, has created one of the most highly rated cooking reality shows, “Chef Nic,” exploring the cultures behind different cuisines. Shot in a unique style blending elements from microfilm, documentary, reality show formats, the show features guest appearance from superstars including Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung, Zhao Wei, Fan Bingbing, Shu Qi and Donnie Yen; “Chef Nic” became a social media sensation with over 100 million hits on Weibo and Tencent and received awards such as “Reality Food Show of the Year” and “Yahoo Online Hit TV Show.” In 2018, Sean is co-producing “Chief Nic 2” with Nicholas Tse.
Howard Cheng
Howard received his Bachelor of Creative Arts and Design (Animation and Visual Effects) degree at CSU. He won The Hollywood Reporter Key Art Award for his trailer “Iron Man.” Other trailer works include the “Gatao” series and 2017 World University Games, Taipei. Howard is the founder of Sense Cinema. He recently finished editing and post-production of a documentary film entitled “Invisible Taiwan.”
Li Nien-Hsiu
Li is a Golden Horse Award nominated film editor. Her editing credits include films “Hip-hop Storm,” “My Summer football,” “Touch of the Light,” “Mon mon mon MONSTERS,” “Go Grandriders” and “Partners In Crime.” Li is also a writer-filmmaker with credits in both scriptwriting and directing. She is the editor and scriptwriter of “Touch of the Light,” and the winner of Best Documentary in the Taipei Film Awards for directing the film “Hebei Taipei.” The film was also nominated at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival.
Jimmy Hsu
Jimmy is a graduate of The Research Institute in Filmmaking at Taipei National University of the Arts. Jimmy’s short films have received numerous awards, including Best Directing from the Trinity International Film Festival and Best Foreign Language Drama from the International Student Film Festival Hollywood for “Cocoon” in 2015; Excellence Award in the Drama Category at the Golden Harvest Awards for Outstanding Short Film for “My Funeral” in 2016; and Best Drama as well as Best Action Choreography at the Golden Harvest Awards for Outstanding Short Films for “The Flame” in 2018. Jimmy is currently a scriptwriter and director at Monomyth.
Charles Sun
Charles plays multiple roles including producer, director and scriptwriter in the film industry. In 2010, he made the short films “Run Away” and the Sino-Japan co-production “Heartsquake.pp,” and also created the “Sodagreen” ad and music video. More recently, Charles has been involved in Chinese film production, founding Winday Pictures in 2014. Charles’ other credits include directing, producing and writing “Gatao” and “Bad Boys Symphony.”
