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.
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