Weta FX, the New Zealand visual effects house behind “The Lord of the Rings” and “Avatar,” is teaming with the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) on a plan to turn Taiwan into a center for AI-driven screen production in Asia.
The partnership will be formally launched on Nov. 6 at Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF) in Taipei. The launch takes place on the festival’s main stage right after the opening ceremony. The partnership will have three strands: joint investment, AI research and development, and training new talent.
Specifics of the arrangement are being held back for the launch.
TAICCA chair Sue Wang will appear at the event alongside three Weta FX executives: CEO Daniel Seah, chief technology officer Kimball Thurston and VFX supervisor Sheldon Stopsack.
The pact pairs Taiwan’s AI and advanced-tech capabilities and its pool of creative talent with what Weta FX brings to the table – VFX know-how, a track record on international productions and a global network. The aim is to plug Taiwanese technologists and creatives into work across the worldwide screen business.
For Seah, the deal carries a personal angle. He grew up in Taiwan. The studio has also been building ties on the island, appearing at the Taoyuan International Film & Technology Forum in August.
The tie-up fits within TAICCA’s wider brief, which takes in the use of new technologies to make content. TTXC Innovations, a recently concluded market platform, is one case in point. It was built to help bring cultural content and tech to market by putting creators, tech developers, investors, buyers and distributors in the same room.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture set up TAICCA in 2019. The agency backs Taiwanese content from development through production, distribution and overseas marketing, across film, TV, animation, publishing, comics, music, gaming and the performing arts. Its toolkit includes investment, co-production schemes, industry programs and partnerships abroad.
Weta FX is based in Wellington, with outposts in Vancouver and Melbourne. It has won eight Oscars for visual effects, 17 Academy Science & Technology Awards, eight BAFTAs for special visual effects, 10 VES Awards in the photoreal feature category and five Emmys. Its latest work on the “Avatar” franchise was 2025’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” Titles in production at the studio include “The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum,” Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Children of Blood and Bone.”
