Creatives from all over the world gather during the Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF), and for long-lasting friends, such as NewImages Festival, special XR Collaboration Days are designed by TAICCA.
At TCCF, only “The Forum“ welcomed over 50 speakers in the technology industry, creative cultural industry, startups, and investors and hosted ten sessions that explored various business models that herald the future of the industry, spotlight the globalization and commercialization of IPs and discuss how exhibitions and performances will evolve in the future. Beside this, “The Market” focused on creative contents targeting international marketplace, while the “The Expo” showcased cutting-edge immersive content projects from teams and artists worldwide.
As a prelude, NewImages Festival was invited for a second round of discussions in relation to French-Taiwan Partnership.
Both events had very substantial insights to anyone working on immersive content.
The French-Taiwanese collaboration is already an established one, and such an axis enables collaborations between both creators and producers. Read more about the collaboration here.
Alice Chang, Vice-President of TAICCA, opened the stage, welcoming participants and encouraging them to get to know each other, collaborate in the future, ensuring the support from TAICCA. She mentioned that French talents will have 1:1 sessions with Taiwanese leaders, and she hopes for international co-productions. This is the second stage of the French-Taiwan XR Days. In May, at the beginning of the NewImages Festival, TAICCA was a guest, where the two parts met for workshops, debates and exchanges. 13 Taiwanese professionals met the French XR sector
Now, the Taiwanese part, continued the discussion and the two part had meetings, debates and 12 French creators pitched looking for collaborations at the beginning of the conference.
Michaël Swierczynski, Director NewImages Festival highlighted that Taiwan is at the forefront of creation, and the model of collaboration built during the years between France and Taiwan, is a model for all new partnerships that are coming such as with South Africa or Italy. The opportunity to meet new people, build new co-productions are crucial, alongside exploring new talents.
The 3 main axes supported by NewImages are: residency programs (and in 2022 new partnership will come, such as with MIT–Massachusetts Institute of Technology) XR Marketplaces, also public and educative days to explore new talents and contribute to the democratization of the technology.
Leo LI (Global Marketing Director) presented activities TAICCA’s strategies that supported 10 different cultural and creative content industries with the mission to promote content development and production, as well as the expansion to the international market.
In order to support its vision, TAICCA applies 3 strategies:
industrialisation– to build a healthy ecosystem for business –
internationalisation (promote Taiwanese brand into the global market)
integration by encouraging cross-sector and cross-country cooperation.
From 2020 to 2021, 10 different projects were supported in the XR Grants with a total investment US $7Mil
Aurelien Dirler (TAICCA Advisor) reflected that the experiences that we see remotely are more embodied, live and are social, all being reflected in the new discussions around the Metaverse.
The platforms, tools and technology are changing the way we produce content, the way we will distribute it, the way we will monetize it, and the way we will consume.
Estela Valdivieso Chen,( founder Serendipity Film) and Kuan Yuan LAI, (director and producer Poké Poké Creative), talked about the fact that cross-country collaboration has its challenges. Not only different time zones, but also different working cultures, so a lot of communication is needed between teams.
The most difficult part?
Cutting out some parts and letting it go, so the project is better.
Estela Valdivieso Chen: In terms of distribution and marketing plans, it helps to find projects that can build new networks. We used to travel all the time everywhere, but anyhow it is difficult to travel all the time everywhere, so how do you build partners in France, which is a huge big market?
Kuan Yuan LAI and Estela Valdivieso Chen agreed that beside resource sharing, creative understanding is crucial, you also need to have a mutual vision on the piece, otherwise you can’t gather the resources.
Creative conversations in the early phase is also an important part.
Grace LEE, (Head of Kaohsiung VR Film Lab):
- You have to think about distribution already from the start and decide for example to which festival you should go – every festival has some unique taste, study festivals in advance. Think of the audience from the beginning!
- If you just showcase only the VR in a venue…. that is not very interesting, it is quite boring. You need to make an exhibition – images, videos, etc – that can attract the public.
- Festival audience is really different from the general public, in the case of Ayahuasca, which is a successful case- we collaborated with influencers so they discussed the topic pre-launch, so 90% of the ticket was pre-sales.
Camille Lopato, founder Diversion Cinema:
- When you find yourself distributing VR experience, you find yourself doing something else, or doing something more.
- VR industry is very young, searching itself, the landscape is changing, you need to check every 6 month with the countries where the market is.
- In case of Ayahuasca, we wanted to attract people not necessarily interested in technology, but interested in the topic, the theme. But, the exhibition was also a way to attract them to discover VR through the exhibition.
- We observe a tendency, a lot of VR projects are designed for museums. When you target museums, they are aware of what they want, you should make sure that you have the museum on board already!
Kurt LU( Content & Marketing Vice-president, XR Space):
- We are excited that giants such as Facebook or Nvidia mention the Metaverse. When we started to work on the Virtual World concept, it was quite challenging.
- Beside the collaborative works, there is also the movement, in favor of content creators – blockchain, which makes digital creation accessible and a way to monetize.
- We launched a platform, goXR, we are helping people who want to create in 3D to really step in the XR industry
- At GoXR, we are offering a service where you can have your own AI digital agent- if you are offline, you can have your duplicate self to be in the Metaverse and be able to say hello to your friends.
Maud Clavier, COO VRrOOm:
- We are waiting for opportunities regarding technology headsets, the ones with eye-tracking, all the tech that allow a higher performance. Basically, “anything that is tracking” to be able to have a better performance
- For Avatars, I am not waiting for something that is real, because it is not there yet, and it is disturbing for the human brain to have something that is almost real, but it is not… they look weird.
- I think it is an opportunity for creators to create new social code in the metaverse, new appearances, to have audiences in the virtual world, anything to have a lighter system to perform in VR.
- We have different social VR platforms, they are not connected yet, one day they might be. The regulations are on each platform, to have global regulation will be very long, because platforms are international and you would need international laws.
Taiwan Creative Content Fest TCCF took place between 10-14 November. Five days full of debates, exhibitions, launches, with local guests but also international ones debated the future of art, culture, creative industries. And…. Metaverse, the favorite buzz word of our times, might have its ups and downs, its iterations, definitions and visions.
But, the verdict is still out when it comes to the applications of the Metaverse.
What will become of this new industry on the rise not only will time tell, but who else can contribute to its shaping if not all of us?
Content creators will play a crucial role in how the Metaverse will be shaped, and this was one of the questions raised.
Tzu-Hsien Tung, Chairman of Pegatron Corporation, highlighted that the Metaverse will be a huge industry with a lot of opportunities, but “we need to have a transition system, we need time for example for people to transition to new jobs in our society…”
Ethan Tu, founder Taiwan AI Labs, considers that Creative Content is crucial for the Metaverse, because the best content paves the way to optimal experience. Being able to link all platforms together to support the development of creative content, would be preferred. “We need to bring together all the strengths of Taiwan and facilitate the Future of Creative Content” highlighted Tu.
Sandee Chan, Music producer at Le Musique Co Ltd, considers that there were a lot of changes in the music industry and now, entry barriers are low – everybody is able to create music from living rooms.
Creative workers are able to define the value of their works and they don’t have to go to label companies, or streaming platforms, and they get to define your own price and value. But there are also limitations dictated by the resources available, and the need to adapt to trends.
For musicians, it also means “the need to think outside your musical box, how the Metaverse is going to look like, and how it will bring you interdisciplinarity or cross-industrial possibilities”. But, Sandee Chan warned that there will be a need for quality content.
When it comes to Metaverse, Sandee Chan says that it can break the hierarchy in the music industry, and it can redefine the industry. “Young creators can have a say in what the metaverse will look like in the future! It is a possibility to start from scratch, to re-write the rules of the industry. Let’s grab this opportunity” concluded Chan.
Even with the new technology, the music industry has not changed its mindset and there is the risk of creating something awkward. So it will still take some time to transition in this new world, when we will know how to use technology in a more effective way.
Taiwan AI Lab is working together with Sandee Chan and Ethan Tu– Founder Taiwan AI Labs, talked about experiences and lessons learned.
“When we ask ourselves how to recreate human- to- human interaction in the virtual world, how to make people feel they are connected with each other, the answers are beyond only 3D environments. There are so many dimensions to take into consideration to make people feel connected in the virtual worlds,” explains Tu.
For creating virtual worlds, there is a need to learn about physical spaces, the different interaction properties, about emotions, performances, etc. Some of the working-question are if Machine Learning can be used to learn how music works in the real world? Or if AI may learn from the guitar-player?
And will AI systems be able to work with human – musicians to experiment together?
“In this project we work with a lot of musicians and we want to identify the quintessential properties or characteristics, or what makes the music enjoyable or unique so our ML system knows what to pick up” sums-up Ethan Tu.
Baboo Liao with a background in theater directing started quite recently to work in VR, and already has a creation.
He admits that he always likes to question VR process, VR’s role and what VR can bring and what VR can do for us. He always asks himself: Why do I use the modality to create?
One of his creations is Chroma: A Derek Jarman / 色度：賈曼計畫預告片 project” – where he was trying to break the illusion created in a 3D world. Audience would enter the 3D world and feel it and experience it, and for example at a certain point and all of a sudden it turns into a 2D environment. “We wanted the audience to know that the 3D world was created by engineers” and question the role of technology.
“I always believe that the audience is part of the theater. When you watch a show, it is more about the level of the immersion – you cry and laugh with the actors.
Participatory age – in the 19 century – time of the playwrights, in the 20th century is the time of directors, in the 21 century is the time of spectators.”
Antoine Cardon (EL-GABAL / Founder & CIO) noticed the changes in the markets and content generation. As a company that always produces for the global market, he admits that years ago, content and expectation were different in different markets, but this is something that is changing very rapidly. “Young people now share the same culture all over the world and even the concept of borders of different markets is strange for them. They are thinking globally, they watch the same videos, they connect together very easily even if they are very far away and from different cultures”.
If it is about trends in VR, human interaction, and ability to reconstruct the body would definitely be a trend. Also, massive live events such as concerts, conferences or virtual museums, alongside more highly personalised intimate events.
Other interesting discussion were:
The Wild West for Creative Industries – Moderator: Hsiao-Ching Ting（TAICCA／Chairperson）
Guest Speakers: Audrey Tang（Executive Yuan／Digital Minister), Ethan Tu（Taiwan AI Labs／Founder, T.H. Tung (Pegatron Corporation／Chairman), Sandee Chan（Le Musique Co.,Ltd／Music Producer）Video presentation
Taiwan Creative Content and Technology Industries Epic Combat–Moderator:– Alice Chang（Taiwan Creative Content Agency／Deputy Chief Executive Officer）
Guest Speakers: Ching-Teng Hsiao（Office of Science and Technology, Executive Yuan／Director, YEN-NUN HUANG（Research Center for Information Technology Innovation/ Director of Center), Szuming Liu（HTC VIVE ORIGINALS／President), Steve Huang（PEGATRON Corp.／Chief Technology Officer & Senior VP）, Kurt Liu（XRSPACE CO., LTD.／Content & Marketing Vice President ）
Video presentation
Experiencing the Future: Collaboration Between Technology and Creative Minds–Moderator: Po-Wei Wang（Digital Art Foundation／ Artistic Director）
Guest Speakers: Antoine Cardon（EL-GABAL / Founder & CIO）, Joanna Popper（HP / Global Head of Virtual Reality, Go-To-Market）, Joseph Lin（HTC／ President, Content and Platform）, Baboo Liao（Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters Group／Director）
Video Presentation
From Creative Content to Screen –Moderator: Ipa CHIU（Taiwan Creative Content Agency／Director）
Guest Speakers: Shih Wang（Activator Co., Ltd／General Manager）, FenFen Cheng（Director）, WEI-HIS SU（Taiwan animation and comic promoting association／Chairman）, YI WEN YEN（Writer/Director）
Video presentation
Producers’ Talk: Best Practices of Taiwanese Dramas –Moderator: Zoe WANG（Taiwan Creative Content Agency／Executive Secretary）
Guest Speakers: Madeline Wu（Public Television Service (PTS) / Deputy Head of Drama Team, Program Department）,
I-Ting Ma（Three Phoenixes Production Co., Ltd／Producer）, Hsin-Huei Lin（Screenwriter）, Chi-Feng Chien（Screenwriter）, Sarso Chou（Butt Mountain CO. ,Ltd.／Producer）, Shawn Chuang（Lots Home Entertainment／Operation Director）, Jacqueline W. LIU（Each Other Films／Producer）
Video presentation
New Waves of Investment in Taiwanese Films – Moderator: Jiun Wei LU（Taiwan Creative Content Agency／Deputy Chief Executive Officer）Guest Speakers: Daphne Lee（Taiwan Mobile co., ltd ／Vice President）, Hemingway Chiu（CTBC Venture Capital Co., Ltd.／Senior Vice President）, Dennis Wu（Bole Film／Chairman）, C.J. Lee（Far EasTone (FET)／Senior Director）
Video Presentation
A New Era of Entertainment: Emerging Formats and Business Models for Variety Shows Moderator: Zoe WANG(Taiwan Creative Content Agency／Executive Secretary）
Guest Speakers: Jenny Wang（HOWKAN ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTION CO.,LTD／Deputy General Manager）
Kenny Chou（MTV Taiwan／Director）, Jack Hsu（SELF PICK INC.／Founder）,DJ Hauer（STR Network／CEO）
Video Presentation
https://www.forumdesimages.fr/en
Le Forum des images
The cultural institution of the City of Paris created in 1988, the Forum des images celebrates cinema and digital creation in all their forms, crossing several missions with singularity: programming, image education, and collection of cinematographic works.
It explores all domains of animated image: fiction, animation, documentary, video game and, since 2016, committed to democratizing new narrations.
Each year, it organizes several film cycles and around twenty festivals, lauded by the public – 320 000 visitors – and by professionals. Since 2018, it launched a digital creation school, free of charge and aimed towards 12 to 18 years old youths. 1 500 students follow this innovative learning system.
TAICCA
Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA), established in June 2019 and supervised by the Ministry of Culture, is a professional intermediary organization that promotes the development of Taiwan’s content industries.
TAICCA supports various cultural content industries in Taiwan, including film and television, pop music, publishing, ACG, and fashion, artworks and cultural technologies.
With advanced information and communication technology infrastructure and emerging technologies in Taiwan, TAICCA manages National Development Fund to develop intellectual property (IP), incubate culture technologies, and facilitate startups.
Through international distribution channels, TAICCA strives to promote Taiwan’s cultural brand in the world.
Source of information: newimagesfestival and TAICCA
