Greener Grass President Phil Tang On Taiwan’s Streaming Landscape; Upcoming Cross Border Series ‘The Outlaw Doctor’ & ‘Three Tears In Borneo’
10.11.2023 - 10:11
/ deadline.com
With a background in Taiwanese public television and now president of leading production company Greener Grass Culture, Phil Tang has been one of the key players in Taiwan’s evolving drama production space.
Founded by Hank Tseng in 2008, Greener Grass is both a film and TV producer, with film credits including horror movie The Tag-Along, and series including period drama Gold Leaf and crime dramas The Victims’ Game and Copycat Killer. The latter two shows were produced for Netflix and Greener Grass is currently working on the second season of The Victims’ Game, about a forensic scientist with Asperger’s syndrome.
Separately, Tang continues to lend his drama production expertise to other Taiwanese companies and was also a producer on Damou Entertainment’s ground-breaking show The World Between Us, which delved into a range of social issues and won several prizes at Taiwan’s Golden Bell Awards.
Tang is now in post-production on two series – The Outlaw Doctor, through Greener Grass, and Three Tears In Borneo, with Public Television System (PTS) – that represent a new direction for Chinese-language dramas by bringing in elements designed to increase international appeal.
“In many territories, streamers have different strategies for local and international production, with higher budgets for international shows,” Tang explains. “On the international side, we’ve started to bring in more cross border elements, for example in the storylines and cast.”
Backed by Chunghwa Telecom and PTS, The Outlaw Doctor stars Vietnamese actor Lien Binh Phat and Taiwan’s Janine Chang in the story of an immigrant in Taiwan who is working illegally as a doctor to cover his mother’s medical expenses. While the series will be broadcast on