Movie Talk ── John Chong

Introduction

During the heydays of Hong Kong cinema, the film industry here was crowded as ‘Hollywood of the East'. With its genre diversity and production efficiency, Hong Kong films swept audiences from the Asian region, reaffirming its status as Asia's filmmaking hub and one of the most important film exporting markets in the world.

From the 1990s onwards, the industry was facing difficulties: changes in the market structure, economic environment and audience preferences. Hong Kong films seemed to have lost its way with a sharp decline from 200 to less than 50 productions per year. As such, John Chong appears to be one of the sought-after experts of film marketing to bet against the increasing decline of Hong Kong cinema.

John Chong is not only the name of a producer that one can repeatedly find on film posters, but it is actually his pseudonym as a screenwriter. While kicking off his career in the screenwriting class at TVB (Television Broadcasts Limited) in the 1980s, he later worked at Golden Princess Amusement, responsible for film promotion. This consists of many tasks at once: naming film titles, making slogans, print advertisements and trailers. When Chong co-founded the Media Asia Group in 1994 with six other industry's leaders, he kept using this name even after being a film studio boss.

Produced more than a hundred films, John Chong's strong creative background and experience in the film market are the key reasons for many Hong Kong films becoming box-office hits and award-winning classics, including Beast Cops and The Warlords. He is highly respected as an outstanding film businessman, and the media often seek his advice on commercial topics such as, ‘What is the future of the Hong Kong film industry?' and ‘What are the elements of successful films?'

The answers to those questions can be found in the new series of Movie Talk, with screenings of four films hand-picked by John Chong himself. He will come to the film archive with four other film experts to share his secrets of being a film businessman.

Post-screening talk review:

Movie Talk—John Chong: Love in the Buff
Movie Talk—John Chong: Initial D
Movie Talk—John Chong: Inferno Affairs
Movie Talk—John Chong: Lethal Weapon

The contents of the programme do not represent the views of the presenter. The presenter reserves the right to change the programme should unavoidable circumstances make it necessary.