Chinese name: 林仕肯
Place of Birth: Tainan (Southern Taiwan)
Did You Know That…?
Four of the top five highest-grossing Taiwanese films in 2017 were produced by Lin Shih-ken’s production company Outland Film Production (邊境映象).
Lin Shih-ken’s interest in films started at a young age, as his father often took him to movie theaters when he was a little kid. Recalling his high school years, Lin said he was a troublemaker who never liked studying and often skipped classes. Without help from his classmates, it’s almost impossible for him to complete his high school education.
Following his failure in the college entrance exam, Lin had no choice but to perform his mandatory military service. After his military discharge, he took many part-time jobs. Lin described himself as a “wanderer,” feeling lost in life and not knowing what to do or where to go. Living with no goals made Lin try to escape from reality. He stayed at the Treasure Hill Artist Village in Taipei for one year with a group of his artist friends. During that time, Lin reflected on his own life, wondering whether it could be more meaningful. Unwilling to idle his lifetime away, he determined to turn his passion into a career. He retook his college entrance exam and eventually got admitted to National Taiwan University of Arts.
Lin embarked on his film-producing journey in 2005, initially working as a TV commercial producer. Since then, Lin has also produced music videos, short films, television films, and feature films. In 2015, Lin founded his own production company named Outland Film Production and has produced numerous box-office hits. He was the driving force behind four of the top five highest-grossing Taiwanese films of 2017, including the crime thriller “Who Killed Cock Robin (目擊者),” comedy film “Didi’s Dream (吃吃的愛),” horror “The Tag-Along 2 (紅衣小女孩2),” and drama film “The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful (血觀音).”
Despite his late start in the film industry, Lin has won numerous awards, including the Golden Harvest Awards (金穗獎) for independent films and shorts; the Golden Bell Awards (金鐘獎), Taiwan’s equivalent of the Emmy Awards; and the Golden Horse Awards (金馬獎), which is one of the most prestigious film awards for Chinese-language cinema. Two of his films, “The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful” and “Coo-Coo 043 (一家子兒咕咕叫),” were awarded with the Best Narrative Feature award at the Golden Horse Awards in 2017 and 2022, respectively.
In 2023, Lin was honored with the Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year Award at the 60th Golden Horse Awards. The jury commended Lin’s dedication to filmmaking, stating that “serving as line producer or executive producer, from script development to supporting new directors, from blockbusters to independent productions, Lin has shown a solid capacity and vast ambitions.”
