The race for New Taipei mayor in Taiwan's year-end local elections is heating up, with figures from the entertainment and film industries publicly lending their support one after another — a positive boost for Democratic Progressive Party candidate Su Chiao-hui.

• Director Lin Cheng-sheng publicly declared his support for Su Chiao-hui on Facebook, saying she has the potential to become "a good mayor who gets things done."
• He is the latest figure from the film and television world to come out in her favour, following producer Lee Lieh, singer Ho Hsin-sui and Tseng Wei-hao.
• Lee Lieh has previously been seen as leaning pan-blue, and her decision to cross the blue-green divide this time is regarded as an unexpected signal in the campaign.
• The reasons cited for supporting her centre on personal qualities — that she listens, asks questions, and can quickly organise problems into ideas.
• Developments in the film and television sector also feed into another storyline: the Legislative Yuan's cuts and freezes to the Ministry of Culture's budget have hit PTS, TaiwanPlus and TAICCA hardest, prompting a public pushback from Culture Minister Lee Yuan.

Outlook: More celebrities are expected to declare their positions in the New Taipei mayoral contest, and the dispute over the culture budget may also be drawn into the campaign's central narrative.