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.

Time Out Hong Kong editorial on HKTV Launch

Here's an editorial that was published in Time Out Hong Kong today.  It talks about the HKTV launch but also gives some background on the licensing issue as well as Hong Kong's television history.  It's a nice, albeit long, article that sums things up pretty well....

By the way -- I'm currently watching both series that HKTV released (The Election and The Borderline) and am absolutely enjoying both!!  I'll probably post up some commentary about the series later on -- too busy chasing the series right now to put together anything substantial...haha!

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HKTV launches after a year of controversy

Source:  Time Out Hong Kong

Article originally published November 26, 2014

HKTV has finally made its long-awaited debut online. Arthur Tam goes outside the box and finds out what it means for the future of television in our city
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Besides being a hub for the finance, fashion and film industries over the years, Hong Kong also has a proud history in TV. The city’s thriving television scene has been an undying source of cultural influence – both locally and internationally. It’s nothing short of amazing that a small territory with a market of just seven million people can regularly produce TV shows with budgets similar to those made in the US that have a market of more than 300 million people. Ever since the conception of HK’s first free-to-air station, TVB, which launched on November 19, 1967, we’ve been producing quality programming that not only reaches local viewers but has also, over the years, expanded to audiences in Malaysia, the USA, Australia, Canada, the UK, Thailand, Singapore, Macau and New Zealand. Not bad for a TV station that, for the past 47 years, has been producing original Cantonese (only the third most widely spoken Chinese dialect) shows.

It may be a proud, colourful history but, of late, there’s been a considerable amount of public discontent aimed at TVB. Some say it’s gone stale and that shows are bland. Others claim it has a monopoly over the industry, despite the existence of stations like PCCW, i-Cable, ATV and RTHK. They say these networks can’t compete with TVB. And, to top it all off, TVB has also been criticised for self-censorship, especially in relation to its coverage of the recent heated protests.

“I would say that we are the victims of our own success,” says  TVB’s general manager SK Cheong in relation to the industry’s ‘points’ ratings. A ‘point’ represents 64,200 viewers, so a 25-point show, for example, has 1.6m viewers. “I wouldn’t say that we aren’t creative enough. We have set the bar quite high for ourselves and produce shows that we think could surpass 25 points. Before, our bar was set at 15 points. And we do try to experiment with newer shows like When Heaven Burns, which young people voted best drama of the year in 2011. However, the show didn’t surpass the 25-point benchmark and wasn’t viewed as a success by our commercial team. I personally believe we should keep producing this kind of drama but because we set our bar so high there’s a tendency to repeat old successes.”

Cheong is candid when it comes to his channel’s detractors. “Another reason for viewer criticism is because consumers’ tastes have broadened,” he says. “Hongkongers watch a lot of Korean dramas and US dramas, which they didn’t do in the past.” It’s worth noting that although Cheong has said that the bar has been raised, there were TVB dramas back in the early 2000s that received a whopping average rating of 40 points. “It’s true that ratings have dropped in recent years,” he counters. “But this is also due to the fact that people have switched to different devices for viewing. If you add it all up, there is actually an increase in viewership.”

With the stage set and audiences chomping at the bit for different entertainment options, then, it’s a perfect time for the grand entrance of HKTV. The new online-only TV channel is perceived as a shining beacon of hope for the next generation of viewers. But it wasn’t intended to be online-only. In case you’ve been living on Mars and have missed the saga, here’s a quick recap: back in 2009, HKTV chairman Ricky Wong Wai-kay applied for a free-to-air television licence but it was rejected on October 15, last year, much to his – and the general public’s – surprise. PCCW and i-Cable were, however, both granted licences. The judicial review of the decision is scheduled in the next few days but that’s irrelevant compared to the fact there’s never been a report actually explaining the rejection. Only the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Greg So Kam-leung, has revealed any sort of answer after he stated that a consultant’s report – not released to the public – claimed that Hong Kong couldn’t sustain more than four TV stations.

The days that followed last year’s rejection saw public outcry. Angry TV viewers called for the government to be transparent about its decision. An estimated 100,000 people amassed outside the Legislative Council in protest on October 20. So, not one to give up, Wong then made a move to acquire China Mobile Hong Kong for $142 million and just proceeded to forge ahead with his TV network regardless. He decided to make it online-only. And, on November 19 of this year (coincidentally, TVB’s anniversary as a business), it finally enjoyed its channel launch party. It has been airing since – and has already found a pretty relevant niche considering the recent climate in Hong Kong. It’s overcome its hurdles and succeeded against the powers that be, positioning itself in a glossy coating of hopes and dreams while sporting the feel-good slogan of ‘life is all about new beginnings’. Wong  announced at the launch party that ‘Hong Kong people and HKTV will never give up. We have to look out for our next generation and their livelihood’, words that ride on the current situation of political unrest.

“A lot of the young audience might switch to the new online channel,” says Professor Anthony Fung at CUHK’s School of Journalism and Communications. “We just did a study and we found that young audiences – born post-80s – actually spend much less time watching a TV set. In fact, 51 percent of them mentioned that they spent most of their time browsing online and streaming and not much time on traditional television. HKTV is on trend with the habits of the younger generation. The most important thing for HKTV is capital and whether advertising trends would change enough and allocate their budget to online platforms in the long-term, because that’s how they can target younger audiences.”

HKTV’s big pitch is how it’s going to change the future of TV in Hong Kong. It’s offering audiences the convenience of watching its 22 new dramas on demand. No more waiting for your show to come on – you can watch when, where and however you want. Each episode of its current batch of dramas cost around $1million to produce. It’s estimated that Wong has already invested $1billion into the company.

At 6am on November 19, HKTV uploaded crime thriller Borderline and timely political drama The Election, which follows the depiction of a 2022 election for the next Chief Executive. HKTV is hardly subtle about the progressive shows it aims to produce. “I was so surprised that within a few hours we reached 250,000 views,” Wong tells us. On top of that, a million people downloaded HKTV on their Smart TVs and mobile devices. “It’s very encouraging,” says Wong. “The success of HKTV hinges on the hope and happiness that we can bring to the Hong Kong people.” Again, this might all seem trite and over the top. But in the current political climate, HKTV is hitting on points of social change, which is likely to resonate with the public.

“If HKTV wasn’t denied its licence,” says former TVB actor-turned-HKTV actor Ai Wai, “I think there would have been fewer people at Occupy Hong Kong. It wasn’t the [entire] government that denied the licence. It was one person and we all know who that is.” Ai shifted over to HKTV along with a host of other actors from TVB. “Of course people moved,” he says. “Obviously they’re getting a better deal. But it’s also clear that one of the two companies is just for profit and the other company is for profit but also social responsibility.” Ai worked with TVB for 33 years and because of his stringent TVB contract, he claims he wasn’t allowed to take on freelance projects or work for other stations. “This is an unfair system,” he says. “I’ve been waiting a long time for a new opportunity. [HKTV] is welcome competition. This will only promote better quality shows from both sides.”

As to whether or not TVB is going to release any potentially sensitive shows, Cheong says: “If you’re talking about Occupy Hong Kong then obviously we have to be careful. In such a politically charged atmosphere we are walking a very thin line, as thin as a wire. So we’d rather not touch on the subject at this moment because there is no way to make the show unbiased. People look at things with conditioned perceptions, never with a neutral mind. I was stopped on the street by a woman from anti-occupy saying she hated TVB because we were in support of the students with our reporting [contrary to Ai’s opinion]. We will wait for things to cool down and maybe down the road we can produce shows that touch on this subject. For now TVB will continue to enhance our business model, develop in China and do a good job.”

Though netizens have done an amusing job of pitting TVB and HKTV against each other in satirical posts, perhaps their rivalry is not quite as strong as it might seem on the surface. “Existing channels are probably still going to enjoy a stable viewership because the two terrestrial TV channels – TVB and ATV – don’t have a direct competitor,” says Fung. HKTV doesn’t have a licence and PCCW and i-Cable aren’t in the position to be in the game yet. The older generation will still watch TVB and ATV, so I don’t foresee competition for at least three years.”

But how will it all be commercially sustainable? The advertising budget pie is limited. Roughly 20 percent of all ad budgets are allocated to traditional TV and, without a licence, HKTV is still at a disadvantage – particularly given Hong Kong’s small local market. The channel is nowhere near the level of fellow internet on-demand service Netflix, which accumulated major capital through its other services before beginning to produce its own original content. Wong remains optimistic, however. He has 30 advertisers already and projects that he’ll have more of in the coming months. He says he’s already struck a deal with Malaysian station Astro to distribute HKTV’s Cantonese dramas as another source of revenue. And, on top of that, HKTV is also launching an online shopping platform as a way to diversify its business.

No matter how the future of Hong Kong’s television industry plays out, the introduction of HKTV has certainly energised the city. This has already become more than just about TV. Both TVB and HKTV may, one day, meet head-to-head. And, we hope, the benefactors will surely be the viewers.  

News Article: Revolution put on hold as HKTV wins online support but still no licence

Here’s the latest news article about HKTV.  I haven’t watched the preview of “The Challenge” yet (though I plan on doing so in the next few days) but from what I’ve read about the experience (from the artists’ weibos and various news articles), it definitely sounded like a unique, interesting experience! 

One thing that I was disappointed about after reading the article is that we definitely won’t get to see the next episode of Borderline anytime soon, since Ricky Wong stated that he won’t air it until HKTV gets their license. 

Arghhh!!!  Damn government issue those licenses already!!!

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Revolution put on hold as HKTV wins online support but still no licence
But the television station says its plans for a revolution are on hold as it waits for a licence

Source:  South China Morning Post

More than 500,000 internet users have shown their support for Ricky Wong Wai-kay's television station by watching its online drama premiere, but the prolonged wait for a licence has put what might be a revolution in Hong Kong's television industry on hold.

Artists who have jumped ship to Hong Kong Television Network (HKTV) said they wanted to produce programmes that put the audience first, which they say they could not do with market leader TVB.

"We feel so helpless," said Ai Wai, who worked at TVB for 33 years. "We just don't understand that on one hand, [the government said] the licence would be given as soon as possible. But the Executive Council could suddenly take a day off. Why?"

He said a television revolution was under way: "We are challenging the system."

HKTV made its online premiere 12 days ago, showing the first episode of crime thriller Borderline.

It earned nearly 509,000 hits and rave reviews from users, who praised the quality of filming and depth - a stark contrast to TVB soap operas.

HKTV followed this up with a 30-minute preview of its infotainment programme The Challenge - depicting artists' extreme experiences in nature - at a cinema yesterday.

The preview showed Ai, Lau Yuk-chui and Lawrence Chou Tsun-wai on an expedition into the Son Doong cave in central Vietnam. The seven-kilometre cave is the largest of its kind in the world and houses fossils, desert, forest, terraces and underground rivers. The five-episode journey cost HK$1 million to film.

The journey by the 15-member crew, including the production team and professional explorers from Hong Kong and Britain, took a week. People hired to help carry food, fuel and power generators and act as guides brought the number to 60.

"We hope to be creative, and be responsible to our audience," said award-winning actress Lau.

The 20-year TVB veteran said colleagues there wanted to produce quality programmes but the system demanded that they finish as soon as possible. "TVB focuses more on money, and time is money," Ai said.

HKTV now spends an average of HK$1 million on one drama episode and has spent HK$300 million so far.

Chief executive To Wai-bing said the station was financially healthy and would seek to improve its income through investment.

She said the completion of a multimedia production centre in Tseung Kwan O had been delayed by six months because of design changes. During the annual Filmart movie and television fair in March the station had received requests from potential buyers but was in no rush to sell the shows before they were aired, she said.

Wong said he wanted serious infotainment programmes to set the trend, instead of spoon-feeding viewers dumbed-down content.

In response to requests for the second episode of Borderline, Wong said: "You better ask [Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying]."

He said the second episode would not be shown until he got a licence.

HKTV, Fantastic Television, and HK Television Entertainment applied for licences between December 2009 and March 2010 but no timetable has been given for approval.

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)!

Interview with veteran TV actor Wilson Tsui: Finally ‘promoted’ to male lead

Here’s an interesting interview with another one of my long-time favorite veteran ‘green leaf’ actors (yes, I obviously have MANY of them) – Wilson Tsui.


Again, just like with many of the other veteran artists, I grew up watching Wilson in TVB series and to me, he has always been a solid actor. Interestingly enough, despite the more than 3 decades that he’s been with TVB, I really can’t remember too many of Wilson’s roles from the past decade – most of the roles that I remember most of his (and the ones that were most ‘impactful’) were from the 80s and 90s, which to me, shows how underutilized he was when he was the past few years especially.

And honestly, it’s truly sad that a talented actor has to work 33 years in order to get the chance to be a lead in a series when other so-called actors/actresses who can’t act to save their lives get to lead series almost immediately! (It’s the same situation with Wayne Lai, who was also mentioned in this interview – look at how long it took TVB to ‘recognize’ his talent? 20+ years!). When I hear stories like these, I can’t help but respect the dedication and passion that these artists have for their craft – I mean, unless you truly truly love what you do, how is it possible to continue persevering in such a harsh environment for 10, 15, 20, even 30 or 40 years without getting much in return? Most people would probably have quit and changed careers after 10 years if they were going absolutely nowhere in the environment they were in!

I’m not going to comment to much on the article as usual, since it pretty much speaks for itself – but one thing I do want to bring some attention to is the ‘unwritten rules’ part of the interview where Wilson describes how the decision to cast artists in particular roles generally falls into the hands of a few select people – he’s actually not the first one to talk about this, as there are quite a few other artists and behind-the-scenes people who’ve mentioned this in the past. (One of the more recent examples I can think of is former TVB scriptwriter Chow Yuk Ming revealing in a college seminar 2 years ago that TVB producers don’t always have a say in who gets cast in certain roles – even if the producer feels that a particular artist is ‘made’ for the role, they are sometimes ‘forced’ to use another less suitable artist for the role due to pressure from the higher ups…).

So basically, for those who were not sure if such ‘politics’ truly existed at TVB (or were unwilling to believe it before) – well, the answer is ‘yes’, such stuff actually does exist. Of course, TVB isn’t the only place where it happens and who’s to say that the same crap won’t happen in HKTV (CTI) in the future too once they become more established? All the more reason why there should be more TV stations in HK to provide more ‘options’ for not just us audiences, but also a ‘way out’ for artists like Wilson who can continue to do the job they like in an environment that’s better suited for them. I mean, honestly – people who work in every other occupation in HK have the ‘option’ to choose which company they would like to apply to and work for….why should TV actors/actresses in HK not have that same ‘right’??

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Interview with veteran TV actor Wilson Tsui:  Finally ‘promoted’ to male lead

Source:  HK Channel

Translation:  llwy12

There’s a Chinese saying that goes something like this: ‘A fish that experiences different ponds becomes more fertile.’


In the 33 years that he worked for TVB, veteran actor Wilson Tsui (艾威) was only considered a ‘several hundred dollar per show’ green leaf king – at most. But 4 months ago, when he decided to ‘jump out of the pond’ and join rival station HKTV (formerly CTI), his ‘worth’ immediately increased tenfold and with barely a need for convincing, he has finally achieved a position that eluded him for years: leading male actor.

Throughout the ‘making’ of television history in the past few decades, many people have had important roles – examples in the recent decade include Ricky Wong (王維基), Wayne Lai (黎耀祥), Lee Tim Sing (李添勝), etc. The great effort and ‘fighting spirit’ of people like them have been an inspiration to many of the ‘small workers’ who desire to strive for the best and continue to struggle their way up to the top. Wilson Tsui is precisely one of these ‘small workers’ who received such ‘enlightenment’ – the birth of a new TV station will hopefully become one of those ‘once in a thousand years’ opportunities that can give many ‘small workers’ in the industry new hope and a chance to realize their dreams.

Currently, with the first dawn of this new era, 57 year old Wilson Tsui is finally able to realize a dream – that of becoming a lead actor.


Waiting quietly for talent to be recognized

Having taken the time to dress up and prepare for the interview, Wilson had an especially cheerful aura about him, a rare feeling of happiness and satisfaction that he hadn’t experienced in a while. Towards his new work environment and new job position, Wilson has nothing but praise: “There’s less pressure, more space, and lots of freedom – I’m very satisfied with the environment I’m in right now. Even though many of the people I currently work with are old colleagues whom I’m already familiar with, many things have changed and it’s because of these changes that I’m finally able to reach the ‘first line’ level -- I firmly believe that if I had remained in the ‘old world’ [at TVB], it would have been impossible for this [getting a lead role] to happen. Today, the ‘transformation’ I’ve experienced can be considered a success, but if I hadn’t taken that step [leaving TVB], I know that I would never get the opportunity to climb to this position and never would have a breakthrough.”

The people may be the same, but Wilson himself has definitely changed. Getting to ‘taste’ the feeling of being a ‘leading actor’ for the first time, Wilson expressed: “In the past, I was a ‘border’-line artist: not first line, nor second line either, but rather ‘stuck’ on the border between second and third line – if I didn’t leave, that would have been my ‘fate’ at TVB forever. So to me, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity – of course my goal is to get to ‘first line’, but even if that doesn’t exactly happen, at least the effort was made and I was given the opportunity. I guess you could say that at the current moment, my ‘dream’ has been realized, since in the new series Three Sides of Shape Doctors (三面形醫), I get to be one of the main doctors alongside Frankie Lam (林文龍) and John Chiang (姜大偉) – it may not be the main leading role, but at least it’s a leading role.”

When he was little, Wilson and his family lived in a flat right above the Hollywood Theatre, so watching movies became one of his favorite past-times. Being a super movie fan since childhood, it’s no surprise that over the years, he cultivated an interest in acting; in 1978, Wilson was accepted to TVB’s Acting Class – his classmates that year include Kent Tong (湯鎮業) and Liu Kai Chi (廖啟智). Reflecting on his years at TVB, Wilson expressed that his ‘golden opportunity’ period was very short-lived: “When I filmed Plain Love (情濃大地) with Gallen Lo (羅嘉良) and Eddie Cheung (張兆輝), I played the main villain and the reaction [from audiences] was pretty good – not sure why the momentum didn’t continue on in later series. Perhaps I was just lacking a person who understood me and could recognize the potential -- you know, like how Wayne [Lai] had Tim Gor [producer Lee Tim Sing] – someone who understood and was willing to continue working with you until you made it to the top and everyone else recognized the talent too. I seemed to lack this type of supportive ‘partner’.”

With his passive and introverted personality, Wilson expressed that at one point, he ‘forced’ himself to accept the many ‘unwritten rules’ that exist in the TV industry, but in the end, things didn’t turn out favorable: “Some producers dislike artists who try to ‘sell’ themselves, so most of the time, others do the ‘selling’ for the artists. One time, I found out there was a character that the producer wanted to cast me in, but because some people who didn’t like me had an ‘opinion’ about it, I ended up losing the opportunity. At TVB, the decision of who gets to play what type of characters is usually controlled by a select few people and over time, it’s really these few people who ‘call all the shots’ – if your viewpoint happens to be different from these select few or they don’t know you that well, that’s how a lot of the opportunities could be lost.”


Ambitious, hopes to have a hand in creating a miracle

Looking at some of the TV industry ‘success’ stories from the past years, definitely causes one to reflect: CTI chairman Ricky Wong started his telecom business from scratch and after building it into a successful empire, decides to sell his ‘son’ [the telecom business] in order to start a new venture of building a TV station; Wayne Lai, who started off as an unknown ‘kelefe’ actor, worked hard for decades to refine his acting and eventually climbed his way to the top, becoming 3-time TV King; even ‘golden’ producer Lee Tim Sing, who started as a lowly worker in the props department, slowly worked his way up and at one point, even served as TVB’s Head Director of Production [back in the late 80s/early 90s]. For Wilson, these types of ‘success’ stories are a source of inspiration and part of the reason why he deeply believes that ‘miracles’ do happen: “It’s just like winning the lottery – with some luck and these types of inspirational stories, it’s definitely motivation for ‘small workers’ like me to want to work hard and advance to that level. Sure, some people may feel that I’m being too ambitious – after all, I don’t have the looks nor the qualifications, plus my age – with all the external factors, I know that people will laugh at me. Perhaps people may think that I can’t get to a high position, but just like any other consummate actor, all we hope for is being able to play a good character that has a deep impact on audiences. What types of roles have this impact? Usually the lead roles, as those are the roles that get you recognized and have the most opportunity for development. There’s no reason for me to put myself down and say that I can never get to that type of position – others can say that about me, no problem, but I should never say that about myself – it’s important to have confidence!”


Not afraid of getting on a ‘sinking boat’

Even with the issuance of new free TV licenses at a standstill currently, Wilson still gets his salary from HKTV on time every month -- however he still very much dissatisfied with the sluggish manner in which the government has handled the matter: “I’ve never been to a place where there is only one active TV station and the other one is just a ‘shell’ – and I thought HK was supposed to be an ‘international’ and modern city? The reality is, a television ‘revolution’ and the issuance of more licenses is inevitable if we want to catch up with the rest of the world. Hopefully the government is able to handle this matter in a harmonious manner. It’s not about ‘eliminating’ any particular TV station, but rather it’s a matter of responsibility on the part of the government to promote the growth of the TV industry -- they shouldn’t be waiting until there are so many complaints and criticisms to issue the licenses. Having more TV stations and opportunities is supposed to be a happy thing!”

With HKTV not having its license yet, there’s a ‘risk’ that the boat might sink – towards this, Wilson expressed: “It has never been a concern for me – I still do my job of filming series. I can tell you that the morale of all my colleagues over here is very high and everyone from top to bottom is very united.” With the infectious unity and positive spirit that the HKTV team possesses, it’s no wonder that even Wilson himself was ‘moved’ to personally attend HKTV’s promotional rallies to pass out fliers: “Production is truly taken very seriously here and our boss is very willing to spend whatever money is necessary to achieve high quality filming. Majority of the series are filmed in real locations and even if sets need to be built, they are all ‘working’ sets. For example, when filming Three Sides of Shape Doctors, $700,000 was spent building a medical clinic set at the Shing Fung Film Studio – all the faucets had actual running water, the computers were all real and capable of going online, and we were able to plug our I-phones into all the working outlets to charge! Earlier, for the series Hakka Women (客家女人), we traveled to MeiZhou (in Fukien, China) so we could film inside a real life Hakka village! Real location filming allows both the cast and crew to more fully immerse ourselves in the filming, which results in a very sincere, high quality production for audiences.”

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.

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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!

Follow up Post: Details on 3 Additional CTI Series Announced Recently

Recently (a couple days ago), CTI held a press conference announcing the newest series that the company will start filming soon (a medical drama starring Frankie Lam and John Chiang). This is actually the 6th series that has been officially announced, with more to be announced in the upcoming months/weeks (2 more I know of for sure is Felix Wong's series with his daughter Adrian and also Maggie Cheung's series with Prudence Liew).

I actually posted a little bit about the first 3 series that CTI had announced awhile back ago (you can read about those 3 series here)...but now with more series being announced (and the 'revelation' of more artists who have joined CTI), I figured it would be an appropriate time to post a ‘followup’ detailing the remaining 3 series that have already been announced -- including the official plot summaries and cast lists that were released during the press conferences that were held for each series. I decided to do this post partly for those whom I've been discussing CTI's series with in forums and on my blog (you know who you are...LOL!), but also partly for myself, since there is so much information out there now that it's easy to get confused.

Hope this provides a bit of clarification (and insight) as to what CTI has in store for HK audiences when they finally 'open their doors' sometime next year (depending on when the government decides to issue their license).

Also, due to some discussions I’ve had with various people over the past few months, I felt the need to clarify a few things...

For the record, the reason why I’ve been posting a lot of stuff about CTI on my blog is NOT because I support CTI (because to be honest, I really can't 'support' them right now because 1) they're too new and I don't have enough info / history to go off of yet and so I refuse to blindly support a person / company until I know more, and 2) I still have some reservations about the company and its chairman Ricky Wong) nor is it because I want to see the downfall of TVB....[sure, I criticize TVB alot -- probably to the point of being annoying to some people -- but that's because my family and I have supported TVB for more than 3 decades and it pains me to see how 'far from the tree' they have fallen, so my constant 'constructive' criticism is my last ditch attempt to hopefully pound some sense into the (lame) management over there before they run the station to the ground (some people feel they already have)].

Rather, I post about CTI and its series because 1) they’re pretty much the only one out of the three stations that are actually filming series right now, and 2) as a long-time follower / supporter of the HK television industry in general, I'm disappointed with how much the industry has deteriorated and strongly feel that in order for the industry to 'get back on its feet', (healthy) competition is definitely necessary because, well, competition drives improvement (yes, that's the business person in me talking again...). So essentially, I guess you could say that I support the overall cause of having new free-to-air TV stations in HK because I want to see the industry flourish again. Some people may think that this is wishful thinking on my part (which I'm ok with), but I'm actually looking forward to the day when all the TV stations can co-exist together and produce quality programming for us viewers -- after all, isn't that what a TV station at its core should ultimately be about?

Anyway, here are the details on 3 more series that CTI has announced over the past 2 months -- filming has already started on all 3 series:

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The Second Life (第二人生)

Copy Editors: Lee Yee Wah (李綺華) and Suen Ho Ho (孫浩浩)
Main Director: Chan San Hap (陳新俠)

Filming Dates: July 2012
Length: 15 episodes

Cast: Wilfred Lau (劉浩龍), Terence Yin (尹子維), Bondy Chiu (趙學而), Joey Tang (鄧建明), Patrick Lui (雷有暉), Ann Ho (何紫綸), Maria Chen (陳霽平), Samuel Kwok (郭峰), Anita Chan (陳穎妍), Bonnie Wong (黃文慧), Wong Ching (王青), Mannor Chan (陳曼娜), Nick Chong (莊兆麟), Emily Wong (王歌慧), Ricksen Tam (譚晴), Wong Mei Kei (黃美棋), Cherry Pau (鮑康兒), Chan On Ying (陳安瑩), Jim Bing Hei (詹秉熙), Annie Cheung (張雅麗), Joyce Giann Wong (黃瑩), etc

Plot Summary:
After living for several decades, when one has reached middle age, we start to complain about the pressures and failures that we’ve experienced and regret those ‘missed opportunities’ from the past. But for someone who doesn’t have any dreams or aspirations, what is the point of living a life of such uselessness? The series will explore how the main characters, while going through a low period in their lives, will encounter a situation that gives them the opportunity to change history – however, once the history is changed, they discover that their lives did not become better than it was before. This makes them realize that instead of constantly fretting about the past, why not seize the opportunities they have presently and live life to the fullest?

Additional Notes: This is one of those ‘tales of encouragement’ series that will explore various relationships between siblings, family, friends, and lovers.

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Police Boundaries (警界線)

Creative Producer: Chu King Kei (朱鏡祺)
Copy Editor: Lau Siu Kuan (劉小群)
Main Director: So Man Chong (蘇萬聰)

Filming Dates: Mid-July (movie) / Mid-October (TV series)
Length: 21 Episodes

Cast:  Liu Kai Chi (廖啟智), Dominic Lam (林嘉華), Leila Tong (唐寧), Lawrence Chou (周俊偉), Joman Chiang (蔣祖曼), Annie Liu (廖安麗), Philip Keung (姜皓文), Crystal Leung (梁寶琪), Lui Hei (呂熙), Deno Cheung (張松枝), Cheng Ka Sheng (鄭家生), Felix Lok (駱應鈞), Lam Lei (林利), Yu Mo Lian (余慕蓮), Luk Chun Kwong (陸駿光), etc.

Plot Summary: 
Haivng a clear separation between black and white, placing heavy emphasis on discipline – both are the most important ‘boundaries’ for a cop. But if those boundaries are broken through and cops collaborate with crooks, the investigative process as well as the probability of cracking the case becomes limitlessly greater. A 12 year undercover agent living on the edge, a hot-tempered cop who once broke out of jail after he was framed for crime, a ‘King of Robbers’ who was once jailed for a crime he didn’t commit and now specializes in robbing crooks, a ‘spinster’ female cop who had never fired a single shot in her life and relies on her wits as well as life experiences to ‘figure out’ criminals, a fugitive from the law who is obsessed with female cops but always puts righteousness ahead of all else, and finally a high-ranking female officer who is also a military weapons expert – together, they will match wits as well as match strength. Out of this will come not only love, hate, and sparks, it will also break all boundaries – joining forces to crack cold cases and locate criminals, it creates an entirely different battlefield. Through blood, tears, life, and death, these most ‘hot-blooded’ of cops and criminals manifest the brilliance of human nature, leaving behind one touching, heart-stopping story after another.

Additional Notes: The series will technically be 20 episodes, as the first episode will be a movie that sets up the scene and the story will continue on in the TV series. Also, CTI’s chairman Ricky Wong specially arranged for all the artists participating in this series to take lessons at a real life firing range using real guns.

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Three Sided Face Doctors (三面形醫) [Not official English title]

Copy Editor: Choi Ting Ting
Screenwriters: Sin Siu Ling, Man Kin Fai, Ho Lo Yan
Main Director: Kwan Shu Ming

Filming Dates: September
Length: 20 Episodes

Cast:  Frankie Lam (林文龍), John Chiang (姜大衛), Wilson Tsui (艾威), Kate Yeung (楊淇), Sam Chan (陳宇琛), Leanne Ho (何思諺), Lesley Chiang (姜麗文), Rain Lau (劉玉翠), Benji Chiang (姜文杰), Queenie Chan (陳莉敏), Rachel Lam (林熹瞳), Lee Cheuk Ling (李卓寧), Yetta Tse (謝珊珊), Deno Cheung (張松枝), Carlos Chan (陳家樂), Yan Ng (吳日言), Maria Chen (陳霽平), Philip Keung (姜皓文), Wong Gwan Bun (黃冠斌) , Damon Law (羅貫峰), etc.

Plot Summary:
Humans are naturally born to love beauty. Alot of people put on makeup, do beauty treatments, some even opt for plastic surgery -- but there are probably not many people who are willing to look directly into a mirror and comfortably, naturally, peel away their glamorous 'outer skin' and reveal the rawest, most hidden side of themselves. That's why all along, doctors are only able to heal our physical bodies, but not our hearts. Ultimately, the 'root cause' of alot of illnesses does not stray far from what we call 'humanity' (renxing)!

Utilizing the story of a plastic surgeon joining a franchised medical treatment conglomerate as basis and adding in a 'discussion' of a few recent controversial 'hot topics', the series will attempt to critique the value system of mainstream modern society in the hopes of inspring the general public to reflect on the definition of 'beauty' and how it relates to their own value system. At the same time, it hopes to be the 'voice' for different levels of people in society and thereby resonate with audiences.

Additional Notes about series:   Through the story of doctors and their patients as well as the various inner and outer conflicts that a medical treatment conglomerate experiences, hope to demonstrate the 'real' side of humanity.  This will be the first series in HK television history to present the 'true face' of medical surgeries.  There will be a television version as well as a web version of the series -- the web version will reveal the real life process involved in plastic surgeries.