Info on new HK independent film "The Merger" (我們停戰吧！)

Realizing that many people may not have heard too much about the HK film "The Merger" (我們停戰吧！), I decided to post up some info that I had gathered from various sources over the past few months.  Of course, this post won't be all-inclusive, since it will take me some time to dig up some of the older articles and interviews related to the movie that I had read several months ago.  I've actually been sharing tidbits of info here and there on AF and other sites, but it's a bit scattered so figured I would post the highlights here.  There's also an article that Skypost published last week that gives some pretty good insight into the movie, so I translated it and posted it below.

Here is some general info:

The cast for the movie consists of:  Frankie Lam, Patrick Tam, Rachel Lam, Kathy Yuen, Pinky Cheung, Meiki Wong, Samuel Kwok, Chan On Ying, Wilson Tsui Charles Ying, etc. (all former HKTV artists except Patrick and Pinky).  Also the director is Jimmy Luk (he directed HKTV’s To Be or Not To Be and Night Shift) – this is his first movie ever, as prior to this, he only directed TV series (for both TVB and HKTV).

Rachel Lam, who is also the lead actress, wrote the script.  Just a little background on Rachel – she actually wasn’t a scriptwriter prior to this – The Merger is her first script.  Prior to joining HKTV, she was a host for a few i-Cable shows and then went into acting, participating in a few HKTV series.  She decided to try her hand at scriptwriting, which she was interested in but didn’t really seriously pursue. After she wrote the script, she and Frankie happened to be filming Hidden Faces together for HKTV and hearing that he was interested in starting his own production company, she asked him if he would be willing to invest in her script. He was reluctant at first but after reading the script, he agreed. And since they were working for HKTV at the time, they decided to invite HKTV people to participate in the series (out of the main cast, the only 2 artists not affiliated with HKTV are Patrick Tam and Pinky Cheung). It was definitely a gamble from the beginning and the path from preparation to filming to distribution was difficult due to all the obstacles they encountered (more on this later).

Despite this movie being a small budget independent film with no big names in the cast (also no big name production team and no big name investors/backing), it was able to win 27 awards at various international film festivals, including major awards such as Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, etc.  Plus the movie has gotten quite a bit of critical acclaim and the feedback from audiences who have watched the movie (in pre-release) have been mostly positive.

Also, just some background on this movie’s ‘path’ to being released in HK.  Originally, when the movie was completed a few years back, the team (Rachel, Frankie) had approached various distributors in HK to discuss releasing it to general audiences in HK.  When distributors watched the film, they praised that it was a good movie, however they rejected the request to distribute in HK because 1) the cast had no ‘big names’ so most likely won’t attract audiences, and 2) the movie wasn’t “commercialized” enough (interpret that how you wish).  Since no one would give the movie the time of day in HK, the team decided to try entering it in various film festivals around the world (not a bad idea, since at least some people would see it).  Well, turns out that was the right move because the movie started sweeping up awards left and right – by the time it had swept up 15 awards, those HK distributors that had refused to release the film in HK theatres suddenly changed their tune.  They approached the production team and asked if they were still interested in distributing the movie in HK – well, now the film will be releasing in all HK theaters September 17^th.  By the way, the movie continued to rack up awards at the film festivals and now, the total count is 27 awards…very impressive!

Lastly, about the theme song – it's called "You Still Have Me" (你還有我)...the lyrics were written by Rachel Lam and she also sings the song.  The musical arrangement was done by Kong Fai (actor and one of HKTV’s musical directors).  The theme song MV was officially released last week, which I’ve linked up to below.  Also, here’s a link to Rachel’s blog where she explains in detail her inspiration for the song as well as why she ended up singing it (sorry, but the post is in Chinese).

The Merger Themesong

Below are a more few links.  I'll post up more stuff once I dig it up and have time to translate.  Meanwhile, if you're interested in watching various clips about the movie (including behind the scenes 'making of' clips, blessing ceremony, celebration dinners, and also fun clips from many of the cast's friends), check out Global Saga's Youtube page (Global Saga is the production company formed by Tony Wong, Rachel Lam, and Frankie Lam).  Here's the link:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFzBZ5bIRivXLpt6MpunxhQ

Official Trailer:

Themesong MV:

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News Article (originally published September 10, 2015).

Frankie Lam and Rachel Lam’s new film:  a teacher/student romance that gives local HK feel

Source:  Skypost

Forbidden love is a pretty common subject matter for movies.  A taboo love relationship – such as that between a teacher and a student – can become especially poignant yet at the same time oddly alluring when presented on the big screen.  On hearing the movie’s Chinese title (我們停戰吧!), the first thought that comes to mind is that The Merger is about teachers and students warring with each other – however, after diving into the plot, the movie actually isn’t about that at all.  Rather, the movie at its core is about a teacher/student love relationship, a story written in a way that is unique in that it gives off a completely local HK feel.   There are also references to major events in HK history interspersed throughout the movie that are sure to trigger collective memories of the past for local audiences who are familiar with them.  This element makes the romantic relationship in the movie all the more poignant and realistic. 

Helmed by HKTV’s former production team, The Merger does not have any ‘big names’ among its cast – yet it was still able to succeed in sweeping up 27 awards in various international film festivals around the world, included amongst those Best Actor and Best Actress awards for its leads Frankie Lam, Patrick Tam, and Rachel Lam.  The movie starts in the 1990s era with the story of high school student Yip Heung Heung (Rachel Lam), who falls in love with her old-fashioned, ultra-conservative teacher Koo Wah Sung (Frankie Lam) – a relationship that ends with a tragic death.  Many years later, during a visit to the high school, Heung Heung’s daughter Yip Ka Ka (Kathy Yuen) accidentally discovers a long-buried secret – that her foster mother was somehow involved in the death of her biological mother’s lover. 

In the movie, Frankie Lam and Rachel Lam have a few daring bed scenes.  Asked about this, Rachel laughed and expressed that filming intimate scenes in a torridly hot old building was definitely NOT romantic – throughout filming of those scenes, they grumbled constantly about the heat.  “It was scorchingly hot during the filming of those scenes, but I was afraid to move too much because I was nearly half-naked and didn’t want to overexpose myself.  It wasn’t romantic at all!  It was embarrassing to film kissing scenes too, as I felt like laughing and it was hard to keep it in.”

Most of us originally thought this movie was simply a sad but beautiful love story spanning 2 decades in HK, but Rachel – who is the scriptwriter as well as executive producer – revealed that one intent of the movie is that the teacher/student love story will lead audiences to reflect upon their own lives and attitude toward HK in the era leading up to the 1997 handover as well as afterwards.  Revealing a little bit of the plot, Rachel explained:  “With her rebellious nature, Heung Heung sees that the handover is approaching and so wants to leave HK.  But then Teacher Koo talks to her constantly about the city’s rich history and it causes her attitude to slowly change – she eventually realizes that leaving won’t resolve the problems they face.  In the end, when disaster befalls HK, she eventually sacrifices herself.”  Rachel further explained that the story weaves back and forth between pre and post-handover HK, utilizing a ‘story within a story’ method and theater stage play style to bring back collective memories of HK’s and China’s histories. 

News Article: HKTV series “Night Shift” -- new style HK television series

HKTV's second to last in-house produced series Night Shift will premiere on Wednesday (8/19).  I've actually been looking forward to this series ever since I read about the filming of it 2 years ago!  It's been a long wait, but based on everything that I've read as well as the trailer clips and other behind the scenes clips, I feel that this series will be a worthwhile watch.  Of course, the sad part is that this also means we are one series closer to 'the end' of HKTV (though to be honest, it pisses me off more than saddens me, but I'll save that rant for another post).  

The below article came out today from Mingpao in anticipation of Night Shift's premiere -- it's a nicely written article / short interview of the creative minds behind the series:  Jimmy Luk and Alex Pau (yes, that's the same team that produced To Be or Not To Be, which is one of my favorite HKTV series so far).  I've also included a link to the 'documentary clip' that the writer mentioned in the article -- I actually saw the clip on HKTV's Facebook a couple days ago and posted it up on AF....here's the 'blurb' I wrote about it (paraphrase of what HKTV put on their FB post):

As a prelude to next week's premiere, HKTV posted the following clip on their Facebook page.  This is a special "documentary" clip that one of the professors and her student at Chinese University in HK put together documenting the last 2 weeks of filming Night Shift.  According to the post, when the government made the announcement denying HKTV a license back in October 2013, Night Shift was in the middle of filming and was only 70% completed.  Even after the announcement, the production team decided to finish filming anyway and this clip not only bears witness to how everyone felt at that time, it also shows the unity of the team and how much fire and passion they still had despite the imminent disbanding of the team....

The article is relatively short compared to MP's other interviews, but still a good article nonetheless.

Enjoy!

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HKTV series “Night Shift”:  New style HK television series

Source:  Mingpao

Translation:  llwy12

Article originally published August 17, 2015

Sincere.  For HKTV, that’s not a word that merely gets spoken – rather, they put that word into action through their productions.  A television series produced with ‘sincerity’ is one that will definitely be felt by discerning audiences.  

As the second to last of HKTV’s series to air, the ‘sincerity’ of the series Night Shift (夜班) can already be felt even prior to its broadcast.  In October 2013, when the government’s decision to deny HKTV a license came down, Night Shift was still in the middle of filming – faced with the possibility that the series might never see the light of day, plus most of the production team members were on the list of employees to be laid off the next day, the group collectively decided that they still wanted to finish filming the series.  Tomorrow (8/19), two years after it finished filming, Night Shift will finally get to face audiences.

Earlier, there was a short 7-minute clip posted on the Internet that documented the series’ last 2 weeks of filming.  Watching the clip, the part that moved viewers the most was when Alan Luk (陸駿光) expressed during an interview segment that he felt the cast and crew of this series were like the orchestral band in the movie Titanic – even during the last moments of the ship sinking, they insisted on finishing their very last performance.  For those who participated in the series, this was not merely a ‘project’ that they finish and move on to the next one -- rather, for everyone involved this was a ‘work of art’ in which they invested a lot of blood, sweat, and tears.

Three main story arcs

Interviewed for this article, Night Shift’s chief director Jimmy Luk (陸天華) and script supervisor Alex Pau (鮑偉聰) revealed that the concept for the series actually came from American TV series Third Watch, a story about people who worked at night.  The 3 main story arcs revolve around the West Kowloon district’s E.U. team (衝鋒隊) headed by Frankie Lam (林文龍), the underworld triad led by Philip Keung (姜皓文), and a group of young women, led by Kathy Yuen (湯怡), who frequent seedy night arenas in the hopes of making a quick buck.  Within these 3 main arcs, there are many sub-story arcs that involve a vendor selling fruit at his stand, a vegetable street market, a trash collector, an ambulance, and even a ridiculous murder case that occurs at a midnight fair.  Jimmy Luk expressed:  “Each sub-story arc will take up anywhere from ½ to 1 episode and will be interwoven throughout the 3 main story arcs.  Because of this, audiences may feel that the plot is bit ‘scattered’, as the story will jump from one occupation to another – this is actually done on purpose, as the main focus is really on ‘night-time’.  Things that people may not be willing to say or do during the day, all is let loose at night, people’s true sentiments are revealed, and the dark side of society is brought out.”

Laid off workers continue to participate in the series

Helmed by the same production team as HKTV’s earlier hit series To Be or Not To Be (來生不做香港人), Night Shift marks the second collaboration between director Jimmy Luk and scriptwriter Alex Pau.  Recounting that fateful day in October 2013 when the government’s decision to deny HKTV a free-to-air TV license came down, Jimmy Luk revealed that his boss Ricky Wong (王維基) called him to his office and told him that he was planning on laying off 200 people the very next day.  Given the circumstances, Jimmy was asked whether he wanted to continue filming the series.  As someone who believed in finishing what was started, plus so many people had put their hearts and souls into the production, Jimmy did not hesitate in telling Ricky Wong that he wanted to continue filming the series -- with that, all of the workers who were already laid off immediately returned on a ‘free-lance’ basis to finish the production.  The rare chance to work together again and the determination to ‘finish what they started’ united the team together – morale was especially high and the ‘fire’ in their hearts burned stronger ever.  Jimmy expressed that working for HKTV was the most enjoyable experience of his career, as he got the chance to feel what it meant to truly have ‘complete creative freedom’, which is a concept virtually unheard of in the HK television industry.  Without hesitation, Jimmy stated, “If one day Ricky Wong is issued a license and he asks me to go back and work for him, I would do it in a heartbeat!”

With Night Shift being scriptwriter Alex Pau’s very last collaboration with HKTV, he states that instead of feeling sad at having to leave the company, he decided to approach it with a heart of gratitude that he got the chance to explore different genres and filming methods at HKTV.  “The concept for Night Shift came about after Ricky Wong declared that he wanted to take an ‘American series approach’ with all of his productions.  This entirely ‘new’ style of filming was rare in the HK television industry and through it, we hoped to show audiences that it IS possible for HK production teams to film series this way.  Actually, I need to specially thank director Jimmy Luk – at that time, Ricky Wong was very ambitious and upped the ante by having all the script supervisors ‘sell’ their story concepts to the group and gave the chief directors complete authority on whether they liked the stories enough to film.  Some of the story concepts were actually rejected by the directors, so you can imagine the pressure that us script supervisors felt.  During that presentation, when I brought up the premise for Night Shift, Jimmy Luk was the first one to raise his hand and say ‘I really want to film that!’  To this day, I am still extremely grateful for his recognition!”

Filmed entirely at night, no ‘main leads’ in the series

Alex Pau further expressed, “I would also like to thank the artists who participated in the series – it was hard enough that they all had to re-arrange their schedules for a month to film entirely at night, they also had to deal with a neurotic script supervisor such as myself!   This series is unique in that everyone’s screen time is scattered and uneven and the main story line is fuzzy – to be honest, none of the artists in the series can be considered ‘leads’.  This is an entirely new format and also a different way of storytelling that left the artists a bit perplexed when filming, but they persevered anyway.  Lastly, I would like to thank the entire production team for selflessly giving so much of their time and effort to help me fulfill this crazy story concept!” 

Ricky Wong's editorial on HKTV series "Hidden Faces"

I’m currently watching HKTV’s medical drama Hidden Faces.  Unlike traditional HK medical dramas, this one from HKTV is a very sincere, slice-of-life portrayal of ordinary events that occur at a franchised medical clinic.  The 3 main doctors in the series are played by John Chiang (family medicine), Frankie Lam (plastic surgery), and Wilson Tsui (Obstetrics/Gynecology) – all 3 characters have markedly different personalities and both good as well as not-so-good sides to them (in other words, they are very much flawed, which makes them all the more realistic).  I don’t want to comment too much on the series, since I haven’t finished watching it yet – but one thing I will say is that I’m 12 episodes into the series (episode 13 airs today) and am enjoying it immensely!   Sure, the series is not fast-paced and action-packed like The Menu was and because of that I’m sure the series won’t generate the same type of hype and attention that series did (with that said though, recent media reports claim that HKTV’s ‘ratings’ slumped drastically after The Menu but now with the airing of Hidden Faces, the ‘ratings’ have gone back up, albeit not to the level it did when The Menu aired)….but I’m ok with this because to be honest, I wasn’t expecting a lot of action given the genre of the series.  From what I’ve seen so far, I feel that Hidden Faces is more along the lines of To Be or Not to Be (minus the controversial societal/political theme) – it’s a slow-paced but meaningful series that doesn’t take sides (one of the things I loved about TBONTB)….instead, it leads audiences to self-reflect and ponder various aspects of life and through that, arrive at our own conclusions about right and wrong, moral and immoral.  (In other words, the series ‘tells it like it is’ and, as an audience, you get what means the most to you from it, which will likely be different from the next person).

Anyway, I digress….the purpose of this post is actually to share one of the ‘articles’ that Ricky Wong wrote as part of his daily column for HK newspaper Sky Post.   For this past Thursday’s column, he decided to write about  Hidden Faces -- after reading his editorial, I feel it is a good supplemental read for those of us chasing the series (though I also recommend checking out HKTV’s Facebook page as well, since they usually post up quite a bit of ‘inside’ info about the series that are currently airing).  The first part of the article about the significance of the series’ Chinese title was actually already explained on Facebook last week – Ricky Wong basically extends the explanation further with his post and correlates it to his thoughts on life.  It’s a very brief but interesting read….

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Losing One’s Way in Life

8/7/2015

**Editorial written by Ricky Wong

Source: Skypost

Translation: llwy12

The other day, a netizen left a message on HKTV’s Facebook page asking about the significance of the ‘three faces’ (三面) in the series Hidden Face’s (三面形醫) Chinese title.  The scriptwriter responded with the explanation that the ‘three faces’ refers to each person having 3 different sides (faces) to them from a mental/psychological perspective. The first side (face) is ‘one’s true self’ – raw, unassuming, not influenced by outside forces, it’s who you truly are deep inside.  The second side (face) is ‘how other people see oneself’ – basically, it’s how other people view you based on various factors.  The third side (face) is ‘the self that exists for others’ – the side that we cover up, pretend, change for other people’s sake.

After enduring so many setbacks in life, I now have a better understanding of what it means to ‘take things in stride’ – by experiencing and learning, I am slowly starting to grasp its significance and realize how important it is to have a heart of gratitude.  In the series, there is a line of dialogue that goes like this:  “What you possess today, others may never be able to possess in their entire lifetimes.  If you’re still not satisfied [with all you already have], there is no surgery in the world that can help you.”   The characters in the series think that going through plastic surgery will help them gain even more in life, forgetting that they should actually be happy with what they already have.  This is how it works in real life as well:  you may feel that your life currently is not as good as someone else’s, but in reality, it is already better than what many people experience in their entire lifetimes.  Since that’s the case, why spend so much of your time ‘existing’ for others and chasing after other people’s ideals?  If you continue to spend your life blindly pursuing others, you will only lose your way in the end.

UPDATES on free TV license issue and HKTV protests

Here are a few recent articles (from yesterday and today) from SCMP that provide some good updates on the whole licensing issue as well as some of the highlights from HKTV’s ongoing protests in front of government headquarters (though the latest news from HKTV Trade Union’s Facebook page is that they will stop camping out in front of government headquarters and send everyone home to rest, since they have another big rally scheduled for November 6^th).

With regard to the specific articles below….

While on the one hand, I’m happy to see all the support that HKTV has been getting, especially from high profile stars like Chow Yun Fat and Andy Lau, the situation is actually looking more and more grim as the days go on.   As much as I hate to say it, HKTV’s chances of getting a license are pretty much zero at this point (I explain why in the comments to some of my previous posts) and despite all the support for HKTV from the HK general public as well as from so many celebrities, there’s basically no chance in hell that Chief Executive C.Y. Leung is going to take any action on the matter (HKTV Trade Union gave the Chief Executive 7 days to provide an explanation and he obviously ignored that deadline).  With the type of leadership they have currently, well, unfortunately, HK is officially ‘screwed’…..

I also wanted to make a quick comment about the Frankie Lam article.  I was actually a bit saddened when I read it because I truly do like Frankie and Kenix (both are definitely on my ‘favorites’ list in terms of actors and actresses I like watching) – it will definitely be unfortunate if they do decide to move out of HK because of  all the issues with the city.  So I guess this means we can add Frankie and Kenix to the list of artists who will no longer be active in the HK entertainment industry in the near future (in addition to Deno Cheung, Wilson Tsui, Rain Lau, and others who have said that they will likely change professions if things don’t work out with the license thing).  Oh and let’s not forget Benji and Lesley, whose careers are pretty much over now (which I’m definitely saddened over because both of them have such great potential in music).  I actually dread seeing how this whole issue is going to ultimately end because so far, I don’t like what I’m seeing.  I hate to be pessimistic, but I can’t help thinking that the fallout from this issue is going to be worse than we expected and that the ‘casualties’ resulting from this free TV license war are only going to increase as the months go on….

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Article 1:  

Andy Lau among celebrities to add support to last night of HKTV protest

Source:  South China Morning Post

Celebrities, including actor Andy Lau Tak-wah, offered their support to the tens of thousands of protesters outside government headquarters last night.

It was the sixth and probably final night of the week-long protest of the government's decision to deny Hong Kong Television Network's (HKTV) free-to-air TV licence application.

The space outside Tamar government headquarters, also known as Civic Square, and Tin Mei Avenue were packed within half an hour of the protest start at 8pm.

Those who were unable to squeeze into the space were later directed to Tamar Park and the Legco car park.

HKTV crew and actors, as well as industry veterans, took turns to share their thoughts on stage.

Celebrities including Anita Yuen Wing-yee and Ekin Cheng were also among the protestors captured in a film shown on big screens erected in Civic Square. Actor Paul Chun Pui also appeared on stage with his children, HKTV artists Benji and Lesley Chiang.

HKTV staff union chairman Henry Yeung Chi-ho estimated more than 100,000 people attended the rally.

Police said that by 10.30pm, the number peaked at 11,900.

Singer and actor Andy Lau, whom some joked would make an ideal chief executive candidate because of his popularity, showed his support in a video broadcast at the rally. When his message was shown on screen, some screamed: "The chief executive speaks!"

The crowd's emotions were stirred when British singer Kashy Keegan performed his London Olympics anthem This is My Dream. The song was later adopted by HKTV.

"I'm really touched people have embraced the song and got behind it ... It's about persevering," said Keegan.

Lyricist Lin Xi also drew a big response from the crowd. "The nature of creativity is revolution," he said. "If you talk about your dream, and no one says you're crazy, your dream stinks like preserved fish."

Veteran actor Chun's arrival on stage came as a surprise. "Support HKTV!" he exclaimed. "When I said I wanted to enter the industry, my parents said, 'You've got to work hard and be prepared.'

"Now my daughter has asked me the same question, and I gave her the same answer. She can do it as long as she likes it and is willing to work hard. But how would I know if the government thinks otherwise?"

Actress Yoyo Mung Ka-wai said: "I have always thought there could only be improvements when there is competition. Why should we make ourselves stop? Why can't we be given the chance to improve?"

Annie Lee, a fashion retailer, was at the rally with her husband, who is a civil servant at the Labour Department. She said they had been sitting outside government headquarters every evening since Sunday, and that they would bring their three children with them to future rallies.

"It's unacceptable that the government ignored the people's will without giving a reason," said Lee.

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Article 2:

Frankie Lam vows to quit HK if government refuses HKTV a licence

Source:  South China Morning Post

A top actor with Hong Kong Television Network says his family will consider leaving the city if the government is adamant about refusing HKTV's free-to-air television licence application.

Frankie Lam Man-lung described himself as "a Hongkonger through and through".

But the government's defence of its licensing decision, without giving a reason, stirred up very gloomy sentiments in both him and his wife, actress Kenix Kwok Ho-ying, about the future of this city, he said.

Lam launched his tirade against the decision in an interview yesterday with the South China Morning Post.

"Hong Kong has turned into a mess. How can people still believe that justice can be upheld in our society?" Lam asked.

"There have been many failed policies, including his [the chief executive's] own illegal structures, since he took office. But still I thought we could give him some time if he admitted his mistakes sincerely.

"If the national education [curriculum] is introduced, I can still choose to send my daughter overseas to study.
But now, this dispute is simply forcing people to turn political," the father of a three-year-old said, during the interview at Hotel Icon.

The couple had agreed to leave the city if there was no turnaround, he said.

Lam said the HKTV rally outside the government headquarters was the only protest he had joined in more than two decades. The last time he joined a protest was in 1989, after the June 4 Tiananmen Square crackdown.

A leading man in countless television dramas, Lam has been in show business for 20 years. He left TVB two years ago to join the new HKTV venture chaired by Ricky Wong Wai-kay and said he has no regrets. "I would never regret that because this is where I have found happiness through the quality of work," he said.

He worked non-stop for five days and nights shooting a TVB drama and sacrifices were made on the show's quality - in a network with no competition.

But at HKTV, he said, Wong would accept nothing but the best. "We are shooting dramas of movie standard. The equipment and the scripts are of the highest standards, and actors get enough rest to enjoy acting and ponder their characters."

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Article 3:

Singer Benji Chiang says he fears his singing career is over

Source:  South China Morning Post

Little more than a week ago, Benji Chiang had high hopes for his career as a musician and actor.
Now he's worried he may completely disappear from Hong Kong television.

"I just got KO'd from the industry altogether [by last week's decision by the government not to give Hong Kong Television Network a free-to-air television licence]," the 32-year-old said.

Unlike other former TVB entertainers who have been invited to rejoin the leading free-to-air channel's "big family", Chiang said his chances were slim. "I'm blacklisted," he claimed.

Chiang was sacked in 2011 after seven years as a host of TVB's music programme Global Rhythm and less than a year after he and his sister - as Benji and Lesley - won bronze in the group category of TVB's Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards for their album, Showtime.

It marked the first time the award had gone to a self-funded album.

Chiang, son of award-winning actor Paul Chun, said he was sacked after being seen at a party hosted by HKTV chief Ricky Wong Wai-kay.

"A production assistant sent me a message saying 'programme direction change, MC change, thank you'."

He then suffered from depression.

Chiang saw hope when HKTV's Wong approached him, offering him acting jobs and a free hand in direction of music programmes, but now he feels he has lost his future. "I have cried three times a day over the past week," he said. "But I won't give up."

Chiang was among tens of thousands of people who took to the streets on Sunday to protest against the government's decision to deny HKTV a licence without an explanation.

He said the decision meant there would be no change to Hong Kong's music scene, which had been strangled by lack of competition in the television industry.

His TVB show, first aired at 11pm, was then put back to 1.30am and eventually ran at 3.30am. TVB's long-time weekly music chart show Jade Solid Gold was turned into a game show. Young people didn't get a chance to learn about local musicians on television, so they turned to pop music from elsewhere, he said.

TVB host Eric Tsang Chi-wai, who stepped down yesterday as chairman of the Performing Artistes Guild after it was criticised for an ambiguous response to the licence row, said the guild had been fighting for the rights of its members and had called upon stations to hire former HKTV staff. He said TVB had extended an invitation, while Cable TV and Now TV had also expressed a willingness to hire.

"From the artists' point of view, the more licences, the better," he said.

The guild came under fire after it did not put its name to a declaration signed by other film industry associations. Tsang said he stepped down as chairman to take responsibility and to protect the guild from negative comments.

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Article 4:  

Bid to use special Legco powers to investigate HKTV case falters

Source:  SCMP

Pan-democrats have lost their initial attempt to invoke the legislature's powers to order an investigation into the government decision to deny Hong Kong Television Network a free-to-air television licence.

A motion to apply the Legco (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance was defeated 27 to 33 in the House Committee of the Legislative Council yesterday.

Most pro-establishment members who had spoken out strongly against the government's decision did not put their words into action. All of the "yes" votes came from pan-democrats.

Tabled by information technology representative Charles Mok, the motion was intended to force the government to produce all relevant papers involved in the vetting and approval of licence applications.

One lawmaker abstained, while seven others, including Liberal Party leader James Tien Pei-chun and Labour Party pan-democrat Cyd Ho Sau-lan, neither voted nor abstained.

HKTV chairman Ricky Wong Wai-kay said: "I'm very disappointed … Why are lawmakers not listening to public opinion that overwhelmingly supports the revelation [of documents]? Everyone wants to know the truth."

Mok will have a second chance to table the motion at the full council meeting on November 6.

However, the motion faces a higher threshold at the full meeting. Instead of the simple majority needed on the committee, Mok must achieve majority support in both geographical and functional constituencies, which have 35 legislators in each.

Earlier, Tien had failed to get his Beijing-loyalist allies to sign up to a petition with the pan-democratic camp to appeal for a licence for HKTV. Tien had also indicated that all five Liberal Party lawmakers would support the motion in principle.

Yesterday, he did not vote at all on the motion, and the other four Liberal lawmakers voted against it.

Ma Fung-kwok, lawmaker for sports, performing arts, culture and publication, abstained from the vote, despite having joined calls for an explanation of the rationale behind HKTV's fallout.

The motion failed despite a last-minute amendment by Mok limiting the scope of any disclosure of non-confidential files.

Beijing loyalists expressed concern over a looming judicial review and the Executive Council's confidentiality rule.

Michael Tien Puk-sun of the New People's Party, who did not vote, said Exco's files and records risked being exposed by invoking the ordinance.

"A judicial review is the most effective way to force an official explanation," he said.

Wong will file a legal challenge in "two to three weeks".

**********

Article 5:

Hong Kong's opaque governance exposes Exco as a joke

Source:  SCMP

What purpose is served by the Executive Council? This question comes into sharp focus in the wake of the current TV licensing debacle.

Executive councils were an integral part of the British colonial system, established to ensure governors had the local elite on their side and to provide yet more opportunities to reward allies with the trappings of high office. Notably in Hong Kong, the old executive councils also gave the biggest colonial companies a seat at the top table to ensure the preservation of their interests.

Since their establishment, Excos have largely comprised of senior bureaucrats who run government departments. They are rarely prepared to put their careers on the line by upsetting their bosses, so it is safe to assume that, generally speaking, the advice they proffer is what the boss wants to hear.

No wonder this system appealed to Beijing and the old Exco was incorporated into the new constitution. The Basic Law, however, sheds little light on its functions, merely saying that it "shall be an organ for assisting the Chief Executive in policy-making".

There is now intense controversy over whether its members supported, opposed or even seriously considered the new TV licensing regime that has sparked mass protests. One member, Laura Cha Shih May-lung, has a conflict of interest on this matter but the black-box style of governance favoured by the Leung Chun-ying regime will not even reveal whether this was declared.

Most members of the current Exco, like those of previous councils, are little more than time-servers whose main asset is their loyalty to the chief executive. This situation is not so very different from that which prevailed in the past.

To be fair to Leung, he appointed Lam Woon-kwong as convenor of his Exco. Lam has proved to be independently minded and showed some spirit in leading the Equal Opportunities Commission. It is also possible to make the case for the independence of thought of two other Exco members: Anna Wu Hung-yuk and Bernard Chan. Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee is a wild card but reserves her independence of mind to focus on personal ambitions.

So, in theory, the current Exco has the potential to provide a better source of advice than its predecessors. The important caveat is that, under the Basic Law, the chief executive is not obliged to accept their advice but members, by convention, are obliged to back whatever policy he pursues.

It is rumoured that there was dissent in Exco over the TV licensing decision. It is equally possible that the government's policy simply went through on the nod.

Whatever the truth, the only tangible evidence we have of the fruits of the current Exco's labours is a series of disasters, ranging from the national education debacle to the more personal issues of dealing with corrupt officials and Leung's own illegal structures.

If it is the case that sensible advice was offered by Exco members and that it has been ignored by the chief executive, why are those who gave this advice still members? However, it may be that Exco members either did not spot the political minefields the chief executive intended to ignite or, if they did, kept silent. If this is so, they are worse than useless.

The system does not work now, and might not do so in the unlikely event that a democratic system is devised for electing the chief executive soon. Bereft of the proper checks and balances combined with genuine accountability that make governments function better, Exco is likely to remain an obstacle to good administration and even more likely to continue being the kind of running farce that it is today.

Stephen Vines is a Hong Kong-based journalist and entrepreneur

Premiere of HKTV Series online -- PART 2

More feedback on the episode 1 trailer clips that HKTV has been posting online the past few days....

Hakka Women (客家女人)

My Comments:

.— Wow -- absolutely awesome first 11 minutes!   Definitely want to continue watching to see what happens next!

.—My only ‘complaint’ with the trailer is that the first 2 minutes or so were a bit torturous, as the 2 actresses who play the younger versions of Maggie and Prudence’s characters really weren’t good at all in terms of the acting.  I have no clue who either young lady was, but I’m assuming they were newbies because their acting definitely needed work – the one who played the young Prudence especially, as she sounded like she was reading her dialogue.  Even though that scene ‘sets the stage’ so to speak, it was very short and not really worth haggling over, so I’ll let it slide…lol!

.— The rest of the 8-9 minutes or so were primarily filled with scenes involving Maggie (her character’s name in the series is ‘Anson’) and her boyfriend Poon Chan Leung (his character is ‘AuYeung Shan’).

.—Of course, with Maggie’s acting chops, no need for me to go into how good her performance was (even if it was only the first few minutes of the series).  As expected, Maggie’s acting was ‘spot-on’:  from her facial expressions to body language to delivery of dialogue, she was great all around!  Definitely enjoyed watching her scenes.

.—Poon Chan Leung was a surprise to me because even though I was familiar with who he was (a well-respected, award-winning theater actor), I had obviously never seen any of his acting performances before, so didn’t really know what to expect.  He was great though and absolutely delivered the goods, holding his own opposite a strong, experienced actress such as Maggie.  But then again, I probably shouldn’t be surprised – since Poon Chan Leung comes from the theater world, of course his acting would be good!  As a sidenote – I personally ‘love’ theater actors/actresses and have a high level of respect for them!

.—So many familiar faces during that ‘wedding’ segment in the last few minutes!  Of course, there were Prudence and Savio (both of whom will have significant screen time, since they are considered leads in the series – yay!!) – glad that we got to see a little bit of them in the first 11 minutes!  Then during the actual wedding ceremony scene itself, there were May Tse and Wilson Tsui (happy to see Auntie May again – hadn’t seen her in such a long time!) – I also spotted Peter Lai and Leung Kin Ping in the crowd of wedding guests as well as a few others whose names I don’t remember at the moment.

.—Lastly (for now)….great ‘argument’ scene between Maggie and Prudence at the end!   Absolutely looking forward to seeing how the relationship between these 2 sisters evolve and how much of an impact they will have on each other’s lives.  Despite the fact that I’m not a fan of either of the female leads, I have a feeling that I’m going to end up enjoying this series!

Hidden Faces (三面形醫)

My comments:

.—Very interesting series indeed!  The clip was only 7 minutes, but yet there was already plenty going on --  we got to see all 3 main doctors (John Gor, Frankie, Wilson) in ‘action’…in those short 7 minutes alone, we already get to see what each doctor’s main specialty is as well as an idea of their personalities. 

.—I’m actually quite excited to see Wilson Tsui playing a doctor again -- so far I like his character quite a lot.  Frankie’s character also sounds interesting – definitely different from the way I’m used to seeing him (he definitely looks a bit haggard and ‘rough around the edges’ in this series, which I think is part of the character?)…anyway, sounds like he will be a doctor ‘with an attitude’!

.—I’m actually curious to find out the name of the actress who played Lun Jai’s mother in this segment – she definitely looks familiar....is that Koei Leung Suet Mei?  Because there's a bit of a resemblance there but the voice doesn't sound like her (unless her voice changed or something).  In any case, she was actually quite good in these first few minutes!

.— One thing that I was concerned about is whether the dialogue and some of the scenes will be able to pass the strict ‘censors’ of the Broadcasting Authority (now the Communications Authority).  I have a huge feeling that when the series actually airs on TV, it will likely be heavily edited to fit within the restrictions of television rules (in that case, I prefer to watch the web version!).

.—Overall, this is definitely another series I am looking forward to watching!

Flow of the Years (歲月樓情)

My Comments:

.—For starters…what, only 5 minutes???  NO!!! Definitely not enough!!!

.—I actually really want to watch this series primarily because of the cast, since most of the ‘main players’ are artists whom I haven’t seen in awhile, so it will be nice to see them grace my television screen again! 

.—I have a feeling this is going to be one of those series where even if the script / plot is not 100% up to par, it’s not going to be as noticeable because the acting chops of the main leads will make up for it.  I mean, in what other series do we see such a talented group of actors / actresses?   Ha Yu, Paw Hee Ching, Felix, Emily, Leila, Savio, Lam Lei, etc. – awesome cast!!

.—Glad that this clip actually has Leila in it (I must admit that I was a tad bit disappointed that the Police Boundaries clip didn’t have Leila…lol).  She’s one of my favorite ‘newer generation’ younger actresses and I was really starting to miss seeing her in series!

.— Based on the clip as well as stuff I’ve read, it sounds like this series will have some interesting relationship arcs going on…no, I’m not talking about the typical love triangle stuff that we’re used to seeing, but rather a focus on all the other types of relationships outside of that (i.e. father/son, mother/daughter, friends and neighbors, etc.).  Good to see that we’ll be able to get away from all that ‘lovey-dovey’ stuff for once and actually see some pure, intense relationship stories for a change!

.—And of course, having Felix in the cast is an added plus because that’s pretty much a guarantee that I’ll be watching this series (obviously a Felix supporter…haha!).  His role actually sounds quite interesting in here and I’m really curious to see how everything turns out for him, especially in his relationship with his father (Ha Yu) as well as with Emily and Leila…oh and it doesn’t help that Felix had been ‘dropping hints’ on his Weibo earlier in the year after he read the script and actually started filming the series…made me even more curious to watch the series….lol!

.—Obviously a ‘must-watch’ for me!  If this will truly be the ‘grand production’ opening series for HKTV once they get their license (well, at least that was the rumor, though not sure how true it is), I for one totally support it (though I’m ok with a few of the others being ‘opening series’ too)!

My Thoughts on CTI’s ‘Sales Presentation and Name Changing’ Ceremony (Part 3) – Feedback on drama series clips

Ok, now that everyone has had a chance to watch the Sales Presentation clips (I mean the actual drama series and variety program clips, not the Sales Presentation show itself), including myself, here’s my feedback on which programs I’m ‘anticipating’ and which ones I will probably ‘pass’ on….


**Note: There’s no special significance to the order in which the drama series are listed – I pretty much listed them based on the order in which the preview clips are shown in the Youtube links.**

Overall feedback: I have to hand it to the CTI/HKTV cast and crew for doing such a great job with the filming and editing of the clips. The high quality filming equipment and techniques really show – the way the preview clips came out, I truly felt that I was watching trailer clips for upcoming Hollywood movies / TV shows!

Due to time constraints, I didn’t actually link any of the series back to the previous posts that I did but if anyone is interested in looking at the cast lists or plot summaries, let me know and I’ll be glad to point you in the right direction.

.****.

Fantasy Love Song 201314 (童話戀曲201314)  [already finished filming]


My Thoughts: This series reminds me of the movie “Chicago” with the whole music / dance theme + love story thing. Anyway, I’m not tremendously fond of the main cast (though I like majority of the supporting cast), but the storyline does sound interesting and the scenery looks absolutely stunning…plus I love musicals – it’s one of my favorite ‘genres’ for one, and two, I haven’t watched a musical in such a long time, so it will be fun to get back into one again. Also, it’s nice to see actual singers in this series (since it’s a ‘musical’ after all) as opposed to actors/actresses ‘pretending’ to sing. Another ‘plus’ is the fact that they got a pretty well-known record producer / songwriter (Mark Lui) to ‘do’ (produce) all the music / songs in this series so at least there’s a bit of ‘name recognition’ there.

Based on what I’ve seen / read so far, this series is definitely on my ‘to watch’ list. Hope the final product lives up to the expectation!


Three Sides of Shape Doctors (三面形醫) [currently filming]

My Thoughts: Definitely interested in this series, since the 3 main leads (John Chiang, Frankie Lam, Wilson Tsui) are among my ‘favorites’ in terms of actors (I like the supporting cast as well). The trailer clip was pretty riveting and the theme is quite refreshing, since very few (if any) HK series explore the subject of plastic surgery in such detail (key word here is ‘HK series’). I know many people said this series is similar to the American drama “Nip/Tuck”, which is probably true, but since I’ve never watched that series, I can’t really comment on this piece of it. The other ‘draw’ with this series is that it will supposedly show real life surgery scenes, though I’m assuming that those scenes will be cut out in the TV version (since the HK audiences are ‘ultra-conservative’ plus there are limitations to what is allowed to be shown on TV based on broadcasting regulations) – so it looks like most of us will need to watch the ‘web version’ of the series in order to get the ‘complete’ viewing experience with this series.

The only thing about this series that I’m not sure about is the fact that it doesn’t have any strong female leads in it (at least none that are familiar to me) – supposedly, Kate Yeung is the ‘female lead’ in this series, but honestly, I have no clue who she is or how her acting is like, so not sure at this point how/ if that is going to affect my ‘viewing experience’ with this series.



Fiery News Catalyst (導火新聞線) [starts filming in 2013]

My Thoughts: This is actually a ‘new’ series that has not been formally announced yet (hence the lack of cast list and series summary) and won’t actually commence filming until 2013. I read a little bit on what this series will be about on Weibo (it’s about the tabloid /newsmagazine reporting industry) and so far, it sounds interesting. Looks like the biggest ‘selling point’ of this series will be Noel Leung playing the part of a ruthless, ethically questionable editor-in-chief a news agency who is willing to go to great lengths for a news story, even if it means harming others in the process -- this type of character is definitely different from the typecasted ‘sweet angelic girl’ roles that Noel usually got when she was at TVB. Noel has always been a ‘decent’ actress to me, so I definitely don’t mind watching her in a series.

The preview trailer for the series was quite gripping with the whole ‘pregnant woman jumping off a building’ scene and the aftermath of that….will definitely be interesting to see what happens. Since the series hasn’t started filming yet, I’m assuming the script isn’t complete yet (that’s one of the big differences between CTI and TVB – filming doesn’t start until a complete script is in hand), which means that the story concept and cast could still change. Anyway, let’s wait and see once more details come out next year (when the series is ‘officially’ announced)…


Still Have Time to Love You Again (還來得及再愛你) [already finished filming]

My Thoughts: Ok, I can already say right now that this series is a ‘skip’ for me, primarily because I can’t stand ‘idol series’ nowadays (I’ve watched quite a few of them in the past and hated them!) plus I’m not a big fan of the vampire theme. Also, the cast of this series is the least ‘appealing’ to me because I barely know any of them (not surprising since this IS an idol series after all, so the main cast consists primarily of youngsters, most of whom are probably newbies).

I know one of the ‘selling points’ of this series is its main lead, Taiwanese actor Danson Tang – sorry, nothing against the guy, but I stopped following Taiwanese entertainment ‘religiously’ years ago, so I have no clue who all the ‘popular’ artists are in Taiwan nowadays. Personally, I had never heard of Danson Tang until CTI/HKTV came along, so to me, whether he is in the series or not doesn’t make a difference – it won’t change my opinion about whether to watch this series or not.


Frightful Century (驚異世紀) [already finished filming]

My Thoughts: This series will also be a definite ‘skip’ for me because, well, I don’t like to watch horror flicks. Ok, fine, I admit I have a ‘weak heart’ and have never been able to ‘tolerate’ that particular genre – way too intense for me! I actually do like the cast of the series and from all the stuff I’ve read, it sounds like the artists had very challenging roles, which means these particular performances could be ‘breakthroughs’ of sorts for them in terms of acting. Unfortunately though, based on the trailer, the series looks way too scary – I actually covered my eyes practically the entire time that I was watching the trailer for the series because the scenes shown were too ‘horrifying’ for me (never did that before!). Ah well – luckily this same cast is in other series as well, so I’ll still get a chance to see them in action elsewhere.


Police Boundaries (警界線) [started filming, continuing in 2013]

My Thoughts: This is definitely one of my most anticipated CTI/HKTV series! I’ve always been somewhat of a ‘fan’ of cop series – that particular theme / genre just never seems to get old, no matter how many times it is ‘re-used’. Based on what I gather from the trailer as well as the series summary, it does sound like the series will deal with the ‘black cop’ concept again, which has pretty much been filmed to death by both TVB as well as the HK movie industry already, so it will be interesting to see what type of different spin HKTV brings to it.

I’m actually very excited about this series because I love the cast – it’s been years since I’ve seen veteran actor Liu Kai Chi on the small screen --he’s been doing movies for more than a decade already, but since I don’t watch HK movies as much now as I used to, I definitely miss seeing him! Oh and Dominic Lam is in this one as well (his name is listed second after Liu Kai Chi’s), along with Leila Tong, Deno Cheung, Lam Lei, Felix Lok, Annie Liu, etc. – a lot of artists I like and enjoy watching! From the trailer, it looks like Liu Kai Chi will play the ‘black cop’ in the series, which means that he will be taking on a villain role again (it’s been years since I’ve seen him in a villain role) and matching wits against Dominic Lam (wonder whether his role will be good guy or villain – or little bit of both?) as well as Lawrence Chou. Can’t wait!

Oh, by the way – all reports indicate that HKTV is going to air this series as their ‘opening series’ – meaning it’s going to be the very first series they air when they finally get their license and ‘open up shop’. At first I was wondering how this was going to work, since the series is still being filmed and isn’t even close to completion yet – but then I remembered that they said they were going to make a movie version of this series first and then the storyline will continue as a TV series…so it looks like they will probably air the movie version (assuming it will probably be a few hours?), then later on follow it up with the actual series (not sure if there will actually be a time lapse in between). Smart choice if you think about it because cop series traditionally fare well with audiences and since it appears from the trailer that there will be quite a few ‘action-packed’ scenes, it’s pretty much guaranteed to be a hit with audiences…great way to start off with a bang!


Second Life (第二人生) [already finished filming]

My Thoughts: Based on the trailer and the series summary, sounds like this will be HKTV’s ‘time travel’ series – though unlike the TVB ones, it’s not going to be the obvious ‘ancient time to modern time’ and vice versa type. Instead, the characters are going to remain in the modern world and essentially will ‘travel back in time’ to get a second chance at living their lives differently. It’s supposed to be one of those motivational, life inspiring, feel good type of series….whether the series will actually live up to that remains to be seen.

To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of the cast (though I found most of the artists in here quite tolerable) but I’ll probably watch this series just to see how they do the ‘time travel’ theme – plus there’s a huge music component to this series as well (obviously, since majority of the cast consists of singers), so that will be nice to watch. Oh, and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing the special ‘concert’ thing that they did for the series – the first time ever where the cast held a live concert (complete with real life audiences) at an actual arena (the Asia Expo Centre) and integrated it into the series….not sure how the editing is going to work or whether the cast will actually be playing the characters in the series or themselves, but it will definitely be interesting to watch!


Brain Opening Detective (開腦儆探) [currently filming]

My Thoughts: Of course this is a ‘must watch’ for me, given the fact that Felix Wong is the lead in the series (obvious Felix fan here…haha!). Other than Felix, the rest of the cast might not be too ‘impressive’ (other than perhaps Sam Lee and Lo Hoi Pang) but I’m ok with that because I already knew going into it that the cast will consist of quite a few ‘newbies’. Besides, it looks like the ‘draw’ of the series (based on the trailer and series summary) will be the storyline more than the cast – the ‘X-Men’ type spin on the traditional investigative / detective storyline sounds really interesting!

Another reason why I’m looking forward to this series is because it’s also the ‘debut’ series for Felix’s real life daughter Adrian Wong – I’m curious to see how her performance will be (though with her parents’ acting genes plus her dad personally ‘teaching’ her on set, can’t be that bad I’m assuming). And for those who might be curious – no, they are NOT playing father / daughter in this series. Oh, and one other interesting ‘tidbit’ about this series: Felix’s ‘other daughter’ is in the series as well….now before anyone gets confused, I’m referring to the actress who played his daughter in TVB’s anniversary series from 2010, Gun Metal Grey – yes, she(Janice Ting) also joined CTI and will be collaborating with Felix again in this series (though not sure about her role). Interesting!


Kung Fu (功夫) [starts filming in 2013]

My Thoughts: Not sure about this one actually, since this series hasn’t been announced yet, so I have no clue in terms of cast and storyline. All I know is that this is the kung fu themed series Yuen Wah mentioned awhile back ago that he would be filming. Not surprisingly, both Sin Ho Ying and Li Ka are featured in the trailer as well (both have martial arts / kung fu backgrounds so of course they would be in this series) – the others who were featured all have some type of martial arts or action hero / heroine background too…so if all of them will be in the cast, then at least the action scenes and the ‘fighting’ will look decently genuine! Die-hard kung fu / martial arts fans will most likely enjoy this series!

For me, I’m actually going to hold off judgment until I found out more about the series, since virtually nothing has been released about this series yet (this is the only series out of the 12 featured where there has been no information whatsoever on Weibo or in the various entertainment news sites – at least none that I’ve been able to find). So let’s wait and see…



Hakka Women (客家女人) [currently filming]

My Thoughts: I have a feeling this is going to be one of the more highly promoted series for HKTV because it stars 2 award-winning actresses: TV Queen (Maggie Cheung) and Movie Queen (Prudence Liew). The two will play sisters who grow up in completely different environments and live very different lives – they are at odds with each other but will be brought back together due to some things that occur. From watching the trailer, I do agree that the series looks a bit on the ‘soapy’ side (meaning ‘soap opera’) – not sure if that’s a good or bad thing….but one thing that the scriptwriter / director ‘promised’ on Weibo (yes, I’ve been following the Weibo accounts of most of the behind-the-scenes people) is that this series will be ‘different’ from the traditional ‘see lai’ (housewife) series that we are used to seeing at TVB (for one, there won’t be a ‘love triangle’ thing between the 2 sisters in the series….good!).

In terms of the rest of the cast – well, it looks like Savio Tsang will have a heavy role in this series (I believe he’s second male lead here?), which is great because it’s been years since he’s had a ‘decent’ role (he pretty much got pushed down to 3rd / 4th line status at TVB…). And even though I have no clue how Poon Chan Leung’s acting will be since he’s a theater actor and I obviously can’t watch stageplays due to not living in HK, I read that he’s won quite a few awards in the theater world, so the ‘credentials’ are definitely there. The rest of the supporting cast is made up of actors and actresses that I’m familiar with (and grew up watching) as well, so that’s definitely another ‘plus’ for me. I’ll probably keep this one on my ‘watch’ list, at least based on what I’ve read and seen so far…


Age of Housing Passion (歲月樓情) [starts filming in 2013]

My Thoughts: From a casting perspective, this series is probably the most ‘heavyweight’ one out of all the series -- let’s see, there’s TV King Ha Yu and Movie Queen Paw Hee Ching (2 excellent, award-winning veteran artists) plus Felix Wong (haven’t seen him and Ha Yu collaborate in a series since like back in the 80s), Savio Tsang, and Lam Lei. On the actress side, there’s Emily Kwan (whom I haven’t seen in a long time) and Leila Tong (this is probably her 3rd series now with HKTV?) – both of whom will have some type of relationship with Felix in the series (if I read correctly that is). Hmmm – Felix and Leila….interesting pairing!

Anyway, since this series has not been officially announced yet either and there is no series / plot summary available yet, can’t really tell what the series will be about based on the short trailer. But with the strong cast (and Felix of course…LOL!), this one is also on my ‘watch’ list….at least for now!

The 2012 HK Television Wars: A Detailed Look at the Free-to-Air Licensing Process + Latest Updates – PART 2

Here's part 2 of the article I had posted yesterday about CTI and the free-to-air TV license process.

There's actually quite alot of interesting stuff in this portion of the article as well (which consists primarily of Ricky Wong responding to the recent rumors about his company and also some thoughts from CTI's artists).

Link to Part 1:  http://www.llsmusings.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-2012-hk-television-wars-detailed.html

.****.

ND Daily Exclusive: When will the Free-to-air TV War Truly Begin?
Source: ND Daily News -- Part 2

Translation: llwy12

Article originally published 9/14/12


Part 2: The ‘price’ of waiting…

The 'ground-breaking' ceremony for CTI’s TV Production Center in Tseung Kwan O (which reportedly costs 600 million HKD to build) was indeed a grand event back in February -- however recently, insiders revealed to HK Media that construction work on the production studio was halted a month ago. In addition, there were reports earlier that Ricky Wong had suddenly fired a few top executives [William and Tina] at the production company of which he is an investor [the company is called Creative Arts Productions – it’s a Mainland management company that has the likes of Charmaine Sheh and Joe Ma signed as managed artists]. Both of these ‘unusual’ moves, coupled with the fact that CTI still has not received their license yet, caused the Media and general public to speculate that perhaps CTI won’t get its license after all and so now they must cut expenses as much as possible. During our interview, Ricky Wong responded to each of the recent rumors.


Rumor #1: Construction of TV studio halted in order to cut expenses

Mr Wong’s response: “Construction halted not because of money; I have 3 billion HKD to ‘burn’ for 6 years.”

Ricky Wong confirmed that construction work at his TV studio has indeed been halted, but it has nothing to do with cutting expenses: “The foundation work for the building has already been completed, however before we can proceed, we need to await government inspection. Once inspection is completed, then we will be able to move forward with phase 2 construction, which is planned for end of this year / early next year. All of this is normal protocol – in fact, the other construction sites in the area are undergoing the same process! Why would it be an expense control tactic?”

As for his action of firing Creative Arts Production’s executives, Mr. Wong responded: “Only fired 3 people – we have a staff of over 700 people!” Asked about his company’s revenues not being in line with the huge amount of expenses associated with building his TV empire, Mr. Wong explained: “To operate a TV station in HK, it requires at least 1 to 2 years of preparation. During this ‘preparation’ time, of course there will be a lot of expenses – I never expected there to be any profits the first 2 years. Our company currently has 3 billion HKD available cash – even if we use 500 million a year, the money will last us at least 6 years. Even if we have absolutely no incoming revenue for those 6 years, we will still be fine. People outside the company perhaps don’t understand all this, but basically, there is no need for anyone to worry. The company is not in a ‘financial loss’ stage as rumored – we are merely in the ‘investment’ stage right now.”


Rumor #2: If TV license is denied, the 8 series filmed this year will be sold overseas

Mr Wong’s response: “We still need more programming to keep in inventory to ensure we are ahead of the game once license is granted.”

Even though they have not received their license yet, CTI has already commenced filming on 7 drama series, with 3 of those already completed. Ricky Wong indicates that by the end of this year, they will have a total of 8 series already filmed. What will be the platform for airing these series? It was rumored earlier that in the event CTI doesn’t get their license, they have a backup plan for the series – selling them overseas. However, if this were to happen, CTI would surely receive criticism – not only would it be unfair for the artists and behind-the-scenes crew signed to their company, but more importantly, free TV audiences would not get the ‘benefit’ of watching the series. Therefore, the option of selling the series overseas would definitely NOT be a popular one.

Towards this rumor, Mr. Wong responded: “Even if we don’t receive our license, the series will still air on a free TV channel no matter what – this is the only way to be fair and just to all the artists and crew who worked on the series. Currently I am busy following up on the filming progress for each series – even if we were to receive our license [in the next couple months], we would still have to delay ‘opening’ the station until mid-year 2013 because right now, we don’t have enough ‘inventory’. A 20 to 30 episode series will finish airing in about 4 to 6 weeks – we need to accumulate at least 300 hours of programming (TV series and variety programs) in order to meet the need at startup.”

When it comes to treatment of the artists and other personnel – almost all of whom he was personally involved in recruiting – Ricky Wong has definitely been making all the right moves. According to CTI’s artists, directors, writers, etc., Mr. Wong does more than just personally visit the set of each series being filmed – he also ensures that every meal provided for the cast and crew consists of 3 dishes, 1 soup as well as dessert. In addition, Mr. Wong also invested in high quality filming equipment – the same type used to film movies – for all the directors; for the artists, he arranged air-conditioned trailers for them to rest during breaks in filming and most importantly, by establishing set work schedules, he guarantees that each artist will have at least 8 hours of rest each day. [TN: Pretty much Ricky Wong is following the 8 to12 hour workday schedule that a lot of the American companies utilize. This is definitely very different from the ‘24 hour’ schedule that TVB seems to employ, where, in extreme cases, some artists don’t even get to go home or sleep for several days straight!]


Rumor #3: Due to TVB launching strong ‘counterattacks’, artists are hesitant to ‘jump ship’

Mr Wong’s response: “Having competition pushes us to do an even better job.”

Amongst the 3 companies waiting for a license, CTI has been the most direct threat to TVB. Pretty much all of the 20 or so directors and scriptwriters that CTI currently employs formerly worked for TVB – same with many of the artists who had joined CTI. To ‘counter’ the shortage of artists and behind-the-scenes crew brought on by CTI’s aggressive ‘poaching’ strategy earlier in the year, TVB’s new owner Charles Chan had to utilize his ‘friendship cards’ to convince movie director Wong Jing (王晶) as well as Eric Tsang (曾志偉) to help him. Using the ‘outside produced series’ formula [TN: meaning the series will be produced by 3rd party production companies, not directly by TVB], Wong Jing plans on inviting 7-time Best Actress (in movies) winner Deanie Ip (葉德嫻) to star in his series, while Eric Tsang revealed that he has already secured superstar Andy Lau (劉德華) and is currently trying to convince Chow Yun Fat (周潤發) to return. Even actor Lawrence Ng (吳啟華) – whom it was heavily rumored earlier that he intended on joining CTI – is already confirmed to be returning to TVB instead. In the weeks and months ahead, more ‘big name’ former TVB stars will undoubtedly be returning to help their ‘mother home’ fight the upcoming TV battle.

Given the circumstances, does Ricky Wong still have confidence fighting this TV war? He expressed: “If it wasn’t for us [CTI and the other stations] stepping up and laying down the challenge [to TVB], what are the chances of audiences getting to see the likes of Andy Lau, Chow Yun Fat, etc. return to film series? It’s precisely because there’s competition that we are pushed to do an even better job!”

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Latest updates on the other 4 TV stations:

TVB – In addition to new boss Charles Chan convincing his friends Wong Jing and Eric Tsang to produce series for the station (and inviting Deanie Ip as well as Andy Lau back in the process), the drama department’s production heads Catherine Tsang (曾勵珍) and Tommy Leung (梁家樹) also have a few ‘major productions’ in the works, including: the long anticipated sequel to 2003’s hit Triumph in the Skies, the modern series starring former TV Kings Wayne Lai and Moses Chan, Lawrence Ng’s return to his popular doctor role in the sequel to this year’s hit medical series The Hippocratic Crush, etc. [TN: They forgot the confirmed ‘reunion’ of Esther Kwan and Bobby Au Yeung in a new ancient series as well as the return of Kathy Chow, Eddie Cheung,  and Dayo Wong to film series next year…]. In addition, head of variety programs department Sandy Yu (余咏珊) has a few ‘gimmicks’ planned for upcoming ‘heavyweight’ variety programs, including having all of HK vote for this year’s TV King and Queen winners at the Anniversary Awards.

i-Cable – Even though the station successfully obtained the rights to broadcast the Olympics earlier in the summer, they were not able to convince the government to issue their free TV license prior to the broadcast, resulting in them having to ‘share’ their Olympic footage with TVB and ATV and thereby failing to ‘grab’ free TV audience share.

NowTV – In July, the station held a press conference announcing their free TV plans once their license is received. They indicated that the focus of their series will primarily be to ‘penetrate’ the Mainland market, so their series will mostly be joint collaborations with Mainland production companies.

ATV – As far as this ‘long declining’ station goes, their recent focus seems to be on preventing the HK government from issuing free-to-air TV licenses to rival companies. Other than that, there has not been any ‘new’ action taken recently.

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CTI Artists Speak Out…

Maggie Cheung (張可頤) [scheduled to start filming her first series for CTI this month]:

“Hong Kong needs more TV stations in order for our drama series to be more diverse and varied, which helps us improve overall. I’m not worried at all about CTI obtaining its license.

Mr. Wong is very different from TVB [management] – when it comes to getting things done right, he does not look at how much it will cost. People ask me why I was resolute about leaving my previous employer [TVB] – it’s precisely because I was moved by Mr. Wong’s drive and spirit! CTI has a certain fire and a desire to fulfill their dreams – the cast and crew are all of one heart, united for a common goal – this was a huge factor that attracted me to the company.”


Felix Wong (黃日華) [started filming on a detective series last month]:

“Expanding the broadcasting market [in HK] is inevitable, it’s just a matter of timing. I was just discussing [the licensing issue] with Mr. Wong earlier – he is very confident and optimistic about getting the license, it will just take some time for it to happen. It’s okay, we’ll just film series first – the world will continue to get better and better! I’ve been filming for a few weeks already and the experience has been very fun – it feels the same as filming a movie! The overall production process [at CTI] is taken a lot more seriously – for example, with more people involved in the task, the lighting is a lot nicer – things are more fresh, there is a lot more time to rest, etc. Most important is that there is enough time to study the script and do my homework – TVB can’t compare.

Everyone on the cast and crew really has a heart for making the production the best possible. Mr. Wong also visits us on the set often – in fact, he does so for every series being filmed, which is huge encouragement for all of us. True, not having a license might impact revenues, but from what I understand, that hasn’t stopped the management team from continuing to recruit more people.”


Frankie Lam (林文龍) [currently filming the series Three Sides of Shape Doctors (三面形醫)]:

“I’m not worried about whether the series I film will air or on what platform because to me, the quality always comes first. If a series is high quality, audiences will still watch it regardless of what platform it’s on. Just like someone who is used to eating with the right hand now switches to eating with the left hand – it might take some getting used to at first, but it’s just a matter of time.

‘Unity’ and ‘working together as one’ are feelings that I haven’t experienced in recent years and both can definitely be found here. The filming atmosphere is great.”


So Man Chong (蘇萬聰) [CTI Chief Director, formerly TVB director whose previous work includes last year’s Lives of Omission]:

“I’m not worried about the delay in getting the license. Actually, the government’s rule is that TV stations are required to start broadcasting programs within 9 months from when they receive their licenses – so even if the government were to issue our license at the end of the year, we still might not have enough ‘inventory’ to start broadcasting yet. Even though we will have filmed 8 series by then, those will probably finish airing within half a year. Therefore, from a strategy perspective, it’s actually better for us to receive the license later. We want to continue taking each production seriously and have more time to film rather than rushing in order to meet the numbers.

As for the company ‘cutting expenses’ – that’s only a rumor. When it comes to money for filming, the company spares no expense and we’re given whatever we need. All this time, we’ve also continued to recruit people to join the company. In terms of filming equipment, we use super clear HD cameras and lenses as well as state of the art equipment that movie producers use, so the results that come out on screen are much nicer. To be honest, back when I was at TVB, I had a dream of being a movie director, but was never able to fulfill that dream – now I feel that I’ve achieved it.”