Taiwan’s Mirror Fiction Hands Out $50,000 In Awards For Book To Screen Adaptations

Mirror Fiction, a Taiwanese IP development and production outfit, handed out cash prizes worth more than $50,000 to two authors, to help them adapt their works for screen, in the fifth edition of its biennial awards.

The announcement was made at Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF), where Mirror Fiction also unveiled its latest line-up of IPs.

Jiang Huizhong was presented with the Grand Prize of $30,500 (NTD1M) for The Stand-In Family, a work about a group of people who are not related but are living together as a family so they can secure ownership of a house.

An engineer by profession, Jiang said she kept the potential for film and TV adaptation in mind during the writing process, while also striving to ensure the narrative remained compelling and thought-provoking for readers. “I look forward to the story being published and, perhaps, reaching an even wider audience on screen,” said Jiang.

Malaysian author Long Xuan won the $21,000 (NTD700,000) Jury Prize for Endless Rain, set in a predominantly ethnic Chinese town in Ipoh, Malaysia, drawing from the experiences of her mother and grandfather’s generations. The story follows a mysterious woman who appears in town more than 20 years after she was supposedly murdered.

Both works will be developed for publication and potential film or television adaptation by Mirror Fiction.

Previous winners of the awards include Port Of Lies, which won the Grand Prize at the second edition and became an award-winning TV series. The awards are supported by property developer Sinyi Realty.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Mirror Fiction General Manager Tung Cheng-yu noted that films adapted from books outperform those based on original screenplays at the box office by an average of over 40%. Viewership for TV series adapted from books is nearly 60% higher.

Book editor Chia Shih-chiang, representing the jury for the awards, said the quality of this year’s finalists was consistently high and there was a significant increase in science fiction and fantasy entries, in particular stories set in a dystopian near future or dealing with the impact of new technologies.

Lu Yiwen, who won the Grand Prize in the fourth edition of the competition, shared her experience of working with Mirror Fiction after winning the award, which in addition to financial support involves mentorship from experienced editors. “Writing has evolved from something I did in my daily life into a serious endeavor – and, ultimately, my career. I’m grateful for this award, which has truly solidified my identity as a creator,” Lu said.

Mirror Fiction also unveiled a slate of new novels suitable for adaptation at the event, including Chen Szu-hung’s 036037, about two middle-aged individuals finding closure in their relationship after two decades; Tan Duan’s crime thriller The Midnight Masseur, in which the art of massage becomes a form of intelligence-gathering; and Hsieh Shu-yu’s Diplomatic Brothers, about two brothers – a diplomat and a strategist for an organized crime syndicate – who swap identities.

Last year at TCCF, Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) co-invested with Mirror Fiction to launch a production outfit Mirror Entertainment, which is currently working on a slate of film and TV projects.