CRHK
radio show “On a Clear Day” (在晴朗的一天出發) invited the main director (KK Wong) and scriptwriter
(Benny Wong) of The Election as
well as the scriptwriter (Alex Pau) of To Be or Not To Be to
talk about both currently airing series.
Here’s
a link to an article that recaps some of the interview (mostly stuff about The
Election) as well as a 2 minute excerpt from the radio interview:
Radio show excerpt:
*******
I listened to the full radio
interview and decided to recap it below.
There’s quite a bit of interesting information that was discussed during
the interview, both about the 2 series currently airing as well as about HKTV
itself.
One thing I would like to
highlight about this interview – prior to the HKTV launch (and to some extent
even now), I’ve heard “HKTV doubters” question what the ‘difference’ is between
TVB and HKTV and claim that HKTV’s series can’t be better than TVB’s because
the people (specifically the scriptwriters and directors/producers) came from
TVB. Of course, those who’ve been
following HKTV and the licensing issue for a while now will understand very
well the differences and why the same people can produce such drastically
different results – but for those who don’t know or don’t understand, I
recommend this radio interview to you because the host actually asks that very question
and the answer is very clearly explained by Alex, KK, and Benny.
****
Recap of highlights from CRHK radio show “On a
Clear Day” hosted by Kwok Chi Yan (郭志仁) –
January 2, 2015
PART ONE:
-
Before introducing
his guests, the host started his opening segment by asking the following
question: If there was to be an outside
award show (not affiliated with any TV station) where HK audiences get to vote
for ‘Best Series’ and the choices were The Election, To Be or Not To Be, and Line
Walker, which series would the audiences likely choose?
o In answering this question, the host said that the likely
choice would probably still be TVB’s Line Walker, mostly because there
will always be a large majority of HK audiences who comprise TVB’s main
fanbase and who are already so used to watching TVB that it has become a habit
that won’t change.
o This is why it makes sense that HKTV’s chairman Ricky
Wong has said from the beginning (and repeatedly reiterated) that he is NOT
trying to “grab” TVB’s audiences with his series – it’s actually very
simple: those who are used to the “TVB
way” and enjoy watching their series will continue to do so, no matter what
other choices they may have (HKTV’s target is NOT this type of audience).
o To support this, the host and his guests also talked
about HK audiences’ decades-long habit of using the television as ‘background
noise’: meaning that for the average
Hong Konger, they get home after a long day, turn on the TV, then go about
their business – so they are used to TV programs that they can ‘listen’ to and
not have to think much about…this is TVB’s target audience.
o HKTV’s audience base is obviously different, as their
series require audiences to actually ‘watch’ the series and pay attention.
-
The host then
proceeds to introduce his guests: the
behind-the-scenes talents responsible for HKTV’s currently airing series The
Election (選戰) and To Be or Not to Be (來生不做香港人):
o TBONTB scriptwriter is Alex Pau (鮑偉聰) – he’s a former TVB
scriptwriter (worked there for close to 20 years) and is currently also a guest
host for one of CRHK’s radio shows
o TE’s scriptwriter is Benny Wong (黃偉強) and main director is KK
Wong (黃國強)
-
Before diving
specifically into the 2 series, the group first talked a bit about their
current relationship with HKTV and future prospects:
o Alex Pau’s contract with HKTV has long been over – he’s
back to being freelance however if HKTV needs him, he will collaborate with him
again.
o Benny Wong also left HKTV already, so out of the 3 of
them, only KK is technically still with HKTV currently, though his contract
will be up soon as well.
o The host asked is it because HKTV is no longer filming
series, so most of the staff has left or will be leaving? Alex answered that is pretty much the case –
most of the production crew at HKTV already disbanded long ago. He said that TBONTB’s main director Luk Tin
Wah (陸天華)
has also left HKTV, as his last day was 12/31.
o Alex put it best when he expressed how most of the
behind-the-scenes people at HKTV felt about HKTV’s predicament: the production team went through so much
together – the excitement of being in a different environment and getting the
chance to make a difference, then seeing those hopes dashed twice with the
licensing debacle….now their series finally get the chance to air and they get
to see the fruits of their labor, but because everyone has left the company, it’s
almost like they are outsiders looking in – they don’t get to share the
experience together as a team.
o KK also made a good point: if the series had aired while they were all
still working for HKTV, they could all go to work the next day and discuss the
various feedback from audiences and talk about what they could do better (it’s
part of the experience of being part of a team) – but now, since everyone left,
that experience was “taken away” from them.
-
Discussion with Alex
Pau on TBONTB:
o The host said that when he started watching TBONTB, the
first thing that captured his attention wasn’t the acting or even the story –
rather, it was the theme song ‘Two Cups of Tea’ (兩杯茶),
sung by Prudence Liew (劉美君).
§ The lyrics to the song were written by Albert Leung (aka
Lam Jik / Lin Xi 林夕), who hasn’t written theme songs for HK television
series in a long time.
§ Alex expressed that perhaps he is ‘old-school’, but he
feels there hasn’t been a true ‘theme song’ for TV series in a long time (the
host mentioned something about TVB series Line Walker’s theme song, which Alex
admitted was ‘popular’ but doesn’t mean it fits the bill).
§ Alex explained this thought process this way: perhaps it’s the nostalgia speaking, but he
felt that with Prudence’s style of singing and her voice, hearing the theme
song brought him back to his high school days – add to that the lyrics that Lam
Jik wrote, which reflect the plot of the story perfectly….for those of us who
were around in the 80s and 90s, it takes us back to that feeling back in the day
when we would listen to the theme song and instantly, scenes from the series
would run through our heads – that’s what a ‘true’ theme song should be like
(nowadays, the theme songs don’t give off that same feeling and instead seem to
be ‘detached’ from the series).
§ Alex said that he was surprised that today’s younger
generation – the target audience for HKTV’s series – have been so accepting
of this ‘old-school’ feeling as well (based on all the praise for TBONTB’s
theme song).
o TBONTB is based on a real story of two sisters – one who
went to live in HK and the other who stayed behind in China – who, after 20
years, get the chance to reunite. This
story serves as the backdrop for a discussion of the Mainland China / HK
contradiction.
o The host played part of TBONTB’s theme song as well as
some of the dialogue from the series that ‘highlight’ the China vs HK issue,
then he asked Alex: if this was TVB,
would the dialogue that we just played not even make it into the script?
§ Alex’s response: I
can’t say that the dialogue wouldn’t have made it in for sure, but it
definitely wouldn’t have been an easy sell.
o Alex’s response was then used as an off-shoot to discuss
the differences between how the production process works at TVB vs HKTV.
§ At TVB, the structure is that the producer is the main
person responsible for the entire production – with that position, he/she has
the power to call all the shots, which includes banning ideas they don’t like
and changing / revising scripts if they feel it’s warranted.
§ At HKTV, there is no ‘producer’ position – there is a ‘main
director’ position, but his responsibility is not to oversee the production and
he has no power to ‘ban’ ideas or change scripts. The main director’s responsibility is to give
advice and feedback on the production based on his/her own technical expertise –
in other words, his role is to “help” bring the script to fruition. Alex emphasized that, at HKTV, the director
and scriptwriter have equal footing and work together in a ‘partnership’ to
create the series.
o As a little bit of a sidebar, the host took the
opportunity to involve all 3 of his guests (Alex, KK, and Benny) in a more
detailed discussion about the ‘structure’ and production process of TV series
at TVB vs HKTV, since all 3 of them worked for both stations [TN: KK and Benny had also worked for ATV at one
point as well].
§ The host asked whether the ‘normal’ process at TVB is for
the scriptwriter to write the story, then give it to the producer to review and
then after that, go through an ‘approval’ process involving the execs and other
departments (i.e. artists dept, sales and marketing, public relations, etc.).
§ Alex and Benny clarified that actually, the presentation
of the basic story idea to the execs (and other departments) occurs BEFORE the
script is even written.
§ At TVB, how it works is:
the producer and scriptwriter are technically ‘assigned’ to work together
to come up with a story idea, but in reality, due to size of TVB and the amount
of series they churn out, the producer becomes the ‘main driving force’ of the
series – he/she is the one giving all the direction and making all the
decisions. The scriptwriter’s status is
low and they are expected to ‘support’ the producer without really questioning –
they basically accept that’s the way things work.
§ The question was posed:
if this were TVB and they had to ‘sell’ the idea of TE and TBONTB to the
execs, would it have been banned right away?
·
Alex’s
response: it’s hard to say, as there are
several ‘levels’ they would have to go through – they don’t just ‘sell’ their
idea to the execs, they also have to ‘sell’ to the rest of the production
department, the sales and marketing department, human resources, artists
department, etc. Each department wants
to have a say in the matter – they have to consider how the series will affect
them, what they will gain out of it, weigh the positives and negatives, etc.
·
Basically, there are
a lot of ‘hurdles’ and obstacles that need to be overcome just to get to the
point of story idea ‘approval’.
§ At HKTV, there are no such ‘meetings’ across departments
and no such ‘approval’ process – in fact, the scriptwriter can come up with the
story idea and the main director may not even know about it until later. [TN: as discussed
later in the interview, the main difference is that at TVB, the producer is the
‘main driving force’ in producing a series whereas at HKTV, the script is the ‘main
driving force’]
§ Alex recounted his ‘process’ when creating TBONTB: he would come up with the basic story concept
that he wanted to do, then meet with the creative director Stella Choi (蔡淑賢) to discuss
it. Then, he contacts the main director
Luk Tin Wah and they meet informally over a dim sum lunch to talk about the
idea. The main director gives his feedback
on the feasibility of filming the story from a directing and production
perspective. If the director says that
the idea won’t work from a filming perspective or certain elements will be
difficult to achieve, then the scriptwriter will make adjustments if
warranted. After the meeting, both Alex
and Luk Tin Wah felt the story idea would work, so they moved forward with it.
§ Alex stated that oftentimes, even the one ‘forking out
the money’ (their boss Ricky Wong) doesn’t even know about the ideas they come
up with (meaning that they do not need to go through an ‘approval’ process with
the execs like they did at TVB).
§ The host then asked:
then when do you guys let Ricky Wong know? To which Alex replied that he
doesn’t even remember when he first notified RW about his story idea.
·
Alex expressed that
they of course will give RW an overview of what they want to do and update him
weekly on progress, but he doesn’t ‘meddle’ in the production of the series
[which is different from TVB, since the ‘higher ups’ are the ones who have the
final say over there].
·
He also said that
Ricky Wong’s philosophy has always been to give his production team the utmost ‘creative
freedom’.
·
Alex and Benny
recounted something that Ricky Wong had said to them since the beginning (this
was in response to why RW would want to poach people from TVB if their series
are not good): RW said -- he firmly
believes that the people at the ‘big station’ (TVB) are capable, it’s just that
they lack freedom (in other words – he believes that if TVB’s staff had the
same freedom that HKTV’s staff have, the ‘output’ would be very different).
·
This philosophy is
the main reason why RW allows his staff so much freedom. He once told Alex and Benny: “you are freelance writers now, so you should
have the creative freedom to write whatever you want to write about.”
·
Benny stated that
Ricky Wong understands the concept of leaving the production team alone and not
trying to meddle because if he tries to involve himself, then it is no longer ‘creative
freedom’.
·
Alex recounted
something that Ricky Wong once said to TBONTB’s director Luk Tin Wah: don’t spend so much time trying to ‘guess’ or
‘conform’ to audiences’ tastes – instead, just put out a production that you
feel is your absolute ‘best work’.
[TN: Luk Tin Wah mentioned this
same conversation in the interview he and Alex did with Apple Daily, which you
can read here.]
o The host summarized the main difference between TVB and
HKTV: at HKTV, with creative freedom
being the main goal, the scriptwriter and director work together as partners to
bring the idea to fruition, while at TVB, there is a formal, cross-departmental
‘approval’ process – so this means that at HKTV, there is no ‘system’ at
all. Wouldn’t this pose a problem when
it comes time to actually produce the series?
Wouldn’t they need to consult the other departments down the line
anyway, so it would go back to being ‘similar’ to the TVB method?
§ Alex said that he disagrees with the assertion that there
is ‘no system at all’ at HKTV. He said
that there is definitely a ‘system’, it’s just less formal and less restrictive
than at TVB.
§ He also said that when it comes to managing the budget of
a series, there is definitely a ‘system’ in place. He said that Ricky Wong keeps a tight watch
over the budget and they must report to him anything that would affect costs –
for example, how many cars they might need to film a particular scene. When it comes to cost and budgeting, there is
definitely a ‘system’ in place to ensure they remain within their means and don’t
go overboard financially.
§ In terms of other departments: Alex said that at HKTV, the other departments
don’t interfere with the production of a series because they don’t have the
power to do so – Ricky Wong’s instruction is for all departments to ‘cooperate’…meaning
that they take on a ‘support’ role and provide the scriptwriter/director with
what they need to achieve their goal.
For example – if they need certain artists for their series, they would
communicate with the Artists Department and, if schedules permit, they are
provided with the artists they request – the artists department head does not
try to influence or ‘persuade’ them to use other artists [TN: it’s well known that the
Artists Department at TVB has large influence on production, so this is
definitely very different from the ‘TVB way’.]
o Basically, at HKTV, the script is the ‘main driver’ of
the production – everything revolves around the script and everyone’s goal is
to successfully bring the script to fruition.
§ The other departments were given orders by Ricky Wong
that they are NOT allowed to interfere/influence with the script/production or
change anything with it.
§ Even the artists themselves are not allowed to change the
script or dialogue. The only person who
has the authority to change the script is the scriptwriter him/herself.
o To summarize, the host brings up a good question that a
lot of people have asked over the past few years: if most of the behind-the-scenes people
(scriptwriters, producers, directors, etc.) at HKTV actually came from TVB, how
is it possible that their ‘output’ (scripts, series, etc.) can be so different
from when they were at TVB?
§ The short answer (which is actually explained in more detail above):
Because the system and environment are different, which creates a
different ‘culture’ of sorts. [TN: I
actually still like the way Ricky Wong explained it 2-3 years ago during his
speech at the original launch party of his station (I’m paraphrasing here) -- at TVB, the writers/artists/etc. were akin to
being in a zoo, caged up and with limited freedom, whereas at HKTV, they are
put back into the wild, with complete freedom to roam and do whatever they want….]
-
To conclude this
segment, the host asked Alex Pau if there was particular dialogue from TBONTB
that he felt is the most impactful given HK’s situation. Alex responded that the dialogue in one of
the earlier scenes where Isabella (Queena Chan) is scolding Anson (Maggie
Cheung) over a failed business deal is very significant – one of the things she
says is: “Hong Kong is an imminently
sinking cruise ship…other than abandoning ship, what other choice do you have?” He says that this dialogue really hits home
because it stimulates Hong Kongers to reflect – is HK truly a sinking
ship? If so, what would I choose to
do? Would I choose to abandon ship or go
down along with it?
*** To be continued......
