Taiwanese Director Hou Hsiao-hsien Retires From Filmmaking As He Battles Alzheimer’s Disease

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Happy Friday Insiders. Jesse Whittock back again. The strike is over and normality is set to return to the world of TV and film after months of madness. Here’s a rundown of the biggest stories of the week. Don’t forget to sign up to the newsletter here.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Taiwanese production companies DaMou Entertainment and KOKO Entertainment unveiled a starry local cast for “Fired Up,” their Taiwan remake of hit Korean series “Itaewon Class.” At an event held within the Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF) on Thursday, the two companies also confirmed plans for a second season of “The World Between Us,” a 2019 drama series that premiered on Taiwan’s Public Television Service and regional streamer Catchplay. “Fired Up” will star Mandarin-language pop star Eric Chou, Golden Horse Film Award nominee Angela Yuen, Shao Yu-wei, Huang Guan-zhi, Cosmos Lin, Ben Wu and Sean Lin in leading roles. The show is co-directed by kao Pin-chuan and Tseng Ying-ting, working from a script headed by Chien Li-ying (“Wave Makers”). “Itaewon Class” is a story about an ex-convict who sets up his own business after release from jail.

Warner Bros Discovery is reteaming with Taiwanese production company DaMou Entertainment to produce HBO Asia original Fired Up! (working title), an adaptation of hit Kakao webtoon Itaewon Class. 

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Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Japanese entertainment conglomerate Kadokawa is seeking to double its international revenues through a strategy of diversification and localization. Taiwan is expected to be a key plank in the outreach, executives at the Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF) heard on Tuesday. “Currently 20% of Kadokawa’s revenues come from outside Japan. I want to get this figure to 40%,” said Natsuno Takeshi, CEO Kadokawa Corp. Kadokawa has its roots in publishing of comics and other fiction and also has deeply-established roots in film production and distribution.

Sophia Sun Intern American-Taiwanese actor and director Peter Ho (“Wind and Cloud”) is at the 2023 Taiwan Creative Content Fest with in-development film project “Appetite for Desire.” The completed picture is intended to be a 120 minute film that tells the story of clout-chasing YouTubers Yong Cheng and Gao Wei who are introduced to a mysterious dish called Kappa meat by their high school classmate. The magic Kappa meat gives them temporary superpower which allows them to create more extreme video contents. However, as Yong Cheng and Gao Wei become more and more reliant on it, a darker secret about it is being revealed.

Taiwanese LGBTQ+ Streamer GagaOOLala has announced a packed slate of originals and acquired titles on the eve of Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF), including unscripted queer reality dating series Boys Like Boys. 

Seven years after her skillful debut Park, which played Toronto and San Sebastian, where it won the New Directors Award, Greek filmmaker Sofia Exarchou has returned with her sophomore outing. 

Michael J. Fox is opening up about his over 30-year battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Warner Bros Discovery‘s international restructuring has continued with James Gibbons setting out the shape of his Asia Pacific team, with Japanese Country Manager Masami Takahashi choosing to retire.

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Warner Bros Discovery has signed a multi-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Taiwan Mobile and Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) to create and distribute Taiwanese original content locally and across international markets.

Launching in the first year of the pandemic in 2020, Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF) has taken a few years to secure its positioning in the global film markets calendar, but this year’s edition is on track to be its biggest and most international yet. 

Doona! star and former Miss A member Bae Suzy has opened up about potentially retiring from the entertainment industry.Bae Suzy currently stars in the newly released Netflix original K-drama series, Doona!, opposite Still 17 actor Yang Se-jong. In the series, she plays the titular Doona, a former K-pop idol who leaves behind her glamorous celebrity life and retires from the limelight.The actress has since compared her own life to that of Doona’s in the series, telling Yonhap News Agency that she “felt as if I was hit in the stomach when I read the scene in the script” because her character’s situation was “so similar to mine”.Bae Suzy then touched on her own experience as a K-pop idol, having actively promoted with girl group Miss A from 2010 to 2015, saying that she used to “brush off” her struggles during that period.“At that time, I did not even realise I was having a rough time,” she explained.

Big Brother finally made its highly-anticipated comeback after five long years and we can't help but reminisce about iconic moments from the show's past. One name that instantly comes to mind is Makosi Musambasi - the Zimbabwean model who made history as the first African contestant in the sixth series of the reality show. Despite not winning the competition, Makosi stole the hearts of viewers with her charming personality and unforgettable antics, including a steamy hot tub session with fellow contestant Anthony Hutton.

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Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The immediate family of leading Taiwanese film director Hou Hsiao-hsien said on Wednesday that he had retired from filmmaking due to illness and is now living peacefully in retirement. They said that their family-run company remains active and in business. The statement (see below) was issued in response to news articles earlier this week that followed an introductory speech given in London by critic and curator Tony Rayns before a screening of 1985 title “A Time to Live and a Time to Die,” one of Hou’s best-known features. Rayns was reported to have said that Hou has dementia, will not direct again and that members of Hou’s company had lost their jobs. The family statement – signed by Cao Baofeng, Hou’s wife, son Isaac Hou and daughter Bess Hou – explained that Hou had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease before the COVID pandemic and that COVID had, to their surprise, worsened the problems. They continued by saying that Hou has recovered from the COVID-related complications and is now resting quietly at home with his family.