Hau made the announcement at the first meeting of the capital city's newly inaugurated film commission.

Lee Yung-ping, head of the city's Department of Cultural Affairs, said at the meeting that the city's incentives would follow those offered by the central government, such as tax breaks, to stimulate works by local filmmakers.

The department will allocate NT$12 million (about US$371,402) to support the film industry and earmark another NT$5 million to publish a guidebook on film shooting in the city, Lee said.

Guidelines for renting city locations to shoot scenes should also be established by the commission within six months, Lee said.

The central government has made promoting the local film industry a high priority in recent years as the number of Taiwanese-made films at local theaters have declined, and audiences have spurned those making it to the big screen.

Many believe that with Taiwan's limited market, local filmmakers need government help to gather the funding needing to make quality pictures.