Talent drain
With mainland TV dramas taking an increasing share of the market in Taiwan, many local producers have begun to reflect upon the decline of local productions. "We used to have the best costume dramas, but now although we still have excellent actors, we are short of quality scripts, fine props and proper sets," said Yang Kuei-Mei, a famous Taiwan actress best known for My Beloved in 1988.
Absent of a competitive production environment, recent years have witnessed an increasing number of Taiwan TV producers and actors focusing more on the mainland productions.
Angie Chai, one of the best TV producers in Taiwan with the representative work Meteor Garden (2002), recently decided to halt her company's production of TV dramas due to the serious talent drain in this field. She said her company will focus more on film production and the entertainment agency business. Meanwhile, she plans to cooperate more with mainland counterparts.
Chai was only one of those many Taiwan TV producers and actors that have been or are "going north." According to a recent report on CCTV (China Central Television)'s program Connecting Taiwan, the three most profitable actors in Taiwan in 2012, Nicky Wu, Alec Su, and Ruby Lin, have all spent most of their time in the mainland for TV production.
"Except for those assistants who are at the bottom of the chain, salaries for all others including actors, directors and property men are much higher in the mainland than in Taiwan," said Chen Mingzhang, a famous Taiwan TV drama director known for works like Frog Prince, My Lucky Star, and The Magicians of Love.
Long way to go
Confined by its small area and limited TV production resources like shooting locations, Taiwan's costume dramas have fallen away from their previous glory. In the 1980s and 1990s, TV shows like Empress Wu Zetian (1985), Make Bitter Qianlong (1991) and Justice Bao (1993) were prevailing in the mainland. But now with the rapid development of the mainland TV production industry, Taiwan is increasingly eclipsed and lagging behind.
Recent years in the mainland have witnessed fast growth of various shooting locations for costume and historic dramas of different dynasties, as well as generous investment for a single drama. For example, the current hit As a Legend had an investment of 240 million yuan ($38.57 million).
All those have contributed to the advantages of TV production in the mainland and the migration of Taiwan producers to the mainland.
However, despite their emergence, it is way too early to declare the triumph of mainland TV dramas in Taiwan. Copyright fees for the shows are still very low compared to local TV dramas and those from South Korea. According to Xiao Chuang, a critic of the entertainment industry, the average price for an episode of a mainland TV drama is around 18,000 yuan, while a South Korean production can sell for 150,000 yuan.
Even the red hot Legend of Zhen Huan only sells 60,000 yuan per episode in Taiwan. Apart from the cheap price, the portion and areas that mainland TV dramas are exported to each year are very limited.
According to Xiao Chuang, China is the world's largest producer of TV dramas in terms of number of shows and episodes aired. However, only 5 percent of those productions are broadcast outside the mainland, and those who watch are mainly Chinese language speakers in some Southeast Asian regions.
It seems that like its parallel made-in-China products, mainland TV drama production has a long way to go before it really becomes a market hit.
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