Changing Taiwan’s Film Industry (Part 1): The Last Thieves
Jack Hsu: “The Taiwan film industry is like a stretch of free, stagnant backwater. I want to turn it into flowing water.”
Who is Jack Hsu
In the web-series Mr. Bartender, SELFPICK director Jack Hsu uses philosophical dialogue to explore a multitude of real life situations — presenting the reality of everyday society and creating a dialogue for deeper reflection and introspection. Jack is a philosopher and a director who continuously challenges the status quo and wants to better Taiwan’s entertainment industry.
Recently, Jack has been engaged in a new role as an entrepreneur. In 2017, Jack watched Netflix documentary Banking on Bitcoin and was inspired by the concept of blockchain decentralization. While the documentary discusses the illegal uses of cryptocurrency such as black markets in the Deep Web, Jack saw the potential a decentralized framework can offer. Jack started to question: “Can technology bring about utopia? Does freedom entail both equality and transgression? If so, is it possible to maintain a decentralized framework that isn’t used for illegal activities, but instead be used to promote equality and offer more opportunities to society?”
The Birth of The Last Thieves
In the process of thinking about these issues, a story in Jack’s mind slowly took shape. Thus was the birth of The Last Thieves, or in its literal Chinese translation, Sages and Thieves. The titles originates from Zhuangzi, a leader Daoist philosopher from the 4th century BC, who once said, “If sages don’t die, the thieves won’t stop.” In a nutshell, Jack sees the sages and thieves as two sides of the same coin. The so-called virtues of loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, and fraternity only come about with the repression of true human nature. Zhuangzi believed that when a person suppresses their true nature to become a virtuous “sage” and come into power, he can easily become a “thief” once his true nature is revealed. Based on Zhuangzi and Jack’s perspective, one person wielding a nation’s future in the palm of their hand is the result of a centralized structure reinforced throughout history. Precisely because chaos seems to descend due to centralization, Sages and Thieves proves to be an extremely fitting name for a story about decentralization and blockchain.
The story of Sages and Thieves (English title: The Last Thieves) takes place in an unfair world, where social hierarchy is difficult to shake and social mobility is painstakingly slow. Most people can’t even afford to buy and own a house, even after a lifetime of hard work. Stakeholders continue to wield all the influence, taking advantage of others and consolidating their own interests to keep housing prices sky high. In the face of such inequity, 26 year-old character Ethan (Yin Zixiang) turned to the fledgling blockchain technology to build a business, to shake the increasingly centralized societal constructs. However, the stakeholders see the value of Ethan’s plan, and use various means to take advantage of him. For the optimistic Ethan, will he become a thief who has everything? Or will he become a selfless sage with nothing?
Why Taiwan’s Film Industry Needs to Change
When Jack first started making films, he discovered that the Taiwanese film industry operated on a stagnant centralized structure where venture capital and funds are difficult, if not impossible, to come by. “But are filmmaking grants really the only way for filmmakers? Is there no other alternative?” Jack once again questioned himself, creating another train of thought that led him to SELF TOKEN — a project that integrates virtuality and reality through blockchain technology. The project combines multiple domains to create an entertainment ecosystem where everyone can participate as a promoter, supporter, audience, and beneficiary. With every set back and criticism, Jack saw it as an opportunity to fine-tune his plans, and at this stage, his dream is one step from becoming true.
If you like to know more about SELF TOKEN, please read “Changing the Taiwan Industry (Part 2) — SELF TOKEN.”
