Do you need local Taiwanese elements to win a Ministry of Culture grant? Not necessarily, but they usually help. Local creative work has flourished in recent years, and grant programs from the Ministry of Culture and the National Culture and Arts Foundation have become increasingly varied. A friend in the manga world thinks local elements don’t guarantee selection, while Utsudo’s agency believes they make it easier. Utsudo thinks that since it’s government money, proposals that benefit Taiwan likely have an edge, and works exploring social phenomena and issues are winning more and more often. If you have an idea you simply must express, it’s worth applying.

Translated from Utsudo’s original Chinese column.

Local creative work is booming

I’m sure you’ve noticed that in recent years, local Taiwanese creative work has been flourishing, right?

There are all kinds of works everywhere—films, TV dramas, comics, novels and more. You may wonder why a local wave suddenly swept in. Besides political leanings, I think it can be understood this way: works with local elements have an easier time getting government funding.

Government grant programs of all kinds

Creators, check out the grant programs from the Ministry of Culture and the National Culture and Arts Foundation. You’ll see calls for all kinds of award programs every so often. They’re incredibly varied and not limited to publishing—there are grants for video, theater, film, comics, audio dramas and more.

Do local elements give you an edge?

A friend in the manga world recently said: “Local elements are a plus for grants, but frankly I haven’t seen any especially good comics yet, so selections haven’t necessarily required local elements since. What matters is that the work is good.”

My agency, however, believes local elements still make it easier to get selected. Opinions differ, so take them for reference.

So personally, I think if the program you’re applying to calls for local elements, they’re still a plus—after all, it’s government money, and they’d prefer it to benefit Taiwan. But they also consider your follow-up plans. If your plan is very detailed, that should count in your favor too, since they want funded works to become their success stories.

What I found after studying local elements

I used to think “local elements” were very restrictive. I’m used to letting my imagination run wild. But when I forced myself to study them, I found that “local” material can actually be interesting—though I won’t deny that as I get older, I see things differently and my creative ideas change too.

That said, more and more winning proposals don’t necessarily have “local elements” but instead explore social phenomena and issues. I think the more your work is grounded in real Taiwan, the higher your chances of being selected—and coincidentally, such works are usually easier to adapt for film and TV.

By the way, in Taiwan, works are more likely to be adapted into live-action film and TV than into animation, with more resources available too. That’s why being easy to adapt for the screen is a pretty important point.

If you have an idea you must express, apply

Back to the topic: because the government is increasingly willing to fund projects, with more and more types of grants, the many cash-strapped creators are naturally bolder about trying local themes. That’s what led to local works blossoming everywhere.

I think whatever your project is, if you have an idea you simply must express, go ahead and apply for these grants. If you actually win, you’ll have funding to support your continued creation, and you’ll be more likely to win other grants later. Isn’t that wonderful?

FAQ

Further reading

• Previous: Hey! I Heard You’re a Writer on Ghost Island #229: Four Ways to Work With a Literary Agency
• Start from the beginning: Hey! I Heard You’re a Writer on Ghost Island #01: Utsudo’s Debut — A Road to the Dream Covered in Frost
• Utsudo’s books

About the author

Utsudo is a Taiwanese light novelist and novelist VTuber with more than ten years in the industry and 40 commercially published print books. Her novel 《遺失的情書》 received a 2022 Ministry of Culture youth creative award. The 《嘿！聽說妳在鬼島當作家》 series records her experiences as a novelist in Taiwan.