List of Speakers
Jay Lin
CEO of Portico Media
Founder and CEO of Portico Media, a dynamic hub for content development, production and distribution, representing international media outlets such as NBCU Comcast, Viacom, A+E and Blue Ant Media. He is also a prominent figure in Taiwan’s LGBT progressive movement and the founder of Taiwan International Queer Film Festival, Queermosa Awards, and GagaOOLala and GOL STUDIOS. In 2019, he was selected as part of ‘The Creative Class of 2019’ by Newsweek magazine.
Chen Ming-Lang
Film Director
Ming Lang Chen is a Taiwanese filmmaker based in New York. He earned his MFA at New York University Tisch Graduate Film Program. His first feature film ‘Tomorrow Comes Today’(2013) premiered at Taipei film festival. The script won Taiwan Ministry of Culture Screenplay award as well as a production grant. He was selected to take part in Lower Manhattan Cultural Counsel’s writer’s residency in 2008. He received Ang Lee scholarship in his student years in NYU.
Anusorn Soisa-ngim
Film Director
Famous new wave Thai filmmaker. His first feature film, Present Perfect (2017), is the first Thai film to be funded by the government of Hokkaido, Japan. It won the Best Film Award at the LGBTQ Amsterdam Film Festival in the Netherlands. He has then directed Bangkok Dark Tales (2019) and romantic TV series 2moons2 (2019) based on the best-selling book. He is currently working on his 2017 film sequel Present Sill Perfect.
Zero Chou
Film Director
Zero Chou has completed “Taiwan LGBTQ+ trilogy” with Splendid Float (2004), Spider Lilies (2007), and Drifting Flowers (2008). Spider Lilies won Teddy Award for Best Feature Film at the Berlin Internaitonal Film Festival. Her latest film project is Six Asian Cities Rainbow Project and has completed We Are Gamily (2017), The Substitute (2017), Handsome Stewardess (2019) and Killing Love Chronicles (2019). She is invited to be as a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences earlier this year. She is not only the third Taiwanese director after Ang Lee and Hou Hsiao-Hsien, but also the first female director getting the invitation of AMPAS.
Tsao Wen-chieh
President of Taiwan Public Television
The president of Taiwan Public Television Service Foundation, Tsao has devoted her career to documentary filmmaking for more than 2 decades. She was also director and scriptwriter at Public Television Preparatory Committee before PTS’s formal launch in 1998. As an experienced producer and director, Tsao has worked invarious documentaries such as A Random Life (1998), Please Come Home My Boy (1998), Heavenly Peace in Small Town (2001), Song Way Back When (2015), The Eyes of Nan Guang Deng (2015).
Jennifer Jao
Director of the Taipei Film Commission
Jennifer Jao has worked in Central Motion Picture Corporation and participated in film planning, production, promotion, marketing and purchase. In 2007, she produced Rail Truck, a Taiwan-Japan co-production. Since 2008, she is Director of Taipei Film Commission (TFC), promoting Taiwanese cinema by assisting in shooting, production, domestic and international marketing and promotion, etc. In 2013 and 2014 consecutively, she took part in the planning and production of Taipei Factory I and Taipei Factory II, materializing Taiwan's cooperation with France and Italy respectively.
Jin Ong
Founder of More Entertainment
Founder of More Entertainment, a Malaysia-based production company that has won several awards in FPP (Taiwan), HAF (Hong Kong) and many others International Film Awards. Awarded projects include Shuttle Life (2017) and The Paradise (2018). The company has elevated new filmmakers and a long track record in project development, producing as well as co-production financing . Current ongoing productions include Miss Andy, Girls Be Ambitious, The Way Home and Brothers.
Janine Stein
Editorial Director at ContentAsia
Janine Stein is Editorial Director for ContentAsia's information platforms, including annual conference, the ContentAsia Summit; and women’s events under the banner of ContentAsia Women. She has covered Asia’s media business since 1989 for, among others, The Hollywood Reporter (U.S.), South China Morning Post/Television & Entertainment Times (HK),Variety, Cable & Satellite Asia (FT Business), Television Business International (TBI, U.K.) and Electronic Media (U.S.). Prior to 1989, she covered the African TV/film industries.
Corentin Sénéchal
Producer and Business Affairs Manager at Epicentre Films
Corentin Sénéchal is the Business Affairs and Producer of Epicentre Films, an art-house film distribution and production company based in France. Since its creation in 1994, Epicentre has been committed to bringing the finest of international LGBTQ+ cinema to French audiences. Among the 150 titles of its catalogue, distributed in theaters, TV and DVD, more than 25% are LGBTQ+ related films. Recently, the company is developing a special focus on Asian director-driven cinema. Upcoming releases include Nina Wu by Midi Z, Wet Season by Anthony Chen and To Live To Sing by Johnny Ma.
Dave Kim
Seoul International PRIDE Film Festival Programmer
Programmer of Seoul International Pride Film Festival, he has produced films such as Two Weddings and A Funeral (2012) and My Fair Wedding (2015). He was a jury member of the Teddy Award at the Berlin International Film Festival. Kim is well-known for his wedding on 7th September, 2013 in Seoul. Kim and his partner Kim Jho Kwang-soo, film director, had the first same-sex wedding in public at the Cheonggyeceon to draw people’s attention to same sex marriage and human rights for gender and sexual minority.
Gene Yao
CEO of Swallow Wings
Gene is the CEO of Swallow Wings Films, a Taiwanese distribution company specialized in European and Taiwanese art house films. After years of participating in film festivals, not only has Gene become an avid businessman in trade but also has a good eye for talents. The list of distribution include films like Amour, A Separation, Searching for Sugarman, Winter Sleep and Thanatos, Drunk. He has produced awarded films, including The Last Painting (2017), Alifu (2017), A Fish out of Water (2018), Long Time No See (2018), The Teacher (2019).
Noppharnach Chaiyahwimhon
Director, Writer and Executive Producer at GMM TV
Director, Writer and Executive Producer at GMM TV. He is the screenwriter behind the Thai series Gay OK Bangkok (2016) and, its sequel, Gay OK Bangkok 2 (2017) which was incredibly successful in reversing the LGBTQ+ stereotypes in most Thai films. Nopphanach Chaiyahwimhon has also participated in many popular series, including Our Skyy (2018), Come to Me (2019), Dark Blue Kiss (2019), 2gether (in production), and A Tale of a Thousand Stars (in production).
Joe Tsai
CCO at Result Entertainment
Joe has been Marketing Manager at GTV and launched the promotion plan for more than 40 drama series. She has successfully marketed I Might Not Love You (2011), which attracted more than 500K likes on Facebook. It has also generated a lot of online noise and was eventually nominated with Best Marketing Program of the Year at the Golden Bell Awards. She has recently participated in the marketing of Wake Up, A Touch of Green, the Netflix series A Taiwanese Tale of Two Cities, and the HBO-Catchplay co-production The World between.
Ed Lejano
Producer, Filmmaker, and Festival Director of QCinema
Ed Lejano is the Director of QCinema International Film Festival, as well as Executive Director of the Quezon City Film Development Commission. He is a senior faculty member of the University of the Philippines Film Institute, where he completed his Masters degree in Broadcast Communication and a diploma course in Filmmaking from New York University. He has contributed film articles to various local publications as well as to Screen International. As a member of NETPAC, he has been a jury member in various international film festivals including Busan, Rotterdam, Singapore, Talinn or Istanbul.