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5/2/2015

TheLegacyofPi

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PublicationDate03/01/2013
ByOSCARCHUNG

ByshootingmuchofhislatesthitinTaichung,AngLeehasgivenTaiwansmovieindustrya
majorboost.

AngLee,right,talksaboutthe
experienceofmakingLifeofPiata
pressconferenceinTaipeiin
November2012,whileleadactor
SurajSharma,secondleft,lookson.
(PhotobyCentralNewsAgency)

LifeofPibyTaiwanesedirectorAngLee(
)haswonapplausefromreviewersearneda
LondonCriticsCircleAwardfordirectoroftheyear,aGoldenGlobeAwardforbestoriginal
scoreand11Oscarnominations,includingthoseforbestpictureandbestdirectorandhad
raked in about US$500 million worldwide by the end of January this year. Of course,
accoladesfromfilmcriticsandaudiencestheworldoverarenothingnewforLee,whohas
drawnattentionsincehisfirstmovie,PushingHands,wasreleasedin1991.WithLifeofPi,
his12thandhighestgrossingfeaturefilm,however,theOscarwinningdirectorhasnotonly
givenpeopleinhishomelandsomethingtobeproudof,butalsoleftasubstantiallegacythat
isexpectedtobenefitTaiwansfilmindustry.

AccordingtoJeanShih(
),directorgeneraloftheTaichungCityGovernmentsInformationBureau,Leechosetomake
themovieinTaichung,centralTaiwanoverotherlocationsinIndiaandAustralia.SomeofthefilmingstilltookplaceinIndia,
which is understandable, as Life of Pi tells the story of an Indian boy who escapes from a sinking ship only to find himself
sharing a lifeboat with an irascible tiger. The majority of the movie, however, was shot in Taichung, as well as in Taipei and
Pingtungatthenationssoutherntip.

TaichungmadeaconcertedefforttoattractLeeandhisfilmcrew.AccordingtoShih,TaichungMayorJasonHu(
)isan
oldfriendofthedirectorsandpersonallyinvitedLeetomakethemovieinthecity.Aspartoftheoffer,Hupromisedextensive
support, including the provision of spacious, decommissioned Shuinan Airport near the citys center to house the sets for the
film,Shihsays.

ThemajorityofthescenesinLifeofPiwerefilmedinTaichung,centralTaiwan.TheshootingoftheHollywoodhitinTaiwanhas
hadasignificantimpactonthelocalmovieindustry.(PhotoCourtesyofFrancisLee)
Hu oversaw efforts to raise funds for factfinding trips by Lees American film crew to assess Taichungs moviemaking
environment in the first half of 2010. The city government then joined forces with the central government to offer the director
subsidiesofmorethanNT$300million(US$9.5million)tofilmthemovieinTaichung.
ThecityscourtshipofLeeisoneofthemostvisiblerecenteffortstoencouragefilmproductioninTaiwan.Thefirstsustained
push by a local government to attract filmmakers came in Kaohsiung City, southern Taiwan in late 2004 when the city
established the Kaohsiung Film Commission. In 2010, the commission was renamed the Film Development and Production
Centerandtookontheresponsibilitiesofformulatingfilmrelatedpoliciesandprovidingservicesrangingfromlocationscouting
toequipmentstorage.
TaipeiCity,wheremorethan95percentofTaiwansTVandfilmproductioncompaniesarebased,establishedtheTaipeiFilm
Commissionattheendof2007asasinglewindowthroughwhichfilmmakerscanapplytoreceiveadministrativeandfinancial
support. Another major step came in November 2012, when the Taipei City Government announced plans to build film and
musicproductionfacilitiesinthreelocationsaroundthecity.Constructionofthefirstofthosefacilitiesisexpectedtobegininthe
springof2014attheearliestinarezonedareaofNeihuDistrictinthenortheastpartofthecity.
According to the Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development under the Ministry of Culture, nine other local
governments in Taiwan have joined Kaohsiung and Taipei in establishing film promotion offices. The most recent to do so is
ChiayiCityinsouthernTaiwan,whichopenedafilmofficeinJune2011.

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Taiwan Today - The Legacy of Pi

Around250TaiwanesetechniciansandartistsworkedwithAngLeesAmericanfilmcrewduringproductionofLifeofPi.(Photo
CourtesyofTwentiethCenturyFoxFilmCorp.)
ToshootLifeofPi,LeeusedamixedteamthatbroughtmembersofhisHollywoodbasedfilmcrewtogetherwithlocalmovie
technicians.TheworkethicoftheUScrewmembershadamemorableeffectontheirTaiwanesecounterparts.Theattitudeof

theHollywoodprofessionalstowardtheirworkwaswhatimpressedandinspiredmethemost,saysFrancisLee(
),who
was responsible for controlling lifesize animal puppets in the movie. They set up clear rules for every aspect of filming and
overlooked no detail. Francis Lee is founder and operator of Fantastic Creative Studio in Taichung and was hired by Los
AngelesbasedLegacyEffectstoworkonLifeofPi.LegacyspreviousworkincludescreatingliveactioneffectsforHollywood
hitslike2012andAvatar.
TopQualityWork
FrancisLeenotesthattheTaiwanesecrewmembersweredeterminedtodoonlytopqualityworkonLifeofPibecausetheydid
not want to be seen as a disappointment to Ang Lee or to Taiwan. Everybody felt great pressure to do their best during
shooting,FrancisLeesays.

MoriHsueh(
)isgeneralmanagerofTaichungbasedBabylonPoolSystemsCo.,whichbuiltthelargewavepoolusedto
createthemainsetforthemovie.Thedirectorsaidhehoped[theTaiwanesecrew]wouldachievewhatwasexpectedofus,
and he said he hoped that the deep involvement of Taiwans movie professionals in LifeofPi would help our movie industry
makesomeprogress,HsuehrecallsofconversationsAngLeehadwithsomeofthe250pluslocalcrewmembers.

OscarwinningR&HStudios,creatorofthevisualeffectsinLifeofPi,decidedtoestablishitssixthstudioinKaohsiung,southern
TaiwaninNovember2012.(PhotoCourtesyofTwentiethCenturyFoxFilmCorp.)
ThewavepoolBabylonconstructedisexpectedtoattractmorefilmmakerstoTaichunginthefuture.AccordingtoHsueh,the
Shuinanfacilityistheworldslargestwavemakingpoolandfeatures12machinesthatcancreatevariouskindsofwaves.Since
thecompletionofworkonLifeofPi,theTaichungCityGovernmenthasmanagedthepool.Shihsaysthatseveralforeignfilm
projects have already shown interest in renting the facility. The city government plans to commission a short documentary to
promotethepoolandscreenitatmajorinternationalfilmfestivals.
Infact,thepoolisplayingastarringroleinTaichungssimultaneouseffortstoboostthelocalmovieindustryandredevelopthe
areaoccupiedbythedefunctairport.Shuinansdaysasanactiveairportendedin2004withtheinaugurationofcivilianflightsat
TaichungAirportinthecitysnorthwesternsuburbs.Thefirstredevelopmentplanfortheoldairportwasreleasedin2008andthe
area was rechristened the Taichung Gateway District in 2010. On Shihs strong recommendation, in April 2011 the
redevelopmentschemewasmodifiedtoincludea4.5hectarebusinessparkforthemovieindustry.Plansfortheparkinclude
the wave pool, a stateoftheart film studio, accommodations for film crews and a screening facility that will be open to the
public.TheCabinetlevelCouncilforEconomicPlanningandDevelopmentiscurrentlyconductingastudyonthefeasibilityof
thepark,whichhasanestimatedconstructioncostofNT$1.2billion(US$40million).
ManyeffectsinLifeofPiwerecreatedwithcomputergeneratedimagery(CGI),includingthefrighteninglytruetolifetiger.To
producesuchphotorealisticimagery,AngLeeworkedcloselywithUSbasedRhythm&Hues(R&H)Studios,producersofCGI
animation and visual effects for movies such as BabeandTheGoldenCompass, for which it won Academy Awards for best
visual effects in 1995 and 2008 respectively. R&H worked on two movies that received Oscar nominations for best special
effectsthisyear:LifeofPiandSnowWhiteandtheHuntsman.InTaiwan,meanwhile,AngLeescollaborationwithR&Hhas
resultedinatleastthreeknockonbenefitsforTaiwansmovieindustry.

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Taiwan Today - The Legacy of Pi

TaichungCityMayorJasonHu,secondright,andAngLee,right,touroneofthecitysnightmarketsduringtheshootingofLife
ofPi.AtleftisJeanShih,directorgeneralofthecitysInformationBureau.(PhotoCourtesyofTaichungCityGovernment)
First,throughAngLee,R&Hwasintroducedtogovernmentofficialsresponsibleforeconomicandindustrialdevelopmentfrom
theMinistryofEconomicAffairsandKaohsiungCityGovernment.Insummer2011,afterrepresentativesoftheUSstudiotooka
factfindingtriptothesoutherncity,thecompanybegandevelopingastronginterestinestablishingapresencethere.Inearly
November 2012, the American company decided to set up the VFX Centera wholly owned subsidiary studio dedicated to
producing CGI animation and visual effects for moviemakers worldwidein the citys Pier2 Art Center. R&H cited Pier2s
ambienceandthepotentialtalentresourcesinartanddesignprogramsatcollegesinsouthernTaiwanasthemostimportant
factorsbehinditsdecisiontolaunchtheVFXCenterinKaohsiung.Infact,someoftheTaiwanesegraphicartistswhotookpart
intheproductionofLifeofPihavebeenrecruitedbythenewlyfoundedstudio.TheVFXCenterisR&Hssixthstudioworldwide
andisexpectedtoemployaround200localeffectsartistswithinthreeyears.
AsR&HcreatedmoreCGIeffectsandscenesforLifeofPi,theneedtostoreandaccessthedigitalfootageledtoasecond
majorbenefit.R&HapproachedusviaAngLeeinthehopeofusingdomesticcomputinginfrastructuretohandlethespecial
visualeffectsdatageneratedforthemovie,recallsLiangKuanhsiung(
)managingdirectoroftheCloudComputing
Lab under the Telecommunication Laboratories of Chunghwa Telecom Co. (CHT)of the first contact with the American

companyinlate2010.TherelationshipbetweenR&HandTaiwansleadingtelecommunicationscompanysoonresultedintheir
promotionofthedevelopmentofacloudbasedplatformfortheinternationalvisualeffectsmarket.
TowardtheendofNovember2012,afterLifeofPihaditsworldwidepremiereinTaiwan,thejointventureconcepttookamajor
stepforwardwhenR&HandCHTsignedamemorandumofunderstandingtoestablishaTaiwanbasedprojectcalledCloudfor
Animation and Visual Effects (CAVE). According to Liang, CAVE will allow for easy content storage and retrieval, as well as
provideacloudbasedsoftwareplatformforcontentcreation.CAVEwillstartoutbyhandlingR&Hsrenderingjobs,buthasthe
eventualgoalsofdeliveringCAVEservicesandondemandcloudinfrastructuretofilmmakersworldwide.

FrancisLee,whocontrolledmanyofthelifesizeanimalpuppetsinLifeofPi,sayshewasimpressedbytheworkethicofhis
Americanpeers.(PhotoCourtesyofFrancisLee)
Asforthethirdbenefit,inlate2011R&HanditsTaiwanesepartnersagreedtolaunchaprojectaimedatcofinancingandco
producing major Hollywood movies. The venture is named East Grand Films and has the goal of raising US$100 million for
investmentinHollywoodmoviesfeaturingspecialvisualeffectsandcomputeranimation.EastGrandaimstoinvestin10films
over the next six years. So far, the company has received US$20 million in investment from R&H and US$21 million from
Taiwans National Development Fund, which operates under the Executive Yuan, with the remainder expected to come from
Taiwanscorporatesector.
Noteveryoneisconvincedthatgovernmentspendingtoattractorfundtheinternationalmovieindustrywillevergeneratereturns
fortaxpayers,however.CriticsofthesubsidiesgiventothemakersofLifeofPi,forexample,havesaidthatfilmingthemoviein
Taichungdidnothelppromotethecitystourismindustry,asallscenesshotinthecitytookplaceonelaboratesetsattheold
airport,notatanyrecognizablelocationsinthearea.Shihrespondstosuchconcernsbynotingthatthemoviehasbenefitedthe
citys tourism sector in other ways. When Life of Pi was being filmed in Taichung in the first half of 2011, more than 300
foreignersandlocalsinvolvedintheshootingcombinedtoboosttheoccupancyrateofhotelsinTaichungby10percent,the
TaichungHotelAssociationsays.
Other critics have asserted that Life of Pi is likely to remain an exceptional case, given Ang Lees obvious links to Taiwan,
whereas only a minute number of featurelength movies are made in Taiwan by other international production companies. In
2012, for example, the Taipei Film Commission gave administrative support or counsel to a total of 464 film crews, the
overwhelming majority of which were purely local teams shooting commercials, movies, music videos or television dramas. A
JapanesecrewthatshotscenesatrailwaystationsinsouthernTaiwanforamoviestarringfamousactressNanakoMatsushima
wastheonlyforeignteamworkingonafeaturelengthfilmtovisitTaiwanlastyear,thecommissionsays.
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At 75 meters long and 30 meters wide, the wavemaking pool constructed for LifeofPi in Taichung is the largest of its kind
worldwide.(PhotoCourtesyofTaichungCityGovernment)
RichResources
ThosewhoworkedonLifeofPi,however,saythatmakingthemovieinTaiwanhasincreasedinternationalawarenessofthe
richresourcesthecountryoffersfilmmakers.PeoplegivemeathumbsupwhenItellthemIworkedonAngLeesfilmcrew,
Francis Lee says. Of course, then they get suspicious that my studio might now charge a higher fee for projects, he says
humorously, but adds that some clients have decided to work with his studio precisely because he was part of the Life of Pi
productionteam.
ThelegaciesAngLeeleftbyfilminghisrecentmasterpieceinTaiwanrangefromtheintangible,suchastheexperiencelocal
techniciansgainedbyworkingwithHollywoodsbest,totheverytangibleestablishmentoftheVFXCenterinKaohsiung.Asthe
resultofAngLeesefforttogivesomethingbacktohishomeland,Taiwansmovieindustrylookssettocontinuedevelopingfor
yearstocome.
WritetoOscarChungatmhchung@mofa.gov.tw
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