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...
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