Cultivating diverse Taiwan dramas
In contrast to the wide variety of shows found internationally, most of Taiwan’s television serials fall into two categories: family dramas and “idol dramas”—the latter featuring attractive young actors in romantic roles. With this lack of diversity, it becomes hard to raise the cultural level of audiences. Freed from commercial considerations, PTS is naturally able to try out a greater range of dramatic possibilities.
For instance, Green Door, which is scheduled to be aired in February of 2019, is PTS’s first psychological thriller. Adapted from a novel by Joseph Chen, it stars singer Jam Hsiao playing a therapist to ghosts. His clients include all manner of strange beings, including one case where it is unclear whether the client is a split personality or a beautiful woman possessed by a gangster spirit. Via deep psychological explorations, it examines the search for happiness and security inherent in human nature.
Another show, No Outsiders, begins with an indiscriminate killing and explores the different mental states of the family members of the culprit and the victim. It delves into human rights law, the role of the media and other social issues.
In order to provide the industry with a taste of greater creative possibilities, in 2017 PTS began promoting production of “PTS originals,” welcoming all manner of different genres of shows—from cops and robbers, horror and thrillers to sci-fi and fantasy. These productions give creators much more artistic license to tell their stories.
This greater freedom has achieved the intended effect of producing works showing greater creativity. Take, for instance, the colorfully imaginative ghost film Samsara. It describes the year 2020, when all of humanity falls into a coma. When they awake 49 seconds later, everyone can see ghosts. What unexpected situations arise when people and ghosts exist in the same world!
Justice is one of Taiwan’s rare cops-and-robbers shows. If you want to give a show in this genre audience appeal, then you’ve got to get the gunfire scenes and bullet special effects correct. On the other hand, the makeup required for horror shows requires a whole different kind of expertise. The behind-the-scenes skills needed for different kind of productions can only be acquired gradually through experience. That’s how the industry moves forward.
Apart from taking a filmmaking approach to making television, PTS is also working with theaters to put on film festivals, giving audiences different viewing experiences. And apart from broadcasting on its channel, PTS is also sending its original films to international film festivals, where they have repeatedly earned praise. Upstream, for instance, was shortlisted for an award at the Montreal World Film Festival, and Last Verse was shortlisted at the Busan International Film Festival.
In the current age of Internet streaming platforms, viewing audiences are not bound by national borders. Only by continually improving quality can Taiwan’s industry attract international attention. May PTS open up new possibilities for serials in Taiwan, so that the world will notice Taiwan’s culture and the power of its film and television production industry!
Yu Pei-hua, director of PTS’s programming department, believes it is the broadcaster’s duty to fearlessly push in new directions and elicit the highest quality of programming from Taiwan’s TV production industry. (photo by Chuang Kung-ju)
"ADHD is Necessary". The production team meticulously attended to the smallest of details on every set, giving each episode in the anthology its own feel.
Although working on a small budget, the makers of On Children have produced television that stacks up well against the best of America and Europe. The soft power demonstrated by Taiwan’s film and television industry should not go unnoticed.
PTS has been actively pushing “PTS originals,” which it has even screened in theaters, opening up new possibilities for film and television makers in Taiwan.
PTS has been actively pushing “PTS originals,” which it has even screened in theaters, opening up new possibilities for film and television makers in Taiwan.
PTS has been actively pushing “PTS originals,” which it has even screened in theaters, opening up new possibilities for film and television makers in Taiwan.
PTS has provided Taiwan’s film and television production talent with more space to explore new creative directions and thus to gain experience in different genres. The resulting high-quality works have ranged from cops-and-robbers thrillers to zombie-populated horror movies.