The 2025 Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF) opened to an unprecedented wave of international participation, marking a major milestone for Taiwan’s expanding creative industries. At the festival’s opening, Minister of Culture Li Yuan proudly announced that the local action thriller 96 Minutes had surpassed NT$200 million ($6.4 million) at the box office. This remarkable achievement underscores a dramatic revival for Taiwan’s film industry, which once teetered on collapse in the early 21st century when local films often grossed under NT$1 million. Minister Li lauded the industry’s persistence through a 10- to 20-year rebuilding period.

This year’s TCCF 2025 has attracted its largest-ever international contingent. South Korea leads with nearly 100 representatives, closely followed by France with 80 delegates and a dedicated national pavilion. Participants from Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines further boosted the event to record levels in both attendance and project pitches. According to Sue Wang, Chair of the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA), this surge reflects the industry’s growing collaboration, noting that “TCCF’s metrics are at an all-time high.”

Minister Li also highlighted Taiwan’s rising international visibility, referencing a meeting with CNC president Gaëtan Bruel in France, who expressed deep interest in Taiwan’s VR/AR strengths. Bruel reportedly described Taiwan as an emerging hub for future content investment—an impression reinforced by France’s major showing at this year’s festival. Since the founding of TAICCA six years ago, Taiwan has treated the content sector as a strategic national industry. Li outlined three guiding strategies: fostering cross-domain collaboration to develop strong intellectual property (IP), integrating technologies such as AI and VR/AR into production, and expanding globally to counter the limitations of a 23-million-person domestic market.

Adding to the festival’s momentum, two large-scale investment funds were unveiled to accelerate international collaboration and IP growth across Asia. The first, the Taiwan–Korea Entertainment and Cultural Content Fund, is a NT$960 million ($31 million) initiative led by South Korea’s CJ ENM in partnership with Taiwan’s Far EasTone Telecom and TVBS Group. The fund targets investments across film, television, music, live entertainment, co-production, and marketing, further linking Taiwan to Asia’s entertainment capital networks.

Complementing it, the Far Eastern Creative Entertainment Fund was launched by Fubon Cultural Creative, Far EasTone, and TAICCA. This joint venture seeks to elevate Taiwanese IP to the global stage while enriching local audiences with premium works. Wang emphasized that these funds symbolize more than capital—they mark the maturation of a globally connected ecosystem, positioning TCCF as a vital entry point for international companies seeking creative collaboration. CJ ENM’s VP of International Business Sean Cho underscored the strategic synergy between Korea’s production expertise and Taiwan’s creative strength, envisioning the partnership as a new engine for global impact.

In her closing remarks, Wang reflected on the evolving landscape for creators, calling this “a very interesting era” defined by shifting paradigms in cultural content—where boundaries between platforms and time slots are fading. She described today’s environment as “an era for risk-takers,” one ripe with innovation and possibility. Wang also urged creators to think beyond single-format storytelling, envisioning IPs that can evolve into films, performances, technologies, or products. Through TAICCA’s platform role, the agency continues to bridge creators, investors, and global partners, accelerating collaborations long in development. With ongoing partnerships with France, Japan, and South Korea, Wang affirmed that TCCF’s mission is to build cultural industries that “move people, excite people, and make people want to experience them,” as Taiwan steps confidently into a new era of creative influence.