Chiu Fu-sheng (; born 19 July 1947) is a Taiwanese film producer and real estate developer. Born in

Pingtung County Pingtung County is a county located in southern Taiwan. It has a warm tropical monsoon climate and is known for its agriculture and tourism. Kenting National Park, Taiwan's oldest national park, is located in the county. The county seat is Pin ...

in 1947, Chiu is of Hakka descent. He attended the Political Warfare Cadres Academy. Chiu began his career in media as an advertiser in the 1970s before founding Era Communications, which began as a video and independent film distribution company in 1982. After returning from a business trip to the

1988 Cannes Film Festival The 41st Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 23 May 1988. The Palme d'Or went to the '' Pelle erobreren'' by Bille August. The festival opened with ''Le Grand Bleu'', directed by Luc Besson and closed with ''Willow'', directed by Ron Howard. ...

, Chiu wondered why Taiwanese films were not featured at international awards shows. He found that Taiwanese filmmaking lacked several widely used technologies and techniques, such as synchronous recording, optical printing, and layered audio. Through Era, Chiu produced

Hou Hsiao-hsien Hou Hsiao-hsien (; born 8 April 1947) is a Mainland Chinese-born Taiwanese film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is a leading figure in world cinema and in Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement. He won the Golden Lion at the Venice ...

's 1989 film ''

A City of Sadness ''A City of Sadness'' () is a 1989 Taiwanese historical drama directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. It tells the story of a family embroiled in the "White Terror" that was wrought on the Taiwanese people by the Kuomintang government (KMT) after their ar ...

''. During post-production, Chiu sent the film to Japan, where he made two copies. One returned to Taiwan for review by the

Government Information Office The Government Information Office, Executive Yuan (GIO; ) was a cabinet-level agency of the Executive Yuan of Taiwan (the Republic of China) in charge of promoting government policies and regulating domestic media. History In April 1947, the R ...

and the other was sent to the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

Martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

had been lifted two years ago prior to the film's release, but the depiction of the 228 Incident in ''A City of Sadness'' still caused controversy within the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

-dominated government, which believed that Chiu had broken the law in sending the film out of the country. Its eventual approval by the GIO nearly resulted in the firing of office director

Shao Yu-ming Shao (; Cantonese Romanisation: Shiu; Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Shaw) is a common Chinese family name. It is the 86th most populous family name in China. It corresponds to last name So in Korean; "Thiệu" or "Thiều" in Vietnamese; “Zau” in Wu Chinese ...

. In 1991 Chiu produced ''

Raise the Red Lantern ''Raise the Red Lantern'' is a 1991 film directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Gong Li. It is an adaptation by of the 1990 novella '' Raise the Red Lantern'' (originally ''Wives and Concubines'') by Su Tong. The film was later adapted into an ...

'' directed by

Zhang Yimou Zhang Yimou (; born 2 April 1950) is a Chinese film director, producer, writer, actor and former cinematographer.Tasker, Yvonne (2002). "Zhang Yimou" i''Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers'' Routledge Publishing, p. 412. . Google Book Search. Retriev ...

. ''Raise the Red Lantern'' won the

BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language The BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language is given annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and presented at the British Academy Film Awards. The award was first given at the 36th British Academy Film Awards, rec ...

and was nominated for the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Foreign Film in 1993. He then co-produced Hou Hsiao-hsien's '' The Puppetmaster'' (1993) before Zhang's 1994 film ''To Live''. '' To Live'' earned Zhang and Chiu a second BAFTA Award in 1995.

TVBS TVBS Media Inc. (), formerly Liann Yee Production Co., Ltd. (), is a Taiwanese commercial television broadcasting company. It was originally established as a joint venture between TVB in Hong Kong and Era Group in Taiwan, but TVB took over Er ...

was founded in 1993 and Chiu was elected the company's first chairman. The joint venture between

Shaw Brothers Studio Shaw Brothers (HK) Ltd. () was the largest film production company in Hong Kong, and operated from 1925 to 2011. In 1925, three Shaw brothers— Runje, Runme, and Runde—founded Tianyi Film Company (also called "Unique") in Shangh ...

TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and TVB ...

and Era remained under Chiu's leadership until 2003, though Chiu began focusing on

Era Television Era Television () is a nationwide cable TV network in Taiwan that is operated by ERA Communications Inc., established in October 1996. Era TV Channels Era TV currently operates three commercial cable television channels: *Era News () *Much TV ( ...

in 1998. Because TVBS lost the television broadcast rights to

Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

games, Chiu founded

Taiwan Major League The Taiwan Major League Professional Baseball (TML; ) was a professional baseball league in Taiwan that operated from 1996 to 2003. It was established by TV tycoon Chiu Fu-sheng after a row over the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) b ...

in 1996. The four-team TML were consolidated into the CPBL in 2003. Chiu divested from TVBS in 2005. Chiu left Era in 2008 and became a real estate developer, chairing the Taiwan Land Development Corporation. The TLDC has several developments in Hualien, including "Sunrise Village," a group of environmentally friendly homes, and "Huallywood," a project dedicated to the Taiwanese film industry, reminiscent of Hollywood, California. Elsewhere in Taiwan, TLDC operated developments in Hsinchu, Kinmen, and Nantou under Chiu's leadership. The TLDC has also researched the possibility of investment in other countries, namely Vietnam.

Personal life

Chiu Fu-sheng's daughter served as deputy minister of culture in the

Ma Ying-jeou Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, 馬英九, born 13 July 1950) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei from ...

presidential administration from January to October 2015.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chiu, Fu-sheng 1947 births Living people Filmmakers who won the Best Foreign Language Film BAFTA Award People from Pingtung County Taiwanese film producers Real estate and property developers Taiwanese people of Hakka descent Taiwanese real estate businesspeople Taiwanese company founders 20th-century Taiwanese businesspeople 21st-century Taiwanese businesspeople