Mingpao Weekly Interview: Sheren Tang on reprimanding TVB: “The deeper the love, the stronger the criticism”

As a follow up to my post from last week about Sheren Tang and Sunny Chan filming a series for ViuTV, I saw the below interview in this week's issue of Mingpao Weekly magazine and absolutely had to translate and share it right away!  MP printed a condensed version of this interview in their regular entertainment news section so in case you see parts of this interview elsewhere, know that the below is the actual full version as originally printed.

Sheren's interview speaks for itself but I have to say that I absolutely love the way she responded to all those media reports about her "betraying" TVB by filming for ViuTV (quite honestly, those reports pissed me off too so I'm happy to see Sheren putting those stupid media outlets in their place, lol!).  Also love what she said about the importance of speaking up when there are issues and not pretending that everything is fine when it's actually not.  And yes, when I read the part where Sheren gave her 愛之深，責之切 speech, I actually got out of my chair and did a happy dance because everything she said is EXACTLY what I've been saying about TVB for like the past 2 decades.  I'm sure those who follow my blog or any of my postings in other forums know how much I'm always criticizing TVB and calling them out on stuff (in my line of work, I call that type of feedback "constructive criticism") -- I've been asked many times whether I keep criticizing TVB because I hate them so much that I can't saying anything nice about them (which technically isn't true because I DO say nice things when it's appropriate, it's just that those "appropriate" times are few and far between -- hey, it's not my fault that TVB rarely does anything that warrants praise).  In response, I always give people my "constructive criticism" speech, which is essentially the same as Sheren's  愛之深，責之切 speech -- if I didn't care about TVB (and the HK entertainment industry in general), I wouldn't bother to give them feedback on what they're doing wrong in the hopes that they'll change it for the better.  One thing that my boss at work told me a long time ago that has always stuck with me is that the more someone cares about something/someone, the more critical they are going to be because they don't want to see that something/someone fail.  Of course, the way the criticism is given is important as well, but the gist of the message is that just because someone is critical of something (or someone else) doesn't necessarily mean that the person has malicious intent or is out to get the other person or whatnot -- there is such a thing as "constructive criticism" and hopefully those who believe that all criticism is bad can perhaps research this term and better understand what criticism is truly about.

Anyway, enjoy the interview and be sure to leave any comments / reactions you might have to it in the comments section below.  

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Sheren Tang on reprimanding TVB:  “The deeper the love, the stronger the criticism”

Source:  Mingpao Weekly, Issue # 2595

Published 8/4/2018

Translated by: llwy12

 

ViuTV has been recruiting heavily in recent days, securing veteran artists such as Amy Chan (陳秀雯) and Liu Kai Chi (廖啟智) to film a new series for them about HK’s school system. Their most successful recruitment recently though is persuading TV Queen Sheren Tang (鄧萃雯) to film a series for them — she will be teaming up with actor Sunny Chan (陳錦鴻) in a new series where they will play a married couple.  At the end of last year, when golden scriptwriter Chan Po Wah (陳寳華) returned to TVB with the intention of producing the new series Wonder Women (多功能老婆) for them, she had indicated that good friend Sheren Tang would be perfect in the role — however in the end, the role went to singer/actress Miriam Yeung (楊千嬅) instead. Now, after several months, Sheren personally clarifies what happened with that situation and why a previously rumored return to TVB ended up being a collaboration with ViuTV instead. 

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Every time Sheren Tang is rumored to have a television project forthcoming, it’s usually a given that audiences excitedly anticipate her new series.  Last year, when scriptwriter Chan Po Wah announced she would be returning to TVB in early 2018 to prepare for a new series, she had expressed interest in inviting actress Sheren Tang to take up the starring role. Immediately, TVB’s assistant manager of production (non-drama department) Sandy Yu as well as deputy general manager Felix To personally reached out to Sheren to discuss the possibility of her returning to TVB to film Po Wah Jeh’s series.  However, in the end, the role went to Miriam Yeung and instead of returning to TVB, it was recently announced that Sheren will now be filming for ViuTV.  As soon as the news broke, various media outlets started reporting that Sheren, in filming for a rival station, has turned against TVB.

Towards this, Sheren responds: “I actually never turned down [Po Wah Jeh’s series] Wonder Women. In fact, I’m very grateful to Po Wah Jeh for considering me as her first choice to star in her series when it was confirmed last year that she would be returning to TVB. Usually, when a project is still in the discussion stage and I haven’t made the decision to accept yet, I don’t like to talk about it publicly — at the time, the discussion was actually only in very early stages, but as Po Wah Jeh’s good friend, I knew that she really wanted me to support her.  This was the first time she would be returning after so many years and I also admired TVB’s sincerity in inviting her back — all of us shared the same goal in wanting to film a truly good quality series and the fact that they were willing to really focus on the production was already worth supporting.  So I agreed to do that interview in support of Po Wah Jeh [TN: THIS is the interview Sheren is referring to] with the hope that it would bring more attention to the project — besides, I love HK series and am more than willingly to support a good quality production!  At the time, my intention was actually very simple.  After that, I actually didn’t hear anything more about the project and there was no further follow up.  I’m sure they [TVB] have their reasons for choosing Miriam. I’m actually happy for them because to me, the most important thing is being able to produce a quality series so that audiences can see that HK series are worth watching.”

In terms of multiple media outlets reporting that she “betrayed” TVB by agreeing to film for ViuTV and once again bringing up her past gripes with her former employer, Sheren responded:  “Many artists came from TVB and whenever any of them leave, the media always makes them out to be ‘traitors’ — honestly, this type of mindset is so outdated!  In today’s internet-driven world, with people watching series online now and so many different options, the HK market is already so small, why are we fighting amongst ourselves?  Sure, in series I film, there is often a lot of infighting, but in real life, my sights are set pretty far — what is the point of [each station] competing so aggressively against each other?  Does it really prove that you’re the best if you beat other HK series? If it’s really necessary to fight, why not try to beat American, Japanese, Korean, Mainland series instead?  People keep saying that I’m always reprimanding TVB — in response, I really want to tell them: ‘the deeper the love, the stronger the criticism’ [愛之深，責之切]!  If I didn’t love HK series, love my profession, I wouldn’t be so adamant about giving feedback and hoping for improvement – I could just stand back and let things happen without bothering.  All I want is for my colleagues and the entire industry to do well, to be an industry we can be proud of.  Not saying that TVB is regressing, but rather, the film and television industries in the rest of the world are all progressing, moving way ahead of us [HK].  When this is something that everyone can see, how can I possibly close my eyes and continue to pretend that TVB series are perfect, that nothing is wrong?  When even the reporters start to sense that something is wrong and they come ask me for my opinion, as an artist with experience, I am simply stating the truth of what I feel and know. HK series used to be the ‘big brother’, the leader [in Asia], so many people grew up watching TVB – it is because I love TVB a lot that I dare to reprimand them.  Actually, in the past, when having dinner with TVB colleagues and a few of the execs were present, I would pull the execs aside and take the opportunity to tell them about the problems I’ve seen [within the company], but unfortunately that never seemed to do any good.  When the reporters discover the same issues and come ask me, I’m sorry but I’m not a 3 year old who can just pretend nothing is wrong and blindly go along with things, especially when I’ve also seen those issues with my own eyes.  Good acting can’t cover up things that are so obviously visible to the naked eye, such as crude stage sets for example,  [TN:  Sheren is referring to the time when she filmed TVB series No Regrets where she complained that the stage sets looked really fake and also were falling apart right before her eyes – it was a distraction for her when she was trying to film her scenes], also declining ratings, audiences complaining they can’t understand the series, etc. -- in this situation, I cannot just bury my conscience and say everything is fine.  When it gets to the point where even reprimanding them no longer works, then I try a different method, go elsewhere in efforts to prove to them that the advice I am trying to give them can result in successes.  I hope that people will stop slandering me – I am actually the one who loves TVB the most!”

Received complete script prior to filming

Those who invite Sheren to film for them know that she has quite strict requirements, so the fact that she is willing to film for ViuTV means that they must have passed muster.  Sheren explained her decision to film with ViuTV:  “Actually, there were a few reasons why I decided to collaborate with them – I was impressed by their sincerity for one and two, I was attracted by the freshness of the script.  The story revolves around relationships and at its core, it’s about dealing with the various feelings and emotions surrounding this. I like this story’s theme because it fits with my personality – I’m the type of person who feels things especially strongly and acutely.  The character I’ll be playing has her complexities, only a handful of people surround her, yet their relationships [to each other] are linked in countless ways.  I honestly feel that playing characters in palace series, period pieces, even playing strong career women roles, is really not that difficult because at the end of the day, most audiences don’t really know what it is truly like.  Playing an ordinary person dealing with the complexities of marriage, that type of role is challenging because it’s so universal – you have to be very meticulous and careful with your performance in order to make your character resonate with audiences.  The other important piece to this is my physical ability to perform – for me, I need to have sufficient rest and sleep in order to be at my best performance level.  I’ve told you guys in the past that nowadays it’s impossible for me to work long hours day and night without sleep or rest and still be able to give a good performance.  With everything being high definition nowadays, I want the result that audiences see on-screen to be me at my prettiest and most alert, which is why it’s so important for me to get enough rest and sleep.  Also, my other requirement is that I must receive the entire script prior to starting filming – this is something that I refuse to compromise.  The reason for this is because if I don’t have the complete script, it’s impossible for me to fully understand and digest my character and figure out the best way to portray her.  I need sufficient time to prepare and study my character in depth and if I’m not given that time, it directly affects the quality of my performance.  In order to make a truly good series that is able to compete with the outside world, every position at every level is important and no detail can be overlooked.  We have to admit that the market in HK, as compared with the Mainland, is indeed very small, but that doesn’t mean we’re incapable of producing quality dramas that people can respect and approve of.  In order to make this happen, all of us need to play our part and put in the extra effort as well as take the production seriously.”

Since filming for ViuTV’s new series doesn’t start until September, Sheren is spending this next month preparing for her role.  “The producer Ruby [TN: book series “Margaret & David” author 南方舞廳] actually approached me about working with her around the same time that Po Wah Jeh did.  When it comes to production companies that approach me for collaboration, I don’t play favorites – if they are not able to meet my requirements, then I turn them down, it doesn’t matter who they are.  With Ruby and ViuTV, I told them that I must have the complete script in my hands before I agree to film and they were actually able to deliver – I received the entire script more than a month ahead of when filming is scheduled to start!  They told me that even if I didn’t request to have the completed script before filming, they would still do so anyway because they need time to prepare as well – we all have the same goal of wanting to put forth our best work.  Of course, the end result is not something we are able to control, but if a lot of people end up praising the series, that will be a reflection of the entire cast and crew’s efforts.  Our entertainment industry plays an important role in maintaining HK’s reputation.”

NEWS update: ATV to make a comeback in 2018

It has been more than a year since ATV lost their free-to-air TV license and officially closed up shop.  From the moment they closed, there were already rumors that they would “come back” some day – one rumor was that they were going to submit an application for a license again while another was that they were going to “change format” and return in a different capacity.   Up until this point, there was never much merit to the rumors, especially since majority of what was being told to the public was coming from the mouth of ATV’s former chairman Nick Ip Kar Bo (who already proved himself to be a weak puppy through his constant regurgitation of whatever ridiculous assertions that ATV’s higher ups at the time had him relay).  Even up until last week, when Nick Ip attended an event for Creation TV (the Christian television channel that he has officially joined as chairman), he was still talking about the possibility of ATV returning.  While I still don’t give Nick Ip’s words much merit (since he has a bad reputation in my book), there is actually some truth to the rumors this time in that there is now official confirmation that ATV is returning, albeit Nick Ip isn’t really involved.

I had actually read about ATV possibly making a comeback in a few news articles last week, but at the time, didn’t have the details.  Now I have more info so I wanted to get this blog post out there to share it.   The latest issue of Mingpao Weekly magazine (published this past weekend) had an article that spells out some of the details, including an interview with the person who will be the new ATV chairman.

My two cents:  Personally, I’m not sure how well ATV will fare coming back as a web channel given all the competition in this arena as of late (in addition to TVB, who officially entered the web channel arena last year with myTV Super, there’s also ViuTV, which has their own web streaming platform, and also “outsiders” such as Fox Asia and Netflix, plus the plethora of production companies that have been making web series and putting them on various streaming platforms such as Youtube).  To me, if ATV wants to make a successful comeback, the first thing they need to do is change their name….keeping the same name will conjure up memories of the old ATV and with the horribly damaged reputation that station had, it will be harder for HK audiences to accept them without blemish.  For right now, I’m going to take a “wait and see” approach, as there hasn’t been a whole lot revealed yet in terms of artists and also programming / content – both of which we all know are critical to success.  Since the “launch” is tentatively scheduled for some time in January, I’m pretty sure we will hear more details come out in the next two months.

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Below is the article along with a brief summary of the main points from the original article (note that this is NOT a direct translation – it is basically me pulling out the main points from the article and summarizing them here).

Source:  Mingpao Weekly magazine, Issue #2556

(published November 4, 2017)

Main highlights:

-          ATV will be officially returning to TV screens in January 2018.  They will be returning as a web channel that can be accessed via Internet platform as well as mobile devices (via a specially designed app).  TV audiences can access their channel via a set-top box, but with a paid subscription (which is essentially the exact same OTT – Over the Top – method that TVB’s myTV Super utilizes currently). 

-          The new chairman of ATV will be Ng Yu (吳雨), who retired from his executive-level position at EEG last year.  As most people may already know, Ng Yu also used to be one of the top executives at TVB (back in the 80s and 90s) and has many years of experience in media management, so in a way, he’s the perfect candidate for the job.  Though another company will officially be heading up the venture, they recruited Ng Yu for the role of chairman with the promise that he will be the one who calls all the shots.

-          Aside from Ng Yu, the executive team for this new ATV venture consists mostly of former TVB and EEG people, including:  former TVB Assistant Manager Peter Au (歐偉林), former TVB senior producer Fred Lam (林嘉穎), former EEG artists’ department manager Roger, and also Ng Yu’s long-time secretary Pauline.

-          As of right now, there are already over 100 employees working for this new ATV.  Majority of the employees are former ATV staff (i.e. all the behind-the-scenes people such as makeup artists, costume, PAs, etc.) but due to his connections, Ng Yu was also able to recruit artists and behind-the-scenes staff from both TVB and EEG as well. 

-          Ng Yu stated that they are planning to bring ATV back in its entirety in that they are going to produce TV series (and also purchase series from other countries to air on their channel), variety programs, news programs, and also revive the Miss Asia pageant.  However he said that the Miss Asia pageant this time around will be very different from the past, as he didn’t want all the issues that used to plague the pageant to follow them.

-          Supposedly, Ng Yu is already in talks with a few well-known artists to collaborate with him at this new ATV (most of the names are former ATV artists).  Some of the rumored names include:  Jaclyn Chu (朱慧珊), Eva Lai (黎燕珊), Margie Tsang (曾華倩), Kenneth Chan (陳啟泰).

Breaking news: Scriptwriter Chan Po Wah to write and produce new series for TVB

I just read the "hot off the press" news from Mingpao Weekly magazine today about famed scriptwriter Chan Po Wah returning to TVB to write and produce a new series for them.   Sheren Tang is also "implicated" in the news, as she is good friends with Chan Po Wah and is considering returning to film this one series to support her.  Details are below.

I am actually super excited about this news because Chan Po Wah is actually one of my favorite scriptwriters.  I'm sure most of you who follow my blog probably know that Chan Po Wah was the scriptwriter responsible for writing one of my all-time favorite TVB series, The Blood of Good and Evil.  Po Wah Jeh actually left TVB many years ago and currently enjoys a successful career in Mainland China (I didn't know this but she is currently the highest paid Hong Kong scriptwriter in China).  I remember "golden" producer Lee Tim Sing once said when he retired that if TVB wants to "save" the quality of their TV series, they need to bring back scriptwriters Chan Po Wah and Cheung Wah Biu -- well, looks like TVB took Tim Gor's advice to heart, as they have supposedly been in talks with Chan Po Wah to return since more than a year ago.  I wouldn't be surprised if Cheung Wah Biu agrees to return to at some point later on down the line too!

In the interests of time, I'm not going to translate the article word for word, but will summarize the highlights below.

Source:  Mingpao Weekly, Issue 2537 (published June 24, 2017)

Article entitled:  Returning to TVB to support Chan Po Wah, Sheren Tang requests that she gets to sleep

-- Chan Po Wah states that the main reason she agreed to return for this one series is because it is TVB's 50th anniversary, plus she felt that Felix To and Sandy Yu (both of whom were tasked with convincing Po Wah Jeh to return) were sincere in persuading her to come back.  She is considering this as her "gift" to TVB for their 50th birthday.

-- Po Wah Jeh already signed the contract on June 6th with TVB to film 1 series for them.  She will return to HK in October to start prep work for the script.  Cast will be confirmed at later date and filming likely won't commence until 2018, as Po Wah Jeh states that she needs several months to work on the script.

-- Po Wah Jeh will be putting all her Mainland projects on hold for this series after October so she can focus on writing the script.

-- Po Wah Jeh didn't give a whole lot of details on what the series will be about, but she did reveal that it will be a female-oriented story about a wife with "many functions" (not sure if literal or figurative sense) and will be a subject that women in society can relate to.

-- She says that this idea has been floating around in her head for awhile already, but she does not want to film it as a Mainland series because she is familiar with how they operate and in the end, it will no longer be what she intended it.  She wants to film this series as a HK series so it will be done entirely the way she envisioned it.

-- Expanding on the above point, Po Wah Jeh said that TVB is giving her 100% control over the series.  She will be the main scriptwriter for the series as well as the main producer and will have complete control  of the production from a "creativity" as well as "executive (management)" standpoint.

-- Po Wah Jeh's last series with TVB was Loving You, which starred her good friend Sheren Tang.  The reporter interviewing her asked if she would invite Sheren to be the lead in her new series.  Po Wah Jeh said that would be ideal and if Sheren agrees to film it, she will tailor the script specifically for her.  She also said that if Sheren were to be the female lead, then the ideal male lead for the series would be Francis Ng.  However, she said that the script hasn't been written yet and so casting won't even be considered until after she returns to HK in October.

-- Sheren was also interviewed and this was her response:

     - She said it is great news that Po Wah Jeh is willing to return to TVB to write a new series, as a good script is hard to come by nowadays.  She said she really really wants to collaborate with Po Wah Jeh again.

     - Asked if she has already cleared her schedule for this series, Sheren said that there are alot of things to consider and besides she is still waiting to see the script.  The reporter told her what Po Wah Jeh said the story would be about, to which Sheren replied that she only found out about it now, as Po Wah Jeh didn't tell her that part yet.  Hearing the subject matter for the series, Sheren said she is definitely interested.

     - Sheren said that if she were to return to TVB to film a series, her one request is that she gets sufficient rest (sleep).  She said she was already very clear about this back when she came back for the TVB Anniversary Awards last year.  She said that it has nothing to do with her whether she is willing to endure long hours, but rather that at this point in her life, having to film the old way is impossible for her physically.  She mentioned that her last series with TVB (Beauty at War) took a huge toll on her physically that took a long time for her to recover and it was a warning sign that she can't overexert her body that way anymore.

     - Sheren said that some people think that she is unwilling to return because of the money, but she said in reality, that is the last thing she looks at.  She said she has no problems returning to TVB in order to support Po Wah Jeh or to support the HK television industry or whatever reason, but if she has to sacrifice sleep (rest), then that would be a deal-breaker.

     - Sheren actually gave specifics on what she expects in terms of rest (listen up TVB!!!) -- she said that the schedule should be no more than 12 to 13 hours daily, including make-up, costume, etc. Also, she said that she has to have complete script prior to filming -- in other words, no "flying papers" (TVB's usual practice of writing up the script and handing it to artists last minute, resulting in artists not having time to prepare).  Sheren said that script-wise, she is not worried, as she knows Chan Po Wah will have the script ready prior to filming.

     - Sheren said that alot of people have been asking her when she will return to HK to film series -- her response is that she has not forgotten about the HK television industry and if everything is "properly aligned" (schedule, script, whom she will be collaborating with, whether her requirements will be met, etc.), she will return in a heartbeat!

Book Review series “Now and Then” (從零開始) -- Revival and Poll

Back in 2010, I started a book review series on a set of 3 book compilations called “Now and Then” (從零開始).  The books are written by veteran Mingpao reporter Wong Lai Ling where she essentially compiles all the interviews she has done with numerous celebrities over the past 3 decades and adds her personal anecdotes to create a semi-biographical first-person account of her experiences with those celebrities.   She covers many aspects of the celebrity’s career as well as personal life, often including her own personal stories and background information on HK entertainment history.  As a means of clarification, Wong Lai Ling is NOT the average unethical entertainment gossip reporter that we see way too many of nowadays -- she was actually a pretty reputable and respected reporter back then and still is even now.  I feel this clarification is important, especially in this day and age when it’s so easy to become jaded with the endless trash and false reports that the gossip rags dish out daily about celebrities big and small.  I don’t want people getting the wrong impression that this is just another one of those gossip rag compilations because it is absolutely NOT!  Granted, some of the stuff mentioned in the books may not be 100% true, since it IS from a reporter’s point of view after all, plus there will undoubtedly be certain biases and perspectives that not everyone will agree with (i.e.:  I had read some Anita Mui fans’ comments that they didn’t like how the segment on Anita talked more about her family than about her career – personally, I didn’t have a problem with it, as I felt the way the author put that segment together actually helped to highlight even more how great of a person Anita was despite having such a horrible family).  At the end of the day, each person’s interpretation and opinion will be different and there really isn’t a right or wrong in my opinion….

I will say that one of the things I appreciate about this book series is the fact that Wong Lai Ling tries, as much as possible, to include all or part of the original interviews that she had done with the celebrities themselves (so readers can hear from those celebrities directly) – she also provides background information on each interview, which helps chronicle each celebrity’s thoughts and feelings during that time and in some cases, even helps to explain why some of them made certain decisions that they did.  It pretty much reads like an extended story, complete with pictures from Mingpao’s photo vault that accompany each chapter in a chronological timeline format.

Another thing I like about this book series as opposed to other entertainment books released in recent years is that its focus (for the most part, with the exception of the 3rd book) is on veteran entertainers from HK’s ‘golden age’ time period, written by a reporter who actually experienced that era and knew these celebrities personally.  In recent years, I’ve seen too many newer reporters who have no knowledge of that era outside of what others have told them -- they try to write about these celebrities and oftentimes, the stuff they put out lacks depth and substance (some of it even amounts to mere ‘hearsay’, since many of those reporters weren’t even born yet when most of these celebrities were most active in the industry).   Having been one of those people who personally experienced that ‘golden era’ of HK entertainment myself, it kind of irks me to read watered-down accounts of that era from people who will never understand how things were truly like back then.  This is why I love reading stuff from veteran reporters such as Wong Lai Ling (as well as her other counterparts at MP such as Tsui Yong Yong, Charles Chak, etc.), as it brings back so many great memories of that era and essentially takes me on a fantastic journey down memory lane.

There are a total of 3 books in the series and each book focuses on 10 celebrities (for a total of 30 celebrities, though some of the books have ‘bonus’ material that is in addition to the regular content – such as the third and final book of the series where Wong Lai Ling writes a special tribute to Leslie Cheung, whom she had known for over 20 years and was close friends with – she had actually already written about him in the first book, but since the third book was written around the 7th anniversary of his death, she decided to put in a special chapter in honor of him).

I started writing a review series for these books on my blog back in 2010 and got through a handful of celebrities, but then I started getting really busy with life and work, so never got around to continuing the series.  In addition, with the amount of detail in the books and how picky I am about my writing and translations, doing this review series was actually quite draining on me, which is another reason why I haven’t picked it back up the past few years.  With all that said though, I’ve received a tremendous number of inquiries about the series the past couple years, with the interest level peaking especially in the last 2 to 3 years due to the HK entertainment industry reaching such a dismal state and more and more people jumping onto the nostalgia bandwagon (which, of course, I don’t blame them for since there truly is nothing much worth ‘following’ nowadays in the HK entertainment industry). 

Because of the above, I feel that I owe it to the dedicated readers and followers of my blog to revive this review series again.  However, instead of continuing where I left off 5 years ago, I would like to get feedback from you guys, on which celebrities you most want to read about.  Just to be clear though, there will be a few caveats, as there are celebrities that I really don’t care much about, so I prefer not to waste time writing about them, especially given how much time it takes for me to get one of these posts done (though being soft-hearted that I am, lol, if there are celebrities in this category that you absolutely are dying to read about, let me know and I might consider doing a brief, condensed version – but it will be way lower priority).

Here’s the list of celebrities featured in each of the 3 books.  The ones I already wrote about are in BOLD (planning to hyperlink the posts that I wrote, but won’t get a chance to until later – meanwhile, if you’re interested in reading these, please click on the ‘Now and Then’ tag in the sidebar to access the posts). 

Please feel free to indicate your choices and any other feedback in the comments section.

**Note:  Celebrity names are not listed in any particular order!

Book One:

Jacky Cheung (I only did a partial writeup though – I plan on doing a more in-depth piece later on)

Carina Lau

Alan Tam

Leslie Cheung (I will probably update later with the additional ‘special tribute’ that Wong Lai Ling wrote a few years after the first one)

Wong Kar Kui (Beyond)

Jackie Chan

Sammi Cheng

Teresa Teng

Veronica Yip

Brigitte Lin

 
Book Two:

Tony Leung Chiu Wai

Maggie Cheung Man Yuk

Andy Lau

Cherie Chung

Chow Yun Fat

Faye Wong

Danny Chan

Shu Qi

Stephen Chow

Anita Mui

 
Book Three:

Lydia Shum

Eason Chan

Sylvia Chang

Josephine Hsiao

Cecilia Cheung

Daniel  Wu

Sandy Lam

Joey Wong

Rosamund Kwan

Anthony Wong Yiu Ming

*plus special tribute to Leslie Cheung

News Article: TVB attempts to save its music programs through ‘ice-breaking’ dinner with record companies

I read the below article in Mingpao Weekly over the weekend and since it contains some info that might impact the HK music industry, I decided it would be appropriate to share it here.

I personally don't have much opinion on the music-related changes that TVB is planning on rolling out next year, since I stopped caring about the HK music industry for close to a decade already. Most of the singers I like are veteran artists from the 70s, 80s, and 90s and if/when they release new music, I have my ways of finding out and supporting.  Yes, I still do listen to newer music from the younger generation, but not as much compared to in the past...plus I don't follow most of the newbie singers anyway.

My only comment on the article below:  the part that annoyed me big time was Sandy Yu once again 'boasting' that they (TVB) came up with the idea of having a unified awards ceremony and that they are all for this idea, but the other 3 media companies shot it down.  Well, I will tell you that what Sandy said is B.S.!!!!!   TVB was NOT the one who came up with the unified awards ceremony thing -- in fact, they weren't even supportive of such an idea until about a year or so ago!  The veteran singers -- such as Jacky Cheung for example -- were technically the ones who first suggested that HK should do a unified awards ceremony...in fact, Jacky had heavily pushed for this about 5 years ago and would talk about it at practically every interview.  But all the media organizations (TVB included) were vehemently opposed (most likely because they would lose whatever benefit they got from keeping it separate).  At that time, TVB even went as far as 'boycotting' Jacky because he kept pushing the unified awards thing (though there were other reasons too, such as Jacky saying that alot of the music programs don't respect the singers because they cut off their performances among other things -- indirect jab at TVB, since they were notorious for doing this...plus there was the royalty dispute, since he belongs to one of the record companies that was at odds with TVB).  I don't have a problem with TVB realizing they were stupid not to support the unified awards ceremony thing and therefore are now changing their tune -- but for them to take the credit for 'coming up with the idea' and bragging about it constantly and then worse yet, making themselves seem all high and mighty and the other 3 media stations look like jerks for refusing to cooperate with them...to me, that is utterly ABHORRENT!!   If I hear TVB brag about this again, I swear I am probably going to strangle someone over there...argh!! :-(

*****

TVB attempts to save its music programs through ‘ice-breaking’ dinner with record companies

Source:  Mingpao Weekly, Issue# 2445

Original article published September 18, 2015

Translation: llwy12

In recent years, due to losing many of its first-line actors and actresses, TVB had to cast newcomers in lead roles in more of their series while continuing to watch the ratings for their programs fall.  At the same time, TVB’s music programs have also suffered a significant decline.  Ever since the royalty dispute 5 years ago with the big 4 record companies (Sony, Warner, Universal, and EMI), TVB’s relationship with the record labels has been shaky.   As a result, TVB’s music programs as well as their JSG awards ceremony have lacked significant star power the past few years, which has not only made their programs less attractive, but also severely reduced their impact [on the music industry].

Seeing this, TVB took the initiative to put together a dinner this past Wednesday (September 16^th) to ‘break the ice’ with the record companies.  As host of the dinner, TVB’s director of variety programming Sandy Yu (余詠珊) invited the management teams from all of HK’s record companies, whether big or small, to attend.  At the same time, Sandy Yu also took the opportunity to update those present on TVB’s latest projects related to music as well as roll out a few policy changes resulting from this.  With this dinner, TVB hoped to continue their long-standing contribution to the music industry while at the same time garner some ‘goodwill’ and support for their own music programs.

Three weeks ago, Sandy Yu had already contacted the executives at all the record companies to invite them to the dinner.  Since she took on the position of programming director for TVB’s variety department at the height of TVB’s royalty dispute with the big 4 record labels, this would actually be Sandy’s first time meeting with all the record company execs.   At first, a few of the record companies thought it was odd and were hesitant about attending, however when they heard that some of the major record labels’ execs -- such as EEG’s Ng Yu (吳雨) as well as East Asia’s Chan Chi Kwong (陳志光), etc. – had already confirmed their attendance, they proceeded with plans to participate.  With that said however, Universal Music’s top exec Duncan Wong (黃劍濤) did not attend the dinner, instead sending representatives in his place.

As host of the dinner, TVB arranged a 6 table banquet for the close to 70 execs in attendance.  Though technically one of the goals of the dinner was to have all the execs mingle with each other regardless of record company, the seating arrangements indicated otherwise.  At the first host table,  Sandy Yu was responsible for attending to the execs from Sony, Warner, and East Asia while her husband Herman Ho (何哲圖) – CEO of TVB’s newly formed in-house record company The Voice Entertainment Group (星夢娛樂有限公司) – hosted the execs from Universal and EEG at the second table.  The execs and representatives from the rest of the record companies were seated throughout the remaining 4 tables.

Internet popularity can qualify a song for JSG

According to those who were in attendance, Sandy Yu revealed at the dinner that TVB would be implementing 2 policy changes in the coming year.  Paraphrasing Sandy Yu’s speech at the dinner: “It’s been quite some time since we’ve gathered together for dinner – thank you to all of you for your support and attendance.  During times like this, the music industry needs unity and needs all of us to work together to make the industry better.  With this goal in mind, we (TVB) will be creating 6 to 12 additional channels in the coming year and also establishing an online TV station to support more music-related programming.  As a result, there will now be 2 new ‘policies’ if you will.  In the past, singers had to be backed by a record company and have a certain amount of name recognition in order to qualify for a spot on the JSG charts.  With the new policy, as long as a song gets recognition by listeners – for example it gets a lot of hits on the Internet – it can still get a spot on the charts; once on the charts, it can then be in the running for JSG seasonal selections and the year-end awards.”  Sandy Yu cited music queen Sammi Cheng (鄭秀文) covering Phil Lam’s (林奕匡) hit song High Mountain, Deep Valley (高山低谷) as an example – Sammi’s version, though not an official release, was popular on the Internet, so we shouldn’t underestimate the impact of these types of songs.  One of the attendees at the dinner revealed that the ‘no show, no award’ rule was brought up and TVB confirmed that, similar to before, if an artist does not attend the award ceremony, they will not get an award.

JSG Awards will take place earlier

The other change in policy involves TVB’s youth-oriented J2 channel.  Sandy Yu indicated that there have been many new singers to emerge in the music industry the past couple years, so they wanted to give these singers a platform to promote their music, whether through airing their MVs or participating in actual music programs.  TVB also indicated that they welcome any feedback from the record companies on the possible ideas to promote the artists under their labels – in addition, they hope to collaborate with the record companies to produce programs revolving around these artists, which will also be a different direction from the past.   Another project that the J2 channel is working on will be to produce a younger version of TVB’s current music variety program Sunday Songbird (Sunday靚聲王).  Sandy indicated that she welcomes any feedback the record companies may have on this project.  It is said that TVB intends to explore OTT set top broadcast format next year, which means that their cable channels and their free-to-air channels will be combined into one package in the near future and sold at a low price to local television audiences.  Therefore, TVB needs to produce more new programs to prepare for this move.

In terms of the annual JSG Awards ceremony, TVB revealed that this year, the show will be broadcast on December 20th instead of in January as in the past – this would make JSG the first of the big four music awards ceremonies to take place this year.  In addition, TVB8’s music awards ceremony, which takes place on January 17^th, will air on TVB’s Jade channel [their regular free-to-air channel] this year.  Sandy Yu indicated that she has already contacted overseas singers from other countries who are working on clearing their schedules so they can come to HK to attend.

Indifference toward new changes

Despite TVB taking the first step to break the ice, the record companies’ response toward the new changes seems to be one of indifference due to doubts about TVB’s intentions.   According to sources present at the dinner, there were a lot of concerns and questions raised about TVB’s new ‘policies’ – for example, someone asked why it was necessary for a singer whose song had already become a huge hit over the Internet to go on JSG and promote their song all over again?  Others brought up credibility concerns with basing awards on number of Internet hits, as it was easy for people to rig the results by increasing their number of hits.  Still others felt that TVB’s new system is backwards – what the music industry truly needs right now is for everyone to work together to make good quality music, not for people to get on the sensationalism bandwagon and rely on gimmicks to increase hit count.

Also, it was mentioned that in addition to the Internet, there are currently many options for singers to promote their music – for example, both i-Cable and NowTV have produced a lot of music shows the past couple years – so there isn’t tremendous concern about the lack of promotional platforms for singers.  Besides, the big international record companies that had lost TVB as a promotional platform the past couple years due to the royalty dispute have still been able to increase their own artists’ popularity and job offers (examples cited were Pakho Chau, Shiga Lin, Kelvin Kwan), which proves that singers can still survive in a different environment.

A sore point that was not even mentioned during the dinner was the issue that had brought about the whole royalty dispute between the big 4 record companies and TVB 5 years ago.  At the time, TVB had taken their JSG program and released it on DVD as well as VCD, however they did not pay the artists involved or their record companies the royalties that should have been due to them from the sale of those DVDs.   Due to this issue not even being acknowledged at the dinner, a few of the record company execs felt that TVB was trying to use their artists to garner support and hype up their own music programs.

Sandy Yu responds:  It was merely a ‘reunion dinner’

 Afterwards, we contacted the dinner’s host, TVB’s variety program director Sandy Yu, to ask about this ‘ice-breaking dinner’ with the record companies.  She responded:  “It was merely a reunion dinner.”  Towards the earlier royalty dispute that caused TVB’s relationship with the record companies to turn sour, Sandy denied that there was any negative impact to their relationship:  “Actually, the relationship never turned sour, it’s just that a few of the international record labels viewed the issue of copyright and royalties differently than we did.  They [those record labels] were only willing to grant us 2 years [license agreement for artists’ songs], which was way too short.    From a business standpoint, we were not able to come to an agreement, but we continue to negotiate and in recent years, there has been increased discussion on both sides – the record companies have been very understanding.”  Sandy emphasized that the dinner gathering was planned over a month ago and the atmosphere that night was actually quite good.  In fact, some people didn’t want to leave and even suggested that they should do these dinners every quarter to facilitate more communication between the record companies and TVB.

As for this year’s JSG Awards being held on December 20^th instead of January the following year, Sandy clarified:  “We are instituting a voting system this year, as we want everyone in HK to get the chance to participate and choose what music they like.  Since we (TVB) were the ones who started the ‘one person one vote’ system [TN: reference their Miss HK pageant several years ago], it makes sense that we should hold our music awards show first instead of last.   Actually, we (TVB) had once suggested having all 4 media organizations [TVB, CRHK, RTHK, Metro Radio] collaborate together on one unified awards ceremony so that there would be a ‘true’ music king and queen each year – we even volunteered to put money into producing the show, but the other media organizations refused, so we gave up on the idea.”

Voting system doesn’t truly reflect audience’s choices

Despite the ‘one person one vote’ system being implemented for JSG, someone at the dinner mentioned that with the rule of ‘no show, no award’, it still won’t be the true will of the people.  Towards this, Sandy expressed:  “Every year, we never say that an artist who doesn’t attend can’t get an award.”  Asked whether each award category will be subject to voting, Sandy clarified that it would only be limited to certain categories:  “The voting will only count for a portion.  There will also be an audience survey that we’ll be doing, which we’ve already hired a third party company to help us with -- they will call audiences up to ask for their feedback and those results will be incorporated for certain categories.  Actually, we tried to think of every possible method we could come up with.”

Towards the sentiment that some people felt this new system was TVB’s way of saving their own music programs while also attempting to boost the popularity of their own newcomers, Sandy denied and stated: “Why would we want to shoot ourselves in the foot like that?  In order for the music industry to truly prosper, the entire entertainment industry needs to prosper as well, otherwise it’s useless.  We truly do want to contribute more to the music industry and produce more music programs to support this cause.  To be honest, I don’t even have a budget for this, since making music requires time and patience, both of which we are willing to invest.”

One of the attendees at the dinner, hehA Music company’s representative Kawaii expressed her thoughts on what she observed at the dinner:  “It was a nice gesture, as it had been a long time since all the record companies last gathered.  The atmosphere was actually quite happy and comfortable.  While it’s true that there are many platforms for singers to choose from nowadays, TVB is still one of the biggest platforms so their influence can’t be ignored.  Actually, these types of dinner gatherings aren’t bad, since it allows everyone to share their opinions.”  Asked about her opinion toward TVB’s new policies, Kawaii stated:  “For us, things don’t change much, as our artists never had to sign a singer’s contract in order to appear on TVB’s shows.  The way it always worked is that we would sign a ‘pink paper’ agreement and that was it. [TN: the ‘pink paper’ is essentially a copyright release agreement that authorizes TVB to utilize the song in their productions and also sell overseas].  Besides, most of the artists under our management are overseas singers not based in HK, so the impact is not as great.”

Mingpao Weekly Interview with Samuel Kwok: Young at Heart

I came across this interview with veteran actor Samuel Kwok and enjoyed it tremendously, so really wanted to share it.  

Not surprisingly, Samuel has always been on my list of favorite veteran 'green leaf' actors --  I've actually 'followed' Samuel's career for a long time, as he's one of my family's favorite actors as well. For me, Samuel is another one of those actors who never disappoints with his performances.  He's also one of the most versatile actors, as he can do any type of role convincingly, whether it's good guy, villain, comedic side kick, serious friend, rich dude, poor grassroots character, benevolent father, etc.  I've watched a few of Samuel's video interviews in recent months and all of them were fun to watch, as Samuel has a playful personality as well as great sense of humor that shines through in all his interviews.  It's definitely TVB's loss that he won't film for them again, as there aren't that many great veteran actors left any more, -- hearing the way Samuel described how they were treated, it actually makes me angry that TVB doesn't have the decency to treat these actors better (and not only that, but also the fact that the situation continues to get worse now that any formidable competition has been officially 'stamped out').

Samuel's wife Susanna Au Yeung is also one of my favorite actresses from the 80s era.  Though I didn't watch any of her RTV dramas from the 70s, I have seen most of her TVB dramas from the 80s and she is absolutely talented as an actress (and yes, she had the looks to match the talent).  For me, Susanna's most representative performance was definitely as Wong Yung in the 1983 version of ROTCH -- she was perfect in that role and to this date, for me at least, there is no other actress who has been able play the older version of Wong Yung as well as she did.  I definitely miss seeing her on screen, though of course I'm happy that she found a career that she enjoys much more than acting.  

Oh, one comment about the content of the interview.  So far, this is one of the best interviews I've seen this year that describes in such detail the plight that many of the veteran actors/actresses went through at TVB (which is why so many of them decided to leave, though quite a few also returned due to HKTV not getting a license).  Other veteran artists have said similar things, but not in as much detail and clarity as Samuel did in this interview.

The interview is a bit long, but it's definitely a worthwhile read! 

*****

Mingpao Weekly Interview with Samuel Kwok:  Young at Heart

Source:  MingpaoWeekly, Issue 2435

Translation:  llwy12

Article originally published July 11, 2015

Dressed in a white T-shirt, white shorts, and canvas shoes, veteran actor Samuel Kwok (郭鋒) looks nowhere near his 63 years of age.  As he sits casually atop the railing outside the Hong Kong Polytechnic University preparing for this interview, Samuel shows his youthful side, entertaining everyone around him with his energetic, vibrant, and playful personality.  Indeed, Samuel enjoys being in contact with the creative energy that young people have and believes that one can never be too old to be ‘young at heart’.  Filming a micro-movie, participating in an upcoming manga comic adapted stage play, filming TV series for Ricky Wong’s (王維基) HKTV, all are examples of Samuel staying in touch with the latest trends of the younger generation. 

HKTV’s currently airing TV series Wicked League (惡毒老人同盟) features a cast where all the leads are 60+ years old – on the surface, it appears that this series is for ‘older folks’ to watch, but in reality, the concept of the series is not old at all.  The series takes a non-traditional, irreverent approach to depicting the lifestyles of seniors, to the point that it pushes the envelope in exploring generally ‘taboo’ topics such as impotency, infidelity, etc.  In the series, Samuel plays an elderly man who marries a much younger woman and ends up having to go through many relationship challenges that include dealing with impotency, taking sex-enhancing pills, battling unfaithfulness in marriage, etc. – the characters may be ‘old’ in terms of age, but the subject matter is definitely not conservative!

Samuel Kwok does not like working in a depressing, lethargic environment, which is one reason why he left his former employer TVB.   As a graduate of TVB’s first year Acting Class [back in 1972], Samuel has witnessed the evolution of HK’s television industry over the years:  from its grassroots operations in the 70s to the ‘glory days’ of the 80s and 90s eras, to the current downhill spiral. 

HKTV is currently at the tail-end of broadcasting its own in-house produced series – after September, they will be forced to air outside-bought series instead.  Out of the last 4 series airing from now until September, we will get to see Samuel in 3 of those series – despite his contract with HKTV being long over, that has not stopped him from putting in a good word in efforts to promote the series.  Asked whether he feels that Ricky Wong’s pursuit of a television dream has been a success or failure, Samuel expressed, “I feel that he has been successful.  When he made the statement ‘Who is bigger? The law?  The policies? Or the Chief Executive?’, it was very powerful!  He was able to very candidly rip away one person’s fake veil, very direct, but also incurred the wrath of that certain person.”

No longer tied down by any contracts, Samuel has been enjoying his freedom.  He recently paid a visit to Hengdian Studios (in Mainland China) with a friend to check out the environment for an upcoming project and while there, he was surprised to bump into so many old colleagues from his TVB and ATV days.  Is this perhaps an indication of the HK television industry’s future direction?  Samuel is still trying to find the answer himself.

One man causes irreparable damage

In 2012, Samuel Kwok left his long-time ‘home’ TVB to join the fledgling HKTV, signing a 3 year contract with them and participating in 8 TV series during that time.  Though his contract has ended and HKTV’s productions are near the end of their run, plus the station’s future currently hangs in the balance, Samuel has nothing but praise for his now former boss Ricky Wong, “In my book, he [Ricky Wong] is definitely successful.  If he got the chance to launch his station but in a few years, it became another TVB, then he would’ve failed.  In the past, TVB was very successful, but now, I feel it is a failure!”  But the endings to some of HKTV’s series were also criticized as being ‘plastic’ (膠劇) or formulaic? “That’s because in the beginning, the production team had just come over from TVB and so still brought a bit of that formulaic stuff with them -- the series filmed later were much better!  The most regrettable part is that there were no ratings to measure the series’ success.  I remember we would constantly say ‘if this series were to air on TVB, it would be a hit for sure, maybe even hitting the 40 point ratings mark’.  It’s a known fact that TVB has a 20 point ‘customary ratings’ padding on all its series, yet nowadays they still celebrate when the ratings reach the high 20s mark – so shameless!  One man [TN: referring to Chief Executive Leung Chun Ying] truly caused irreparable damage to the industry!  Even though TVB is being led by a ‘numbers guy’ [TN: referring to TVB’s current GM Mark Lee Po-On, who was formerly an accountant] and everything has become money-driven, if fair competition existed, we would’ve given them a run for their money!  But since the government supports a monopoly, what can we do?”

Even though his 3 year contract with HKTV is now over, Samuel still has a lot of respect for his former boss Ricky Wong and praised his success with revealing the Chief Executive’s ‘true colors’.

Samuel’s first series with HKTV was the horror series Karma (驚異世紀).  He excitedly expressed that when filming the series, it not only rekindled the love and respect for productions that had long been lost working for TVB, it also brought back the orderly nature of the filming process and family-like atmosphere from the old days.  “The production process was taken very seriously.  Everyone was involved in the meetings, even the camera man and the props person!  Each person had a copy of the completed script in front of them and every scene was meticulously planned out, even down to the filming angle!  Ricky Wong was very meticulous with details – for example, if in the scene, we are having a meeting at 2pm in the afternoon, each person’s watch was adjusted to that time prior to filming that scene.  Not only that, the PAs would take pictures of everything to ensure that the next scenes followed exactly where the previous left off.  This is what I call respect for the industry, respect for your work, respect for your production!”

Ran into the studio to yell at the director

Recounting the work environment at TVB the past few years, Samuel couldn’t help lamenting that it was extremely stressful and depressing.  Artists would be filming day and night, night and day, with no time to sleep or rest, plus the scripts were all ‘on-the-fly’,  so without knowing how the story was supposed play out, the artists would try to find a ‘middle ground’ with their acting.  It was no longer about giving an outstanding performance, but rather just ‘getting by’ without making any major mistakes.

Samuel states, “Yes, I did have a lot of opportunities at TVB and I’m grateful for that, but the environment was very depressing.  After every scene, when you walked out the door, all you heard were people complaining -- cries of ‘I’m going crazy!’ were everywhere!”   Indeed, the amount of criticism towards TVB’s ‘sloppiness’ with their productions has increased over the years.  Remember that instance where an emperor in a costume drama accidentally blurted out an English word in his dialogue, yet it was never caught and ended up making it into final production?  Samuel indicated that he is not surprised at such mistakes, “With the way the artists are filming non-stop, it’s not surprising that they can’t even think straight!   Who wouldn’t go crazy if you had to do a 6:30am (today) to 6:30am (next day) schedule every day?  The system was too rigid and restrictive, not even giving artists time to rest – over time, people got tired of it and didn’t want to bother anymore.  It got to the point where everyone would just go through the motions, even if they saw something wrong or a mistake being made, no one felt like saying anything – just let it go so we can finish and go home.”

Samuel indicated that the ‘breaking point’ for many of the veteran artists that triggered their decision to leave TVB was the implementation of the ‘artist management’ policy whereby artists without a management contract were treated differently than those who were considered ‘biological children’.  The biggest issue was the unfair arranging of schedules for non-contracted artists.  “For example, we would have to go in at 5am to film one scene, then have to wait around until 2pm in the afternoon to film the next scene.  The biological children, on the other hand, were allowed to start at 9am and we would have to accommodate them.  When we tried to complain, we would be told ‘sorry, but so-and-so needs to have their rest, so just help out, ok la’.  So ridiculous!  And it wasn’t just once or twice – every time, the schedule was that way!  So the biological children need to rest, but we don’t?  We have lives outside of work too, you know.  Of course we understand the reasoning behind it – the biological children help the company earn money, as they constantly attend events and the company gets commission from their appearances, but those of us who don’t make money for the company are thrown aside.  Some artists actually wrote letters to upper management complaining about the situation and some people got in trouble, but things didn’t get any better.  With people complaining left and right, the atmosphere was full of resentment.  The production team and management also didn’t get along, which resulted in the communication being very poor.  It was very similar to how HK society is currently, everyone disliking each other and ‘unfriending’ each other over every little disagreement.”

Samuel recounted his personal experience having to film one scene early in the morning, then being asked to wait in the cafeteria until the male lead arrived so he could film his scenes first.  He ended up having to wait all day and got so angry that he ran into the studio and started yelling at the director, “I was so upset!  But I think I scared them because the panel [monitoring production] closed the door and had to call the producer, who rushed back to try and calm me down.”

Similar to being in jail

In terms of the long hours and lack of rest, TVB has always been that way, right?  A lot of artists from the 80s era have talked about the grueling hours that they endured back then and how they would sometimes take naps in the street in between filming.  “Yes, that’s true, but the difference is at that time, artists were actually respected by the company.  Upper management understood how hard everyone worked and would often visit us on set to give us words of encouragement and show their appreciation.   To a certain degree, each artist was treated fairly – when management would treat the production teams to dinner, everyone got to go, even the second and third line artists; everyone felt respected.”   Like many other employee benefits, these ‘staff appreciation dinners’ ended up getting cut when new management took over and instead turned into private, ‘invite-only’ dinners.  “After being treated like this time and time again, neglected and bullied, your devotion to the company eventually erodes.”

Samuel describes his later years filming for TVB in this way:  “It was like being in jail.  We would get up early in the morning and go out to hammer rocks or mow the lawn, then go inside to weave baskets or do other work, then shower, eat, and back to the jail cell!  Next morning, the cycle would start again – we would go outside to film one scene in the morning, then go back to the studio to film a scene at night.  That’s truly how I felt!”

Samuel is a graduate of TVB’s first year Acting Class.  From the 1970s onward, he witnessed TVB’s evolution and rise to becoming the powerhouse it is today.  But at the same time, he also witnessed firsthand the management problems that gradually emerged over the years.  Right before he left TVB, Samuel told someone in the upper management ranks that ‘things did not become this way overnight’.  He explains, “When a certain ‘da jie’ [big sister] took over, she started instituting more layered management ranks, the management became ‘executives’ sitting in air-conditioned offices isolated from everyone else – that’s when the [management] problems started to occur.  In the past [referring to the 70s/80s/90s], the management style was less complicated – the producers were producers, the directors were directors, the PAs were PAs.  Nowadays, the director does the PA’s work, the producer does the director’s work, etc. – such a mess!  Also, the producers were actually ‘controlled’ by other entities -- company shareholders, executives, etc. – and it resulted in production team and executives not being in sync.”

Found creativity and respect again

While filming for HKTV, Samuel was delighted to find the creativity and respect that was lost long ago with TVB.  “With Karma (驚異世紀) we got to experiment with special effect makeup and costumes, plus there was a lot less of that ‘are we even allowed to say that?’ consideration when filming.  With The Menu (導火新聞線), there was a central focus to every episode that still cleverly linked up to the next episode.   With Wicked League (惡毒老人聯盟), all the main leads – John Chiang (姜大偉), Yuen Wah (元華), Bak Biu (白彪), Peter Lai (黎彼得), Li Fung (李楓), Fung So Bor (馮素波), etc. – were senior actors over 60, first time in HK television history.  The scriptwriter for the series didn’t want to write a glamorized series about old people, so instead the focus was on real problems that old people face in real life.”

In Wicked League, Samuel’s character is a senior who marries a much younger wife, but because he is impotent and can’t satisfy her needs, he resorts to soliciting prostitutes in order to rebuild his self-esteem.  This kind of content is considered ‘taboo’ in the TV industry and most stations avoid touching it, yet HKTV did not shy away – rather, they took a ‘black humor’ approach with the material.  “All of us senior artists had a great time filming the series, there were a lot of sparks and we got to incorporate some old expressions in there that brought back memories.  In the series P.4B (四年B班), I play a school principal and got to work with 20+ primary school students at once, another first for HK television series.  While filming the series, Ricky Wong mandated some strict rules for the production team – since we were filming at a school with so many little kids present, we were not allowed to swear, yell, get angry, take off our clothes, give the students unhealthy snacks, etc. – we had to behave properly and set a good example for the kids.   In the short amount of time that we filmed at the school, we not only made sure the team followed all the rules, we also made sure the kids were properly fed – Ricky Wong even planned a special menu for the kids consisting of 3 dishes and 1 soup, cooked fresh for them every day.  And if anyone broke any of the rules, they would be instantly fired -- see how serious the production was!  The casting process for the series was very serious too.  Out of 1000 primary school kids, we selected 20 of them to participate in the filming – those 20 kids came to watch us film The Menu so they could learn and get some experience.  Those kids were such smart alecks though, they kept saying ‘hey, we’re professionals’, haha!”

HKTV’s last series, Night Shift (夜班), which will air in September, also has Samuel in it.  Indeed, it will truly be an honorable farewell for him.

Filming bed scenes again

After his contract with HKTV ended, Samuel got the chance to take a trip to Malaysia for vacation with his wife, former actress Susanna Au Yeung (歐陽珮珊).  A long time ago, he had gotten the chance to film a TV series in Malaysia and while there, he also bought some property, which is now a vacation home for them.

Many people know that Samuel has a nickname, ‘Hero Kwok’ (郭大俠).  This nickname came about because his wife Susanna had played the middle-aged version of Wong Yung in TVB’s Return of the Condor Heroes (神雕侠侣) in 1983.  Since then, audiences have taken to calling Samuel that nickname, even though he had actually never played the character of Kwok Jing. 

Not long after graduating from TVB’s Acting Class in 1972, Samuel jumped ship and went to work for RTV [TN: Rediffusion Television, which is ATV’s predecessor].  He, along with fellow classmates Benz Hui (許紹雄) and Lau Wai Man (劉緯民), were also known as the Three Musketeers, though later on they were also known as the ‘three traitors’ [TN: due to all 3 jumping ship to RTV].  At RTV, he had actually filmed a lot of series where he was male lead but unfortunately, most of the archives for those series were destroyed in the ATV studio fire [TN: reference to the major studio fire that broke out at ATV’s studios in November 1987].  In HKTV’s series Wicked League, Samuel had the chance to film bed scenes again, except this time it was with a 20-something actress.  He admits that filming the bed scenes were actually very tiring, as he didn’t want to make his partner feel uncomfortable so he would prop himself up with his arms, which would go numb by the time the scene was completed.  He said that at TVB, he doesn’t remember filming too many bed scenes, but at RTV, he did film one.

Back in the 1970s, Susanna Au Yeung was one of RTV’s fa dans and would often collaborate with Samuel in series.  But it wasn’t until they filmed Speechless to the Heavens (無語問蒼天) together in 1976 in which both of them played mute characters that they became attracted to each other.  “We had to communicate with our eyes everyday and somehow, that did it.  I always tell people, when fate comes, can’t avoid it, when it leaves can’t prevent it.  Actually, back then, almost everyone felt that we would not last – give it 4 months and they’ll break up for sure.  The reason is because I was an overly playful person – no, not that kind of ‘playing’ but rather the active type: diving, hunting, racing, going on trips, etc.  I had a dozen different hobbies!”  Well, those who predicted that Samuel and Susanna wouldn’t last were absolutely wrong – this year (2015), the 2 of them celebrate 38 years of marriage.

Samuel praised his wife for her ability to ‘tolerate’ him, “She’s definitely very tolerant of me.  I like diving but she’s not interested in that, yet she will still accompany me.  When we get to the diving spot, I’d go diving and she would sit on the beach, sometimes for hours, and wait for me.  She’s a very patient person, especially when we were both young, I sometimes would get so caught up in my hobby that I would overlook her needs, yet she never complained.  I truly admire her patience and tolerance!”

“My wife is smart!”

One of Samuel’s passions in his youth was car racing – he would often go participate in various races in Mainland China.  His most dangerous racing experience was actually in Hunan, where there was a night racing event over a rocky path near the Yellow River – it was so dark that if they weren’t careful, accidents could easily happen.  Because of this hobby, Susanna often worried about Samuel’s safety, which he admits was one of the things that often made him feel guilty.  Later on, Susanna came up with a way to prevent her husband from constantly putting his life in danger – she told him, “the next time you go racing, I will sit next to you in the car and be your navigator!”  Not wanting to put Susanna’s life in danger, Samuel of course decided in the end not to go.  “This is why I always say that my wife is very smart!”

Susanna never liked the gossipy nature of the entertainment industry, so in the mid-90s, she decided to retire from acting completely and become a Chinese medicine doctor instead.  Samuel indicated that he was shocked at first that Susanna would make such a decision, but she was quite persistent, even going up to the Mainland for a brief period of time to study and gain personal experience.  Sometimes, she would even ‘practice’ acupuncture on herself, “I admire her tolerance!  I’m actually afraid of needles, so every time I saw her poking herself with those things, I would freak out!”

Later on, both of them started learning qigong together and even obtained a qigong medical treatment license.  They also opened a school to teach qigong and over the years they have taught over a thousand students, which is why Samuel also has another ‘identity’:  qigong instructor!