[Culture Interview] Create Together, But Don't Hand It Over... The Taiwanese Stories Sue Wang Seeks to Protect

Taiwan Deputy Minister of Culture and TAICCA Chairperson
Found solace in books as a child; discovered Taiwan's language at university
"The issue is IP commercialization capabilities, not capital"... Shifting to an investment-centered model

"Culture is the last refuge where the soul can find solace."

Wang Sishi, chairperson of the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA), discusses strategies for internationalizing Taiwan's content industry. He emphasized the importance of learning from Korea's production system while preserving Taiwan's unique stories. TAICCA

Sue Wang, chairperson of the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA), who firmly believes in the power of culture, identified the revenue model for content as the most urgent challenge. Her view is that Taiwan's cultural industry can grow only if it goes beyond producing good works and uses intellectual property (IP) to generate sustained revenue. She also made clear that, in cooperation with Korea, Taiwan would learn production know-how while holding firm to its ownership of original IP.

In an interview with The Asia Business Daily on November 10, Wang said, "The most urgent issue is the capacity to develop and commercialize IP. The question is not simply whether a work is good. We need a structure that can turn creative ideas into sustainable revenue and expand them into multiple markets."

Some 86.61% of companies in Taiwan's cultural and creative industries are small businesses with capital of no more than NT$5 million. Wang sees a lack of capital as both a cause and a consequence. There is not enough money because there are too few business models that give investors the confidence to commit funds; meanwhile, the small-scale production environment makes it difficult to establish long-term revenue streams. This is why she is seeking to change the production practice of making a single work and then moving on.

Founded in 2019, TAICCA has been shifting its support system from grants toward investment. It has established joint funds with Taiwan's three major telecommunications companies, and since Wang took office, it has focused on improving investment and financial systems. The agency now takes companies' past investment performance and fulfillment of contractual obligations into account when considering follow-on investments, and requires the grounds for investment decisions to be made public.

Could an emphasis on profitability leave newcomers and experimental creators behind? Wang explained that, when evaluating new production teams, the agency considers not only the originality and diversity of their work, but also its potential contribution to talent development and advances in production technology. On the independence of public investment, she said, "More than half of the review committee members are external experts, and I have never participated in any investment review committee."

Funding conditions are challenging. After TAICCA's budget was cut by more than NT$100 million this year, it reduced the scale of its participation in international events and delayed some payments for content development and co-production projects. With the agency needing to build a foundation for industry growth using limited resources, Wang is looking to Korea as a key partner.

"What we want to learn from Korea is its methodology. Imitating the content itself is a dead end."

She praised Korea's approach to screenplay development, division of production responsibilities, and international distribution system, which helped bring Parasite and Squid Game to global audiences. Her position is that Taiwan should learn from Korea's production system without losing its own stories. She cited "freedom and inclusiveness" and "a gentleness that leaves room for others" as strengths of Taiwanese content. "Taiwanese cultural works tend to seek reconciliation rather than eliminate their opponents."

The cooperation is taking shape through specific development projects. Under "BLOOM," a joint drama development program with Imaginus, the first two episodes of each of three series have completed screenplay development. Under "BUBBLE," a film development program with Studio Dragon, two projects have also been selected and are now in screenplay development. Wang acknowledged that "it took far longer than expected for us to adapt to one another because of differences in language, culture, and the production process."

With B.A. Entertainment, led by CEO Jang Wonseok, which signed a memorandum of understanding in Busan last month, TAICCA is discussing filming Korean commercial films in Taiwan, jointly developing and remaking IP from both countries, and other projects. The parties are at the working-level stage of discussions for a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), and no concrete production outcomes have been confirmed yet. TAICCA is pursuing talent development with the webtoon company KENAZ and joint musical development with HJ Culture and others.

Wang Shih-ssu, chairperson of the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA). Also serving as Taiwan's deputy minister of culture, she has been working to strengthen the content industry's investment base and expand international co-productions since taking office in May last year. TAICCA

While broadening the scope of cooperation, Wang said one thing Taiwan would not concede was ownership of original IP. If an overseas platform buys all the rights outright, creators may struggle to secure future revenue even if a work becomes a hit. She said TAICCA is also pursuing a plan to pool IP from multiple production companies with the support of a national fund and negotiate collectively.

"For TAICCA to invest, the IP must be owned by the Taiwanese side. If the rights are transferred overseas through cooperation, we cannot invest public funds."

Over the next three years, the goal is to develop several mid-sized production companies capable of producing at least 10 works a year. Wang also plans to make international co-productions a routine part of the industry and attract private capital from advanced technology sectors into the content industry. Since collaboration with Korea is still at the screenplay development and business discussion stages, the challenge remains to turn it into actual production and revenue.

Wang's emphasis on Taiwanese stories is also rooted in her own upbringing. When she was young, her parents were often away from home, so she had to prepare her own meals and look after her younger sister. Books collected by an aunt who studied Chinese literature helped ease her loneliness. Having grown up reading Water Margin, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Dream of the Red Chamber, she recalled, "As soon as I opened a book, I could go anywhere, and then my fears would disappear."

She did not learn the language of the land where she was born and raised until she went to university. "I was deeply shocked when I realized how little I knew about the place where I lived."

Wang belongs to the generation of the Wild Lily student movement, a turning point in Taiwan's democratization in 1990. She explained that discovering the language and culture she had not been exposed to under authoritarian rule led her to reflect on her identity. That experience is also reflected in her career, which took her through human rights activism, judicial reform, local administration, and tourism policy before she became a leader in cultural policy.

While working as a public official in Tainan, she watched two or three films a week after work. For a public servant who had to be conscious of how others saw her, a darkened theater was one of the rare places where she could be entirely alone. She has led TAICCA since May 2025 and also serves as Taiwan's deputy minister of culture.

For Korean readers, she recommended The Supporting Actress by Deng Jiuyun, published by Geulhangari, and The God of Night Descends by Chang Tzu-hsiang, published by Minumsa. The former is a novel about the life and identity of a female actor, while the latter draws on Taiwanese folk legends and forgotten history. It also shares its fictional world with an album of the same name by the indie band in which Chang Tzu-hsiang performs. Wang also named Wu Ming-Yi, Chen Si-hong, and Yang Shuang-zi as authors she would like to introduce to Korea.

Wang emphasized her belief that culture has the power to change society.

"Society cannot be fundamentally transformed by changes in institutions, technology, or capital alone. Deep change ultimately happens when culture changes."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.