Los Angeles, CA (November 16, 2020)—With the support of Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture, Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles partners with Film Independent to first launch “Taiwan Academy Fellowship.” After opening submission from April, Film Independent selected projects for further interview in August based on submitted projects’ contents and quality. The interviews took into consideration many factors such as the characteristics of filmmakers, the progress and developing potential of projects, the relevance to and timing for participating in Producing Lab or Fast Track, and the connection with Taiwan. Based on the above-mentioned factors, American Girl, a project by Taiwanese producer Clifford Miu and director Feng-I Fiona Roan, has been selected for Taiwan Academy Fellowship to participate in Fast Track program during November 16th-19th, 2020.
The storyline of American Girl is set in Taiwan, centering on a thirteen-year-old girl uprooted from Los Angeles, who struggles to adjust to life in Taipei and conflict with her family amidst the SARS epidemic. Both the producer, Clifford Miu, and the director, Feng-I Fiona Roan, are based in Taiwan. Clifford Miu was graduated from Tisch Undergraduate Program in NYU and majored in Film & TV with a minor in Producing. His short film Ah Gong (2019) was selected by the 34th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, 25th Palm Springs International Short Fest, and 42nd Asian American International Film Festival. The Last Ferry from Grass Island (2020) received the Jury Special Mention at Tribeca Film Festival and has recently been selected by Cannes Cinefondation Selection 2020. Feng-I Fiona Roan, with a Bachelor degree from National Taiwan University in Chinese Literature and a MFA degree from American Film Institute in directing, her latest short film JIEJIE focuses on the conflicts among three newly immigrated mother and sisters, winning the HBO Asian American Visionary Award in 2018. Distributed in the U.S. through HBO, JIEJIE gained wide popularity amongst the Asian-American community. The film also won the Audience Award at Short Shorts & Asia (Tokyo), and the 1st Prize of Children’s Jury: Best Live-Action Short at the Chicago International Children’s Festival.
Fast Track is a fast-paced four-day film finance market event where participants pitch to established agents, financiers, production companies, distributors, top executives, and other film industry professionals in intensive time intervals to move their current projects forward. During the one-on-one meetings, participants are connected with the executives, gaining valuable exposure and build vital relationships as they propel their films toward completion. According to Film Independent, Clifford is very eloquent in how he spoke about and put together the financing for American Girl and his ambition as a Producer. Fiona also showed her talent as a director. And because the project has completed legal and financial consultation with strong financial support, it would be the best timing for them to build relationships with executives that can help promote their projects towards finding a life theatrically and develop their careers through Fast Track.
For more information about Fast Track, please visit https://www.filmindependent.org/programs/artist-development/fast-track/