Gold House Co-Founder and CEO Bing Chen shared his organization’s vision for fostering creative collaboration between Asia and the West at the Taiwan Creative Content Fest this week, mapping out a strategy to boost Asia-Pacific representation in global entertainment.
“We have a four-prong strategy now of how we can enable our [Asian] diaspora on a worldwide scale,” Chen said. “Number one is bringing everyone together. Number two is reshaping public opinion through media. Three is sustaining positive outcomes economically. And then fourth is making sure that it’s recognized in the mainstream, and not just Asian.”
Chen, who previously contributed to building YouTube’s creator economy, described Gold House’s role in forming “the single largest Asia-Pacific leadership network in the West,” with plans to expand into Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, India, Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E.
Chen outlined criteria for evaluating creative projects, focusing on commercial viability, potential for critical acclaim, cultural impact and ethical standards. He highlighted that content investors are especially interested in franchises, prestige productions and format-driven projects, particularly in horror and thriller genres.
For emerging creators with limited budgets, Chen recommended focusing on independent films under $5 million, which he says tend to perform better than higher-budget productions in the $5-15 million range. “Marketing is half the battle in everything in life,” Chen said, urging filmmakers to prioritize audience engagement early on.
On distribution, Chen emphasized targeting core audiences. “In physical theatrical, the top 10% of movie goers drive half of the box office,” he said. On YouTube, “20% of logged-in users drive 82% of viewing time,” he added, underscoring the importance of understanding audience behavior.
Gold House has supported over 400 film and TV projects through casting, script review and marketing, including successes like Everything Everywhere All at Once and recent Sundance winner Dìdi. Chen also introduced the “Gold Bridge” initiative, a plan to connect Asia and the West through resources in community, capital and distribution.
Gold House, known for backing Asian-led projects like Crazy Rich Asians and Parasite, aims to continue expanding its support for Asian voices in global media.