How do you react if you’re an award-winning actress but feel like you don’t have much control over the direction of your career? In the case of Taiwan’s Yen Yi-wen, she starts writing and directing her own series.
Based on her own experiences, Yen wrote and directed a 12-part series. Born for the spotlightproduced by Netflix and Third Man Entertainment, which airs globally starting Nov. 7. The Taipei-set drama revolves around a group of actresses, from different generations, ranging from a newcomer trying to get her first break in the industry to an old soap opera star who feels she can’t retire because she needs to provide for her family.
The core group of characters includes three women who are supposedly at the top of their game – an actress-turned-manager (played by Hsieh Yingxuan); her former friend and current rival (Cheryl Yang), who suffers from the pressures of a lackluster career, drinks heavily and lives in hotel rooms; and an actress made famous by adult films (Annie Chen), who can be naive despite her sexy and confident personality.
Yen says she started writing at the same time she won the award for Best Actress in a TV Movie Voice of an angel (2015) at the prestigious Golden Bell Awards in Taiwan. “I worked hard to get the recognition, but after winning the award, it became a burden or a test – everyone had high expectations of me, but I realized that there were many things beyond my control,” Yen tells Deadline.
She made her debut as a writer and director on a 10-episode series The Making of an Ordinary Womanalso starring Hsieh and produced by Taiwanese broadcaster CTS and Catchplay, which was praised for its portrayal of a middle-aged woman. The second season, produced by CTS and Screenworks Asia, won the award for Best Writing for a TV Series at Taiwan’s prestigious Golden Bell Awards.
After her success with that series, Yen wanted to make something directly related to her personal experience: “I wanted to write a story to show the audience what life is really like for these actresses and the compromises they have to make. You are always judged based on your performance, but usually you can’t control the script and other production elements. There are many realities you have to face behind the scenes.
Born for the spotlight Producer Olive Ting says she came across Yen’s script, originally a feature film, at a promotional event and was encouraged to develop it into a series. “I was fascinated by this story because we rarely see the real side of our industry. The day after winning a major award, life goes on.”
This series and Making an Ordinary Woman is part of a new wave of reality dramas emerging from Taiwan – some such as The World Between Us Addressing social and mental health-related issues such as Wave makers Dealing with politics and sexual harassment in the workplace.
Hsieh, who won Best Actress in Real Life awards for Paradise on the Fourth Floor and a feature film Dear exsays she is encouraged by the range of roles she is being offered these days, although there is still more work to be done. “We are seeing more scripts that focus on women’s independence and also portray women from different social backgrounds, but I hope to see more diversity in female characters in the future.”
Although it does not focus on this issue. Born for the spotlight It doesn’t touch on stray hands, male egos, and other issues that women in the entertainment industry have to face. Ting points out that this is not limited to the Taiwanese film industry, but is a global issue. “The positive thing is that more women are speaking out and it’s getting better. We are seeing a shift in society where people in power, whether male or female, are at least more aware of their need for respect.
Yen says that when she started working behind the camera, she also noticed positive changes in the Taiwanese film industry: “There are more and more female crew members – not only writers and directors, but also cinematographers and lighting crew. These are roles that used to be dominated by men.”
Taiwanese soap operas are beginning to gain greater global recognition, thanks in part to platforms like Netflix, Catchplay+ and HBO, which have streamed them outside of Taiwan. Yen says she doesn’t think about viewers outside of Taiwan when she starts writing, but she believes there are many elements in Born for the spotlight that will resonate with international audiences.
At its core, the series deals with the life-affirming but sometimes competitive relationships between girlfriends, mother-daughter relationships, and the pressures that all women face at different stages of their lives. Says Yen: “It’s a character-driven story, and even though the language and culture are different, there are a lot of universal elements.”
Yang, who plays the pale actress and previously starred in a Taiwanese series on Netflix Night Light“which revolves around a group of women working in a nightclub, points out that female-centered dramas are a trend that is happening globally: “We see more female characters who break stereotypes and have different aspirations, not only in Taiwan, but all over the world. Fortunately, Taiwan has the creative freedoms to explore these themes.