Taiwan Creative Content Fest moves all state funding pitches into one elevator

Taiwan will hear every future pitch for state cultural funding inside a moving elevator, officials announced Thursday at the opening of the Taiwan Creative Content Fest in Taipei. The rule covers films, series, comics, animation and streaming platforms seeking money from the National Development Fund.

The policy follows a story told at the festival by Minister of Culture Li Yuan. He secured NT$10 billion in fresh state investment after pitching the fund's leadership during a single elevator ride. The fund reviewed the outcome and credited the elevator.

TAICCA chair Sue Wang had opened the event by urging creators to adapt to constant industry upheaval. Nobody expected the adaptation to come with a floor indicator.

Under the system, a creator boards with one fund official at the ground floor of a designated Taipei tower. The pitch ends when the doors open on the nineteenth floor. Anything left unexplained by then is assumed not to exist.

“The minister proved the format works,” said TAICCA spokeswoman Chen Pei-lin. “Nineteen floors is about forty seconds, which is also the attention span of a streaming buyer. We are simply aligning with the market.”

Rules of the ride

Rules posted in the lobby ban visual aids, sizzle reels and handouts, and phones are surrendered at the door. Each project's full licensing universe — films, series, comics, merchandise — must fit inside the ride. Organizers advise capping merchandise talk at two floors.

One producer was disqualified last week for pressing every button to extend his ride. The fund has since posted a guard inside the car.¹

International partners must comply as well. Delegations arriving under the festival's new agreement with Weta FX will pitch in the same elevator. Interpreters ride free, but translation time counts against the pitcher.

“I used to carry a nineteen-minute deck,” said Taipei producer Lin Hao-yu, who is seeking animation funding. “Now I have a nineteen-second one. The film is unchanged. I just say it faster.”

Pitches written by artificial intelligence are permitted, in keeping with the festival's focus on the technology. A human must, however, be physically present in the car to press the button — a role officials called the irreplaceable human element.

“The elevator does not lie. By floor nine, you know everything about a project. By floor nineteen, so does the pitcher,” said Jessica Tsai, a deputy director at the fund.

The fund will review the policy after one year. Streaming platforms have already asked for a taller building. The request was denied between floors.

Footnotes.

1. His four-hour historical epic was heard in full during the resulting delays and rejected on its merits. ↩