Day 13: It's more than a movie...

Today is potentially my last day in Taiwan... I won't know until my lunch meeting. In the meantime, I have an interview in the morning with Formosa Weekly -- it's a magazine owned and run by former Vice-President Annette Lu. The journalist Mr. Chen has not seen the film, but he has read a lot about it, so he tries to ask questions that haven't been answered before (although at this point, having done more than several dozen interviews, that's kind of hard).

Towards the end of the interview -- Tiffany Wang of Sky Digi texts me our box office numbers.... AND THEY ARE SUPERB!!!! In Taipei, we hit just under 1 million NT Dollars, and nationwide we hit over 1.8 million NT dollars -- which makes us the #6 highest grossing movie in Taiwan and THE #1 MOVIE IN TAIWAN ON A PER SCREEN AVERAGE!!!!!!! The #1-5 grossing movies were all Hollywood blockbusters that had many more screens and much more advertising than Formosa Betrayed (we had 4 screens in Taipei, and 5 other screens nationwide). It's wonderful news and very rewarding after much hard work.

Next we head over to the Howard Hotel for a lunch with my investors Li-Pei Wu, Maysing Yang, and the Sky Digi and Formosa Films teams, to evaluate the weekend and decide what to do next. We all look at the numbers and everyone is very happy. But everyone agrees there is still more work to do. OUR GOAL IS FOR EVERYONE IN TAIWAN TO SEE THE FILM and we discuss what strategies we can use to accomplish that. We agree to make a committee of everyone there.

It's decided that I can go home... :)

So now, I'm at the airport. I'm reminded of our first (and last Taiwan scene) in Formosa Betrayed. At that time in 1983, this airport was called Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport. It was renamed during the previous administration to Taipei-Taoyuan International Airport. This is where our movie begins and ends, and it is here that my trip to Taiwan finishes.

Before I end my blog, I want thank a few people. First, I want to thank my investors -- the ones who made Formosa Betrayed possible. Without their generous and unending support, we would not have a movie today. I want to thank the cast, crew, and production team behind Formosa Betrayed, who's vision, hard work, and dedication has inspired me throughout this process. I want to thank Tiffany Wang of Sky Digi Entertainment for having the courage and the vision to distribute this film in Taiwan -- and her entire team -- Steve Wang, Yvonne Huang, Elisa Tsai, Apple Hsu, and everyone else who worked and volunteered to help the Taiwan release. I especially want to thank our director Adam Kane and our Taiwan co-producer Echo Lin for their tireless work on behalf of Formosa Betrayed.

Finally, I want to thank the Taiwanese people, for your support, your enthusiasm, your courage, your hope, your tears -- and even your criticism! I want to thank everyone who has bought tickets to see Formosa Betrayed -- especially those who have bought tickets for their friends, colleagues, and even strangers. It's been incredible to watch as many Taiwanese have bought tickets for other people to watch the film -- this doesn't happen to a normal movie. It makes me realize that Formosa Betrayed is not just a movie... it's an expression of what it is to be Taiwanese -- and the right to express oneself as a human being.

謝謝大家！台灣加油!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Will

Day 11 & 12: Opening weekend in Tainan & Kaohsiung

On Saturday morning, I'm invited to give a luncheon speech at the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents Club to two groups -- one group is TFCC journalists and the other from the Breakfast Club by Jerome Keating. Dr. Keating is an American expat who has lived in Taiwan for many years, and holds a Breakfast Club with other expats here in Taipei once a week. The crowd is diverse and mixed of people from all ethnicities and nationalities -- American, Russian, German, Korean, Taiwanese, etc.

I give my standard speech about my Taiwanese-American upbringing and how my parents ended up in Kansas. I speak about my political experience working for FAPA and then later on during the Clinton and Bush Administrations. Then I talk about my transition from DC to Hollywood and the people I've worked with. Finally I talk about how Formosa Betrayed came about, and the process which it took to get to this point.

The first question is from the chair of the panel, who says that he's heard I can do a history of Taiwan in 5 minutes. He asks if I can do it for the audience -- which I do in 4 minutes and 35 seconds. :) Then there are a number of questions from the foreign journalists to clarify previous reports about the difficulties we encountered in trying to shoot the movie in Taiwan. Although this posting wrongly calls me the "director" of the film, you can read most of the back and forth here: http://www.thewildeast.net/news/?p=1444.

Immediately afterwards, we rush to the train station to catch the Taiwan High Speed Rail to Tainan. One of my investors, former government minister Maysing Yang accompanies us. Mrs. Yang is an investor in Formosa Betrayed, and has been key in helping us get the word out about the film. She has bought a screening in Tainan so she is coming to support us. We talk about the distribution strategy for the film -- the advantages and shortcomings. She makes a very prescient analysis -- that the title of the film in Taiwanese -- "被出賣的台灣" tends to appeal to a very "deep-green" audience -- but that the film itself is aimed at a more mainstream audience. I agree with her completely. So we have a bit of a communications dilemma. We talk about whether I should stay in Taiwan longer to help promote the film, and we decide to meet on Monday with a group of other investors and supporters to see whether it makes sense for me to stay.

When we get to Tainan, I'm taken to a radio interview at "Holy Mountain" with Mr. Wang Din Yu. Mr. Wang is a Tainan city counsel member and also radio host. "Holy Mountain" is an underground radio station broadcast both on airwaves and internet. He is so amazingly supportive of Formosa Betrayed and conducts the interview in both English and Taiwanese. You can check it out here: http://a50.video2.blip.tv/7130005825237/Kimpossible-201087TaiwaneseClubAfternoonPart1941.mp3.

Afterwards, we head to Tainan Vieshow Cinemas for the Q&A -- but unfortunately our radio interview ran long and we miss the Q&A -- the audience is just coming out as we get there. I take pictures with some of the audience, then come back for the introduction of the following screening which is being hosted by Mr. Wang and several other well-known Tainan personalities. In the evening, we take the Taiwan High Speed Rail back to Taipei.

The next day, we're back on the HSR to go to a Q&A screening in Kaohsiung, sponsored by Kaohsiung city counsel member Chao Tian Ling. My mom is there to meet us, along with a number of people we met at the Kaohsiung premiere. The audience is very pumped and asks some great questions. As I'm coming out of the theater -- the line is a mile long for the next screening -- great to see! The photo op afterwards is a lot of fun too -- with tons of people thanking me and wanting to support the film. My mom says it must be tiring to keep that constant smile on my face :)

My family treats us out to dinner, and then we head back to Taipei on the High Speed Rail. Now we just have to wait for the weekend box office numbers which will come in tomorrow.... wish us luck!!!!

W.

Day 10: OPENING DAY

I can't believe it -- I'm allowed to sleep in! I don't have anywhere to go this morning. This is the first time I've had a decent night's sleep since I got to Taiwan over a week ago. Since I got here -- it's been go go go! But of course this is the day that we've all been waiting for -- OPENING DAY!!! I'm excited and a little nervous to be honest.

I get a text from Tiffany Wang, President of Sky Digi -- we've sold over 1.55 million NT Dollars in pre-sale tickets -- a record for them, and very close to the all time Taiwanese record for a film. Great news! That said, we know that opening weekend box office is critical since many people pay attention to it. In any case, we're on pins and needles as the news comes in.

First up is a screening at Hsin Hsin Showtime Cinema hosted by the brother of one of my most important investors, Maysing Chang. Mrs. Chang lives in the Bay Area and is the doyenne of the Taiwanese American community in Silicon Valley. She helped me raise nearly $2 million in that area -- over 1/3 of the production cost of the film. Without her, there would be no Formosa Betrayed -- in fact, we named one of our characters after her -- "Maysing" is the femme fatale of our film. :) They ask me to do a quick introduction which I do -- the place is packed!

Next up is an extremely important and emotional meeting. We're asked to go over to the Chen Wen-Chen Memorial Foundation. Professor Chen is one of the inspirations for Formosa Betrayed. He came to the States in the 70s like many other Taiwanese-Americans (including my parents) and attended graduate school at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (where I went to school for a year) and then became an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University. At both schools, he was a democracy advocate for Taiwan and the Taiwanese people. In 1981, he came back to Taiwan with his family and was subsequently arrested and tortured -- many believe for his work in the States, where apparently he'd been spied upon by other students. The day after his arrest, he was found dead in front of the math building at National Taiwan University. The government authorities claimed it was a suicide. However, autopsies revealed that he had been killed and appeared to have been thrown off the building. The crime has never been officially solved.

At the CWC Foundation, we meet with Chen Bao Yeh who is Professor Chen Wen-Chen's sister. When I get there, there's a copy of the first book I ever read in doing research for Formosa about Professor Chen's death. We are interviewed by a famous Liberty Times columnist named Chou Jing Wen -- who's widely read column is akin to Maureen Dowd's column in the New York Times. After speaking with me about the film, Ms. Chou then interviews Ms. Chen about her thoughts. Ms. Chen states that when then candidate Ma Ying-Jeou was running for President, he promised to re-open the investigation into Chen Wen-Chen's murder. According to Ms. Chen, she says she knew then that this would never happen -- and sure enough, the investigation is still considered closed -- nearly 2 years after now-President Ma has taken office.

Afterwards, we go to Vieshow Cinemas where we have the first in a series of Q&As for the evening. The crowd is small but enthusiastic. One older Taiwanese gentleman is so enthusiastic that he has brought fliers and asks everyone there to tell all everyone about the film. Immediately afterwards, we head to the Taipei City Counsel where one of the DPP council members has hosted a screening of Formosa Betrayed. It's a large crowd of nearly 300 and we only have 15 minutes for the Q&A, cause we have another one back at Vieshow immediately afterwards.

It's a great energy in the crowd as I'm introduced by both the DPP city counsel member Lee Ching-Feng as well as a representative of the 2/28 Memorial Foundation. We only have time for a couple of questions, but the audience is supportive and enthusiastic. Our minder Yvonne Huang literally rushes us out of the building and we run across the street where our assistant Apple Hsu is waiting with a cab for us. Yvonne has worked as a marketing specialist on a number of major films in Taiwan and all over Asia and is used to dealing with very well known actors and directors.

After the final Q&A at Vieshow again, there is a huge crowd that wants to take pictures and ask questions. Yvonne handles it like the pro she is, telling everyone to get in line (which is 10 minutes long) and encourages everyone to take just one picture -- so this is what it's like to have star treatment! :) She tells me afterwards that working on this film has really changed her, and changed everyone who has worked on it. She said before working on this film she and our publicist Steve Wang were "very blue," but that this film, and the discussions afterwards during the Q&A sessions, have really made her look at Taiwan differently and start to question what they previously thought about Taiwan. I give her a hug and thank her for letting me know.

Plus, she says I'm "sexy" -- but I'm sure she tells all her actors that :)

Till tomorrow...

W.

Day 8 and 9: Prepping for Opening Weekend

We leave very early the next morning for Taichung again. The day before yesterday, several of the people who attended the Taichung luncheon asked to put together a press conference to promote the film, and wanted me to come back to say a few words. In attendance were representatives of Taiwan Society, academia, and politics -- all of whom urged the public to see the film.

After the press conference, the Sky Digi team and I take the high speed rail train back to Taipei. It's quick -- the trip from Taichung to Taipei only takes 45 minutes (it took us 2.5 hours driving). But we need to get back quickly cause I have an interview with PTS -- Taiwan Public Television. The interview is short and sweet.

In the evening, I'm asked to attend a screening sponsored by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) -- which is an outgrowth of the political dissident movement that is shown in Formosa Betrayed. At the screening, one of the speakers offers to buy out a screening of the film in Keelung -- which is great since we are not showing in theaters there.

The next morning, I'm invited to speak on ICRT -- Taiwan's largest English language radio station. It's part rock and roll and part news. It's also the former US Naval Forces broadcasting station when the US had a base in Taiwan during the Vietnam era. I'm interviewed by their morning DJ Terry who's originally from Toronto, Canada. It's an interesting interview. Beforehand, Terry admits that he only saw half the movie. Then he says that he'd like to be careful about the political issues, cause whenever something political comes up he gets "like 40 emails from people." So we keep the conversation focused on the film itself, and not so much the political issues surrounding the film. But by the end he seems very satisfied with the interview, and asks me to come back the next time I'm in Taiwan so he can do a follow up.

Next up is an interview with a journalist from Central News Agency, which is a Taiwan government owned news agency. Once again it's an interesting interview, as she asks a lot of questions about my motivations for making the film, and what it's like to be a Taiwanese-American in Hollywood -- whether my parents supported my decision to become an actor and filmmaker, and what their reactions are now. I tell her that it was a very tough decision to leave my job in Washington DC as an international economist -- the pay was good, it was a fairly prestigious position, and many people would have liked to have been doing my job. But at the end of the day, I wasn't fulfilled creatively in what I was doing. What I do now is much more fulfilling.

I go back to my room and start getting made up for the Taipei premiere. At this point -- I feel like it's an old hat -- the minders, the assistants, the publicists, the makeup people, the media, the distributors. At the same time, I realize how lucky I am to be here -- in this position -- doing what I love. 8 years ago when I left DC, I think only in my wildest dreams would I ever have imagined that all of this would come true. At the same time, I am so grateful to everyone around me who has helped me make this happen.

I get to the Taipei premiere at Vieshow Cinemas next to the famous Taipei 101 building which was until recently the tallest building in the world. It's a bit chaotic -- the screening has been overbooked so they have to get another screening room. Then the program begins. Echo is the MC and introduces Lin Hsin Yeh -- a student from National Taiwan University graduate school of Law. She won a poetry contest inspired by the murder of Professor Chen Wen-Chen -- one of the professors who's murder inspired Formosa Betrayed -- and reads her poem to the audience.

Next up is me. I keep my remarks short -- basically by thanking everyone involved. Finally, I introduce the godfather of the project, Li-Pei Wu. Mr. Wu was the very first person I ever spoke with about Formosa Betrayed and has been a critical partner in helping secure financing for the film. He talks about how we first met, and how he never expected to hear from me again. But that he was surprised and happy to see how everything has turned out and encouraged everyone to see the film more than once.

Finally, Chu Chiu Jen comes to the stage. During the Formosa Incident -- the famous pro-democracy riot in Kaohsiung that inspired our riot in the film -- Mr. Chu sang the song "Desire For Spring Breeze" which is the Taiwanese folk song we use during the credits. Just for singing this song, Mr. Chu was imprisoned for 4 years. As we describe in the DVD commentary of Formosa Betrayed, this song was sung by many Taiwanese because "spring breeze" in Taiwanese sounds like "democracy" so many sang this song as a "desire for democracy." It was also a song sung primarily in Taiwanese, not Chinese, which was discouraged and banned during the "White Terror" era -- the era which is portrayed in the film. It is a moving tribute to those who suffered during that time.

After the screening, we have an afterparty at Ah Tsai Restaurant -- which was a hangout for political dissidents during the "White Terror" era. The Formosa Films team came here in 2008 when we originally scouted Taiwan for the film. It's a throwback to the 70s and 80s, with much of the furniture left from that era still there. There are also secret passageways for people so that they could make sure they were not "spied" upon while talking. It's a fun evening and a fitting conclusion to the day.

Tomorrow... is OPENING DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 7: Kaohsiung -- Home Again

Late last night after the Taichung screening we drove into Kaohsiung. Kaohsiung is where my parents were born and raised, and is the second largest city in Taiwan. In some ways, the idea for Formosa Betrayed was born here -- even before I was born. My parents experiences growing up under KMT in this southern most Taiwanese of cities is where they and many others experienced the oppression and injustice that was the inspiration for the film.

First up is an interview with a Taiwanese BCC radio -- a Chinese/Taiwanese radio station. They are very excited to have someone from their "hometown" to discuss the film and we talk about my parents upbringing in Kaohsiung. Speaking of parents -- my mom has flown back to Taiwan for the Kaohsiung premiere and she treats myself and the Sky Digi Entertainment team to lunch. Tiffany Wang, President of Sky Digi, along with the whole team comes along. My uncle shows up as well and it's a bit of a family reunion.

After lunch, I go with the Sky Digi team over to the Kaoshiung Culture Bureau to meet with the director of the KCB -- Shi Che. I met Mr. Shi a couple of years ago when we were scouting for the film in Taiwan. He says that he can help promote the film by putting up promo ads on the Kaohsiung MRT (Mass Rail Transit -- subway and bus), which is greatly appreciated. He invites me to come back to Kaohsiung in October to speak at the Kaohsiung Film Festival. We were invited to the KFF last year, but decided against it since we didn't have a Taiwanese distributor yet. Now Mr. Shi and the KCB is inviting me back -- primarily to speak about why we decided to shoot the movie in Thailand instead of Taiwan. I said I am more than happy to explain why and would be honored to come back. Looks like I will be coming back to Taiwan in October folks!

Next up is the surprise of the day. Cheng Hsin Chu -- a Kaohsiung city counsel member and practicing Buddhist monk -- invites me to his radio show. I'm advised by my publicist that he is very "deep green" (see my previous blog on green vs. blue politics in Taiwan). Sure enough, when we get to the radio station, there are pictures of a Buddhist monk -- Mr. Cheng -- with former President Chen Shui-Bian -- a very controversial figure who is now in jail on corruption charges. President Chen is a controversial figure for the "green" side since he has been jailed. But obviously Mr. Cheng does not care.

When I get upstairs to the booth, I feel like I'm in a small Buddhist temple -- with radio equipment. Mr. Cheng is sitting behind a table broadcasting . He informs us that his program is heard around Taiwan on dozens of radio stations, and around the world on the internet. It is also my first call-in show. Mr. Cheng then gives me a glowing introduction and urges all of his listeners/followers to see the film. What comes next is utterly surprising -- we start getting calls, by the dozens, then by the hundreds from his listeners -- all of them just so grateful and so supportive of the film and myself. Many ask if I can come back to Taiwan and run for office! Others say they are buying out screenings. Still others say that they will buy tickets and send them to President Ma. It is a hilarious back and forth and I gotta say is the highlight of my trip so far -- never felt so much love from so many strangers in my life! :)

Afterwards, we are running late and get back to the hotel so I get made up for the Kaohsiung premiere. I didn't think that anything could top the monk, but it turns out I was wrong. Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu comes and does a press conference at the Formosa Betrayed premiere. Mayor Chen is a real life freedom fighter, having been arrested in the Formosa Incident -- which inspired the riot scene in the film. She was imprisoned for many years on Green Island -- the dreaded prison off the east coast of Taiwan where many political and other prisoners where held.

Mayor Chen speaks in glowing terms about how she heard about the film a few years ago from her Taiwanese-American friends, and that she was so impressed that a second-generation Taiwanese American would make a film about Taiwan's struggle for democracy and independence. She thanks my mom and dad for having taught their children to be Taiwanese and to care so much about Taiwan. She urges everyone to see the film to remind themselves and others about Taiwan's struggle for democracy. She says that she is buying tickets for herself and her friends to see it. I'm then asked to say a few words, and I thank Mayor Chen and give her 30 white lilies to thank her for her contribution to Taiwan's democracy. She's a total sweetheart and very gracious and invites me to dinner when I'm back in Kaohsiung.

In the press conference afterwards one of the journalist's asks if I'm surprised by the makeup of the crowd -- which is equal parts older generation (grandmas and grandpas), middle-aged folks, and young people. I respond not really -- as this was the case in the US and Canada when we showed the film as well. We feel Formosa Betrayed appeals to all audiences and can be seen with friends and family.

Finally we go in and introduce the film to the crowd. They are excited and one of the guest speakers and family friend Wang Peng Hu talks about how his uncle was blacklisted and couldn't come back to Taiwan. It wasn't until after he died that his ashes were brought back to Taiwan. The story brings tears to his eyes and everyone in the audience. My mom and the rest of my family is there, which is really special for me.

At the afterparty after the premiere, we have a small group of 20-30 people -- mostly friends and family. Coincidentally, my interview with Hsieh Chi-Wei is playing on Formosa TV just as we start the party. At the party, everyone there commits to buying over 1000 tickets for opening weekend.

This is why I love Kaohsiung :)

W.

Day 6: Taichung -- So This is What It Feels Like...

Today we begin a 3 day trip to Southern Taiwan for a series of premieres and publicity for Formosa Betrayed. First up is Taichung -- a city right in the center of Taiwan. It is where my co-producer Echo was born and raised, and I have family connections there as well, since my aunt teaches music at a local university there. It's a 2.5 hour drive from Taipei to Taichung -- and we didn't get much sleep last night since we got back late from Hualien.

First up is a radio interview with Super FM. The interviewer has a lot of questions for me about why I decided to switch careers from politics to entertainment. My cute answer is that the people are much prettier in Hollywood than in Washington DC. :) My real answer is that although I am trained to work in politics and policy, I did not feel fulfilled working as a government bureaucrat. I much preferred being creative. Acting, writing, and producing is something I feel very natural doing. It's also been a much more public way to work on Taiwan issues.

Next we have a luncheon at a very Taiwanese restaurant sponsored by the Super FM management and a number of well known Taichung politicians and personalities. The manager of the station asks me to do a short speech and urges everyone to buy as many tickets for opening weekend as possible. Then something interesting happens -- a bidding war starts with everyone who is there and suddenly everyone at the luncheon has committed to buying over 1500 tickets!!!

After that amazing lunch, we're off to a coffee shop / bookstore that is holding a small screening of Formosa Betrayed for about 25 college students. I'm asked to do a Q&A afterwards. It's one of the most interesting Q&As I've done in awhile. One older lady who is there is what is known in Taiwan as a waishengren -- that is, someone who's parents came to Taiwan with the KMT troops after 1945. She says that when she was growing up, she never knew about any Taiwanese history but was instead taught Chinese history, and that it was only after she was much much older that she realized that what she had been taught was pretty much, as she said, "all lies." She felt the film was a great introduction to this history for many people, including herself. She asked me a question about whether it was possible though for Taiwan to ever be really independent from China.

My answer to that was that every country, including the United States, is not completely independent of China. China is now the second largest economy in the world. It is the largest holder of foreign debt in the U.S. It has trade relations with every country, and is an economic superpower. So of course, Taiwan can never be completely "independent" in the economic sense of the word from China -- but neither can anyone else. I compared the China-Taiwan situation with that of the U.S. and Canada. Many people on the pro-"unification" side of the debate with regards to the China-Taiwan situation argue that since China's economy is so large, and that both Chinese and Taiwanese have a common language and similar culture, that eventually the two sides will have to unify into one country.

I said that the U.S.-Canada relationship debunks this argument entirely. The U.S.-Canada economic trading relationship because of NAFTA is the largest in the world -- dwarfing the economic trading relationship of China-Taiwan. Both the U.S. and Canada share a common language, and a common culture. Yet, there is no call for the two sides to unify. And one side is not threatening the other with thousands of missiles if it doesn't unify. The United States recognizes Canada as a country, even though it is much much bigger than Canada in terms of both population and economic might. It recognizes that Canada has the right to self-determination and it's own identity, and vice versa. That is the main difference.

In the evening, we have the Taichung premiere of the film. I give a brief introduction to the film, then head out to dinner. Afterwards, I come back to greet the audience as they're coming out. All of a sudden, I'm being rushed by everyone for pictures and autographs. The theater staff and my own staff escort me out cause we're "causing a scene" and the next movie has to start.

Now I know what it felt like for James Van Der Beek during his Dawson's Creek heyday :)

Till tomorrow...

-Will

Day 5: Hualien

This is my first trip out of Taipei for Formosa Betrayed. Hualien is on the east coast of Taiwan, and is considered one of the most beautiful cities there because of it's mountain and oceanside views. A former legislator Bi-Khim Hsiao has booked a screening of the film for her constituents in Hualien. Bi-Khim has an interesting history. Her father is Taiwanese and her mother is American, and she grew up both in Taiwan and the United States. Although she is only a few years older than me, she has a long political history in Taiwan. I first met her when I worked as an intern for the Formosa Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) in 1993, and she had been an intern there the year before.

After she graduated, she came back to Taiwan to work on developing the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) which was born out the democracy movement we describe in Formosa Betrayed. She eventually became highly sought after for her intelligence and charisma and landed a plum position in the Chen Shui-Bian administration when President Chen came to power in 2000, even though she was only in her late-twenties at the time. I remember her on stage when President-elect Chen won in March 2000 -- I was in Taiwan visiting with my family at the time. She was the MC for the winning rally on election night speaking fluently in Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, and English to audiences around the world. I was very impressed.

Since then, she went on to become a legislator and is now the head of the international affairs department for the DPP. She was selected by the DPP to run for office in Hualien, and ran and lost in the last election there. But she has committed to the area and has moved there permanently. And because there is only one movie theater in Hualien, Formosa Betrayed is not playing there. So after she saw the film in June, Bi-Khim organized a group to buy a screening for the Hualien area and gave out tickets for free.

She tells us that although the theater only has a capacity of 300, over 450 people asked for tickets -- which surprised her because Hualien is considered a very "blue" area (see my Day 3 post about "green" vs. "blue" politics in Taiwan). The place is packed and Bi-Khim, Echo, and I introduce the film and then we do a Q&A afterwards. It's quite a diverse crowd of academics, farmers, politicians, and everyday people. Definitely a great experience.

Afterwards, Bi-Khim takes us to a restaurant she recently purchased -- a beautifully restored Japan-era restaurant where they serve us shaved ice (my favorite!). She tells me she's going to England in September and I let her know that Formosa Betrayed will be opening there in September as well. She takes us to the train station -- it was quite difficult to get tickets to Hualien cause everyone likes to go there for vacation in the summer. Bi-Khim had to pull strings for us, and she said she herself has trouble getting tickets from Taipei to Hualien. Always good to have friends in high places.... :)

Till tomorrow...

-Will

Day 4: The Strawberry Generation

Today starts off with a newspaper interview with "The China Times" -- the first interview I've had with a "pan-blue" newspaper. Needless to say I'm very excited! :) "The China Times" is owned by the Wang Wang Group which has strong ties with mainland China. The journalist Eric Chiu asks a number of questions about my background and what was the motivation behind shooting the film. We have a discussion about Taiwanese-American politics and about Hollywood.

Eventually he asks if I would consider doing a historical epic on China. I tell him that while we're open to any good story, I think there may be others who would be better at that. Formosa Betrayed is about Taiwan and Taiwan's history, which is a subject I feel very comfortable with. I would feel as comfortable doing a historical Chinese epic as I would doing an historical French epic -- and I hasten to add that I speak French fluently (while my Chinese is passable).

Later in the day, we have two back-to-back screenings of Formosa Betrayed to two groups of college and graduate students, as well as a number of influential Taiwanese bloggers. This generation of Taiwanese students is known here as the "Strawberry Generation" (akin to the American Gen Y). The "Strawberry Generation" is the first generation of Taiwanese to grow up in modern day Taiwanese democracy. Most of them were born during or after the early to mid 1980s when Formosa Betrayed is set.

The stereotype of the "Strawberry Generation" is that they are generally quite apathetic when it comes to politics. Many of them are actual unaware of the history of Taiwan and it's development as a democracy. This group of students and bloggers is not stereotypical as many of them are student leaders and are opinion makers among their peers. Moreover, some of them were involved in the "Wild Strawberry" movement which protested against the leaders of mainland China when a number of them came to Taiwan last year to discuss relations between the Republic of China on Taiwan and the People's Republic of China on the mainland.

The question and answer discussion afterwards is quite interesting. A film critic and blogger named Tzara speaks first about his impressions of the film. He compares Formosa Betrayed to movies like The Killing Fields, Hotel Rwanda, and Munich in that the film shines a spotlight on a piece of Taiwanese history for both Westerners and Taiwanese themselves that has never been shown to the world. He says that his one of his grandparents was killed in the 2/28 massacre that is talked about in the film.

We open up the floor and the students and bloggers are very engaged and interested in talking about the motivation behind the film, as well as the political and social message that Formosa Betrayed presents. Both sessions last well beyond their scheduled times, and everyone seems very enthused and interested in helping to promote the film to their peers. I tell them that this film is really aimed at the "Strawberry Generation" and their support is critical in ensuring the film's box office success.

That's it for today. Tomorrow is our first screening outside of Taipei... in Hualien! See you tomorrow...

-Will

Day 3: Crazy Press Day

I spoke too soon about it "being a breeze." Today I wake up at 4 am and realize that my jetlag is catching up with me -- which is problematic since this is going to be my busiest press day -- 5 interviews back-to-back all day long. All I can think is -- pace yourself -- it's going to be a marathon!

First up is the "Happy Radio Network" with host Chia Tek-Khiam. This is what one would call a "deep green" radio station. For those of you not familiar with Taiwanese politics -- the political divide here is associated with two colors -- "blue" and "green." The "pan-blue" side is associated with the Chinese Nationalist Party or Kuomintang (KMT) and is typically considered more "pro-China" in terms of politics and the desire for unification of Taiwan with Mainland China. The "pan-green" side is more associated with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) which is part of the outgrowth of the democratic movement depicted in Formosa Betrayed and is typically associated more with a strong Taiwanese identity and Taiwan independence.

Mr. Chia and his "Happy Radio Network" station are considered "deep green" -- that is to say his program is typically conducted only in Taiwanese language, not Mandarin Chinese -- and his politics reflect that position as well. He has many questions about the politics of the film, and I remind him that this is not a "pan-green" or "pan-blue" film -- it is an American film, told from a "Hollywood" perspective -- and thus cannot be put into the normal paradigm of Taiwanese politics. He admits that he had a Cambodian friend watch the film and came out of it understanding more about Taiwan's history and political situation. We talked about how The Killing Fields did the same thing for Cambodia as Formosa Betrayed is doing for Taiwan.

Next up is "New Talk Web TV" -- this is my first time doing a Web TV newscast. I'm joined by co-producer Echo Lin as well as one of the actors in the film, Danny Yi-Ho Su. Danny was one of the "happy accidents" that came up during filming. For those of you who have seen Formosa Betrayed, the biggest scene in the film is the Kaohsiung riot scene -- meant to be inspired by the Formosa incident -- a democracy demonstration that happened in Kaohsiung in 1979. Originally we had hired a Thai actor of Chinese descent to be the "protest leader" and lead the crowd which such slogans as "Democracy, Human Rights NOW!!!" However, on the day of shooting, our director Adam Kane wanted the actor to say "Taiwan Independence!" He refused -- saying it was "too controversial." Naturally, we fired him.

But then, we didn't have a "protest leader." And this was our biggest scene in the movie -- there were over 1000 people in the scene. Luckily, Echo had been in touch with a DPP tour group which was in Taiwan at the time. She had met Danny before and asked him if he wanted to be in a movie. Luckily for us, he agreed. Many Taiwanese people say that Danny is the most "authentic" Taiwanese actor in the film -- to which we say, "of course, he's not an actor, he's the real thing!"

Afterwards, there are two back-to-back television interviews for Formosa TV. First up is Formosa English TV -- a daily hour-long news program in English with one of Formosa TV's most popular news host -- Jenny Chang. Although she's never lived in the States, her English is impeccable and we get into an interesting conversation about how movies are funded and the future of Asians and Asian-Americans in Hollywood.

Then comes Chang Ray Ling -- with the show "I Love Movies" -- a weekly TV talk show about movies and the people who make them. Chang Ray Ling is the host and the entire interview is done in Mandarin (my part is translated by Echo). She has already done a piece on Formosa Betrayed with the rocker Freddie LIm which airs tonight.

The final interview is with Super FM 98.5 Radio. It used to be an underground radio station when Taiwan was still under martial law -- but is now the largest pro-Taiwan independence radio station in the country. We have a very sweet host named Momo and she is extremely excited about the release of Formosa Betrayed in Taiwan and encourages her listeners to go see the film.

By this point, although I'm totally exhausted, I decide to push through and meet a friend for dinner. He is kind enough afterwards to drive me to the Shi Men Ding district (Taipei's "Times Square") where there is a huge electronic billboard playing movie trailers. Formosa Betrayed's trailer comes up -- next to gigantic billboards of other Hollywood films. I feel like we've made it :)

Till tomorrow....

-Will

Day 2: It's a breeze...

Today feels like a breeze compared to yesterday. I wake up and check The Liberty Times to see if the article from yesterday has come out -- and sure enough -- there's a front page mention and two articles on the first page of the Entertainment section, with two reasonable pictures of myself and the rest of the film. One thing I'll never understand with Chinese-language newspapers is why they always seem to choose and print the worst pictures of me! :)

First up is The Journalist magazine -- which is akin to our Newsweek or Time magazine -- it's a weekly spotlighting key political and cultural events. The journalist interviewing me asks me questions in Chinese and I respond in English. When I was growing up, my parents only spoke to me in Taiwanese, and I would respond in English. They refused to speak Chinese at home, because they felt it was a language imposed upon them when the KMT came to Taiwan. I learned Mandarin Chinese on my own in graduate school, and only studied for 2-3 years, so I'm pretty limited in my conversation skills.

Next I have a television interview with one of my favorite people in the world -- Dr. Chi-Wei Hsieh -- who has a nightly political talk show on Formosa TV -- similar to Larry King on CNN. I met Dr. Hsieh two years ago, when we were prepping for the Formosa Betrayed shoot. At the time, he was the head of the Government Information Office for the Republic of China on Taiwan -- which meant he was the official government spokesperson for the Chen Shui-Bian administration. Dr. Hsieh is one of the smartest, funniest persons I've ever met and has been an outspoken advocate of the film.

One thing very few people know is that we actually asked Dr. Hsieh to play the role of Minister Kuo (eventually played by actor Tzi Ma) in Formosa Betrayed. We needed someone who was charming and who's English was excellent, and Dr. Hsieh fit the bill. Of course, the major difference was that this character is the spokesperson for the KMT government at that time. And Dr. Hsieh's wife nixed the idea because she didn't want him to play a KMT official in the movie!!! Fair enough. :)

The interview is a lot of fun. Once again, Dr. Hsieh conducts the interview in Chinese and Taiwanese, and I respond in English. Typically it's a live show, but they tape it so they have time to do a written translation of what I'm saying. Dr. Hsieh is great with puns, and during the interview, he says "Young people love to use PowerPoint. But if you don't have the Power, you can't make your Point!" We're told that the segment will air sometime early next week. We'll keep you posted here!

The final interview of the day is with J. Michael Cole of the Taipei Times. I'm pleasantly surprised to find out that he is French Canadian, and we joke around for a bit in French much to the chagrin of the Chinese/Taiwanese speakers in the room who have no idea what we're saying! It turns out Mr. Cole has a very interesting history. He used to work for the Canadian version of the FBI -- but was frustrated by the policies of his government. He met and fell in love with a Taiwanese woman, and they moved to Taiwan. Now, he is the Deputy News Editor for the Taipei Times, which is Taiwan's leading English language daily newspaper.

The Taipei Times has already done some interviews with me about Formosa Betrayed and done some news coverage about the film's release in North America. So Mr. Cole decides he wants to get into some of the more weighty political and philosophical issues that we tackle in the film. It's a fun and wide-ranging interview, different than most of the typical questions I get. We also give him some information that hasn't been made public up to now -- about why we decided to film Formosa Betrayed in Thailand instead of Taiwan. You're going to have to read his story to find out why... and we'll be sure to link it here on the BLOG!

That's it for me today. Only three interviews -- what a breeze! :) Tomorrow we have twice as many interviews, back to back, all day long. Sky Digi tells me their phone has been ringing off the hook all day from people requesting tickets -- and we've sold 3 times as many tickets today than previously!!! Good times! Will see you tomorrow...

-Will

Day 1: The Adventure Begins! (Taipei)

As my airplane is about to land in Taipei, a number of memories rush into my head. I realize it's been two years since I've been to Taiwan -- the last time was when we were shooting Formosa Betrayed. We land early in the morning, so immigration and customs is a breeze. Our Taiwan co-producer Echo Lin picks me up at the airport. Echo is the "secret weapon" behind Formosa Betrayed. I met Echo many moons ago back when we were both working for the Formosa Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), lobbying on Capitol Hill for Taiwanese democracy and self-determination. She worked for FAPA for many years, and later helped found another non-profit, the Formosa Foundation of Los Angeles, which I'm now a board member. Back in 2008, when we were scouting for the film, Echo was our guide through Taiwan and was so helpful we eventually brought her to Thailand to serve as our Taiwanese "eyes and ears" during production. She was so helpful during the shoot, and throughout the post-production period with her contacts in Taiwan and with investors that we made her a co-producer.

I get to the hotel and the entire Sky Digi Entertainment staff is there to meet me. Tiffany Wang is the head of Sky Digi, and she is the primary reason we have distribution in Taiwan. We had a number of Taiwanese distributors who were interested in Formosa Betrayed, but only Tiffany and Sky Digi seemed to "get" the movie and how to market it for Taiwan. We all sit down for a brief pow-wow to discuss what the next two weeks will look like (let's just say that I'm not going to have a lot of free time!).

My first interview is with Brad Tsai of the LIberty Times. The Liberty Times is Taiwan's largest newspaper -- akin to our New York Times. Brad is an entertainment reporter, and we end up have an hour an half long discussion about Formosa Betrayed. He asks a lot of great questions, and he ends up writing TWO articles on the front page of the entertainment section (here are the links: http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2010/new/jul/29/today-show1.htm and http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2010/new/jul/29/today-show2.htm).

Next up is a TV interview with one of Taiwan's most popular talk shows -- "Light up Taiwan" (台灣亮起來) -- on San Lih Television (三立電視). It's a weekly talk show and I'm told the host -- Yia-Lin Chen (陳雅琳) -- is like the Oprah Winfrey of Taiwan.

Then there's a surprise interview with Nansen Lin of BBC World Service. This makes me very happy -- I'm an avid NPR and BBC radio listener, so it's a dream to be on this show. He tells me that this particular section of BBC World Service is broadcast to the Greater China region (mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan) and has been broadcasting since World War II. I let him know that we're going to be opening in the UK in late September.

Finally, we go to a dinner with a group of my Taiwan investors, as well as a number of well known Taiwanese public figures -- although sometimes these are the same thing! One of my key investors is a former Taiwan cabinet member -- Li-Pei Wu. Mr. Wu is the "godfather" of Formosa Betrayed since he was the very first person I ever spoke about the project with over 5 years ago. At the time, it was his dream to have a Hollywood film about Taiwan. He helped organize a number of key fundraisers that helped put us over the hump when the time was critical for us to raise financing.

Another key person at the dinner is the rocker Freddy Lim from the Taiwanese heavy metal band CHTHONIC. Freddy is an icon for many younger Taiwanese and is an outspoken advocate of Taiwanese independence. He's also a huge fan of Formosa Betrayed and gives a great speech.

I on the other hand am so jetlagged that by the time I give my speech, I forget what I'm supposed to say (which if any of you know me, almost never happens!). I finally figure out that I'm there to encourage everyone to buy a ton of tickets for opening weekend... then I go back to my hotel and crash instantly on my bed.

Well... that's DAY ONE folks!!!! Hopefully by DAY TWO I'll remember what I'm supposed to say! :) Good night and see you tomorrow...

On my way to Taiwan...

As some of you may know, I am originally from Kansas. My parents came from Kaohsiung, Taiwan to Manhattan, Kansas in the late '60s to study at Kansas State University. Very few people know that within Taiwanese-American circles, K-State is known as the "Military College of Taiwan Independence" because so many Taiwanese intellectuals and dissidents came through there at one point or another to study. You're probably asking -- why Kansas? Like any immigrant community, all it takes is one to establish themselves there -- then others follow. The first of those who came to K-State in the mid-60's was my godfather, Clarence Huang. For those of you who have seen Formosa Betrayed, you may recognize that we named one of our characters after him -- Professor Huang Li-Pei -- who gives our FBI Agent Jake Kelly the background on why his friend Professor Henry Wen was killed.

In any case, I'm at the airport lounge at LAX waiting for my EVA Airways flight to Taiwan, when low and behold I run into someone with a K-State shirt on -- he is a Taiwanese professor from K-State that I grew up with! What a small world! Professor Hseu is a professor of management and is on his way to Taiwan and then China for a conference. He's already seen Formosa Betrayed when it played in Kansas City back in the spring when the film was in American theaters. However, he tells me he will be back in Taiwan on August 5 -- right before our nationwide release in Taiwan on August 6! Good timing... and maybe a sign of things to come? We will see... stay tuned!