Making a Hong Kong film (repost)
Copy/pasting from saved thread. Did a quick edit to remove junk.
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Old 06-06-2006, 12:53 AM #1
mjlpsu
Making a Hong Kong film
I have been living in China for the last year and have the difficulty of sending my screenplay to studios. It would be quite expensive to send it around the US. So, I was thinking I might try a Hong Kong studio that has access to foreign actors. Does anyone know how the Hong Kong industry works? Or any suggestions on finding out where to look? Or even if this is worth looking into?
Thanks for any help.
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Old 06-06-2006, 02:27 AM #2
dpaterso
Welcome to the forum. I wish I knew the answer!
Just asking, if studios will not help you directly, have you enquired via Hong Kong Film Academy or Beijing Film Academy? They may be able to provide advice and information. Both have web sites. If that's a stupid idea, apologies.
I know someone who used to pitch to Hong Kong prodcos, I'll email him and ask if he can supply any info.
-Derek
My Web Page - naked women, bestial sex, and whopping big lies.
Stop reading this and get some writing done instead.
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Old 06-06-2006, 08:19 AM #3
zeprosnepsid
Are you in Mainland China or Hong Kong and/or do you speak Cantonese or Mandarin? That would probably make a big difference between submitting to Hong Kong companies and mainland Chinese companies (although, as you may know, the written language is the same, it might help when it comes to calling and/or interacting with companies).
And I don't know why you'd want them to have access to overseas actors. There's nothing wrong with Hong Kong actors =) The biggest mainland producer is Bill Kong, he did Crouching Tiger and Hero, you could google for his company. A few years back Johnny To made a movie that was written by a UCLA student. His company is called Milky Way Image or something. Google them. I sent something to 'Bob' once which is Andrew Lau's Company. There's also the old school favs like Golden Harvest although I don't know if they produce films or just distribute these days. If you really want a company with access to overseas actors, a few years back there was a Mainland film with Donald Sutherland called Big Shot's Funeral. You can see who produced that. Also, the guy who produced Million Dollar Baby produced Perhaps Love in China so you can imdb him and find the info on his company.
Anyway, do some research, this information is fairly easy to find. I'm sure Hong Kong companies would consider your script. Possibly even if it's just in English and not Chinese. Google and Imdb are your friend....
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I am the terror that flaps in the night.
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Old 06-06-2006, 06:06 PM #4
mjlpsu
Thanks for the start of helping me out. I'll check out the film academies.
I am living in Mainland China, but I'm only 3 hours from Hong Kong. I don't really know Chinese (just a little bit and still learning). So, I'm more interested in Hong Kong studios since they might speak more English.
On the note of hiring foreign actors: I wrote the script while living in Colorado and I only have one Asian character. And the jokes just wouldn't work if I had an all Asian cast.
Anyway, I was just looking for places to start... I'll do more searching when I have some vacation time in July.
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Old 06-06-2006, 09:02 PM #5
Mac H.
I've got a list of Hong Kong film industry contacts if you want to PM me.
I've no idea how useful they'll be - they are an arbitrary list of production company / FX houses / whatever vamped from a conference attendance list.
It has company names, email addresses & phone numbers.
Who they are you'll have to figure out for yourself !
PM me if you want more info ..
Mac
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Old Yesterday, 11:06 AM #6
zeprosnepsid
ah yes, mj, your info clarifies all. I agree, English speaking Hong Kong is for you. Maybe you could also look into American Production companies that worked in China (or which Chinese companies they worked in collusion with them). The Painted Veil just shot there. Obviously Mission Impossible (but they used Cruise's company from Hollywood, but perhaps they partnered with someone abroad?). Good luck to you either way!
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I am the terror that flaps in the night.
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Old Today, 03:00 AM #7
tuff2kill
"The China locations (in Mission Impossible III) were produced with the assistance of China Film Co-Production Corporation and The Fourth Production Company China Film Group Corporation."
A bit of info I pulled up on this website:
http://www.cinemareview.com/production.asp?prodid=3405
Here is another website you might find useful (I dig Hong Kong movies, so every once in awhile, I'll give this site a visit to see what is going on).
http://www.kaijushakedown.com/news/
It may take some time sifting through the various articles, but if you are looking for news on Asian filmmaking, it seems pretty comprehensive.
Michael Now, get back to WORK!
