Law Information | Laws & Regulations Database of Taipei City

Article 1 These guidelines have been drafted by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City Government (this Department hereafter,) in accordance with Article 8 of Rules for Assisting and Subsidizing Film Making in Taipei City to encourage the making of films in Taipei City and increase Taipei City's (this city hereafter) marketing opportunities.
Article 2 Film production referred to in these guidelines means pre-production, filming, animation computer graphics and post-production; the aforementioned pre-production means planning, R&D, fund-raising, pre-sales and other pre-production work approved by this Department prior to the film being made; post-production means sound recording, editing, special effects, sound effects, light adjusting, printing and other post-production work approved by this Department.
Article 3 Eligibility: 1.The film maker must have received Best Director Award at the Cannes International Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival or Academy Award; or a work produced by the producer must have won best film in a competition category at one of the aforementioned film festivals/awards; or a film by the film director or producer has made over US$200 million in the previous 10 years at the box office internationally. 2.The film should feature "Taipei City" people, events, history, places or things or have Taipei as the filming base, and must be filmed in Taipei City for at least 30 working days. 3.The film must be shown in film theaters in Taiwan and at least 50 countries/regions worldwide. 4.During the production period in this city, a local registered production company should be hired to assist with production by the international film production company. The production team should be made up at least in part of locally-recruited film production personnel, including the director, production, camera, lighting, graphic design, props and actor groups. 5.Applicants for this subsidy must not also apply for other film production related subsidies provided by this Department at the same time .
Article 4 Documents to be provided When an application is made for a foreign film production subsidy under the Guidelines, the following documents should be provided to this Department before production commences: 1.Application (including film proposal and plot outline) 2.Overseas production company registration document verified by an ROC overseas representative office and its Chinese translation. 3.Documents to prove the (one of the) requirements of Guideline 3 are met Where the aforementioned documents are in a foreign language, a Chinese translations should be provided. If a foreign production company entrusts a local film production company to apply for a subsidy under the Guidelines and sign a contract on its behalf, prior to commencement of production in Taiwan, apart from the documents stated in Paragraph 1, the following documents are also required when applying to this Department for this subsidy. 1.The local film production company's certificate of registration in the ROC. 2.The cooperation agreement between the international film production company and the local film production company entrusting the latter to provide assistance with film production, or related documentation. 3.A letter of authorization from the international film production company regarding contract signing. 4.A letter of consent from the foreign film production company with regards the signing of an agreement on its behalf by the local film production company.
Article 5 Amount of subsidy Applications will be assessed by a panel of judges comprised of experts and scholars from related fields invited by this Department. When an application is approved, the amount of subsidy will be suggested by the panel and approved by this Department, and will be paid in installments from this Department's annual budgets. If annual subsidy budgets are cut or frozen by Taipei City Council or otherwise rendered unusable for reasons not attributable to this Department, acceptance of applications can be halted.
Article 6 Contract signing and case closure The recipient of subsidy should sign a contract with this Department and, attaching receipts, list of expenditure and original documents, and other related documents in accordance with contract provisions, apply for payment of the subsidy and handling of case closure matters to this Department.
Article 7 Matters for attention 1.The names Taipei City Government, Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City Government Taipei City Film Commission and other agency names or logos requested by this Department should appear in a prominent placed in the versions of the film shown internationally. 2.Before or after filming in Taipei, the director, producer, male and female leads, at least three of these people, must appear at a public press conference. 3.The producer, director and male and female leads must be exclusively interviewed by Taipei Film Commission, with the contents to be used by Taipei City Government for non-profit purposes. 4.A 20 minute long "Behind the scenes tidbits" film should be provided, including the work records of the producer, director and male and female leads during filming in Taipei, to be used for public benefit promotional work by the city government. 5.A results report should be provided within six months of the film's global premiere, including explanation of box office earnings, press cuttings, and posters and other promotional materials signed by the male and female leads. 6.At least five work photographs or a film file for each Taipei City filming location should be provided, including the director and the main actors in the scenes. 7.At least three stills taken on location in Taipei should be provided for use in public benefit promotional work in this city. 8.During the filming period in Taipei, dedicated media PR and security staff should be appointed. 9.Third party liability insurance should be purchased for all actors and crew during the filming period in Taipei. 10.Items for subsidy application are limited to current expenditure (not including purchase of equipment and other capital expenditure); employee contracts should be attached. 11.The applicant should pay taxes as required by ROC law.
Article 8 If the applicant uses false information to receive a subsidy, the campany can be disqualified by this Department. In such a case, the applicant must return all the subsidy already received as well as pay 10% of the total amount of subsidy approved to this Department as compensation. If repayment is not made in full, no further applications for annual incentives and subsidies will be accepted from the applicant involved. If related operators and actors and personnel from Taiwan provide false information that is used in the application for subsidy by the applicant they shall bear all related legal liability and, for three years from the date of infringement as defined by this Department, will be barred from applying for the Department's annual incentives or subsidies.
Article 9 In line with the needs of the city government's film policy, this Department can accept a separate application for filming plans not regulated by the Guidelines.
Article 10 If various annual subsidy budgets are cut or frozen by Taipei City Council or otherwise rendered unusable for reasons not attributable to this Department, resulting in inability to implement the Guidelines, acceptance of applications can be halted by this Department.
Article 11 In the event of doubts relating to related matters or matters that are not covered by the Guidelines, this Department's interpretation will be final.
Article 12 The Guidelines are effective from the day of announcement.