All articles by Sherman Chau
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Hong Kong cinema ticket promotion backfires
A price promotion by the two largest theatre chains in Hong Kong backfired when movie-goers were charged full price for the most popular films.On February 25, UA and Broadway cinemas announced a four week promotion for Tuesdays and Wednesdays where tickets would be reduced by as much as $6.40 (HK$50) ...
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Hong Kong cinemas slash ticket prices
Hong Kong's largest cinema chains have slashed ticket prices in an attempt to counter the combined effects of piracy, a post-Chinese New Year cinemagoing decline and a slowing economy with record levels of unemployment.UA and Broadway cinemas announced that tickets would cost $3.20 (HK$25) every Tuesday and Wednesday in ...
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Hong Kong develops taste for comedy
Hong Kong's reputation as a voracious market for action films may be set to change - a faltering economy and widespread distaste for violence post-September 11 means that light-hearted films are expected to outperform traditional action fare during the all-important Christmas and Chinese New Year holiday season.Six of last year's ...
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Golden Harvest reports reduced crop
Robert De Niro, togetherwith his business partner Jane Rosenthal, formally unveiled plans yesterday fortheir new four-day film festival in downtown Manhattan that they hope can helprevitalize a neighbourhood devastated by the terror attacks on September 11th.The first annual TribecaFilm Festival will run from May 1st-May 5th and showcasesome 40 feature ...
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UIP hands over Hong Kong to Golden Harvest
United International Pictures (UIP) has closed its Hong Kong office in a downsizing move after more than 10 years of operation.For the last five years, Louisa Chan has been the general manager and sole representative of the Hong Kong office.Golden Harvest will assume UIP's operations, with head of film ...
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Hong Kong's largest studio gets greenlight
The largest movie studio to be built in Hong Kong has been given the greenlight to begin construction at the end of the year.Shaw Brothers has been waiting for a permit to jointly develop two pieces of land on which to build the state-of-the-art Movie City. The first piece ...
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Chung reassigned at Media Asia Group
Hong Kong film production and distribution company Media Asia Group has announced the reassignment of group managing director Thomas Chung, ending speculation that Chung would leave the company. At a board meeting last Friday, Chung was appointed as executive director, concentrating on producing The Touch, a $20 million joint venture ...
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Warner Home Video opens Hong Kong office
Warner Home Video (WHV) launched its own Hong Kong affiliate company on July 5, becoming the first Hollywood studio to capitalise on a lucrative VCD market by establishing a wholly-owned affiliate, with a 12-strong sales and marketing staff.An estimated 95% of all Hong Kong households own a VCD player - ...
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Hong Kong's first completion bond specialist opens
Hong Kong's first consultancy to specialise in completion bonds made its bow at the Hong Kong Filmart, signalling a growing trend in the territory towards international co-productions and joint financing.Film financing and Completion Bond Consultants (FFCBC), the entertainment arm of Hong Kong's Grande Insurance, will serve as a "one stop ...
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Shaw Bros expands Movie City studio plans
Plans for a new film studio complex in Hong Kong have taken an expansive turn.Mona Fong, managing director of Shaw Brothers, which owns 35% of the planned "Movie City," will increase from 300,000 sq ft to 450,000 sq ft with a grant for extra land expected to come from the ...
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Universal enters new Era in Hong Kong
Era Home Entertainment has struck an exclusive deal with Universal Pictures to handle all the studio's home video distribution in Hong Kong.The two year agreement strengthens Era's position as the largest video distributor of foreign movies in Hong Kong, with a market share of one third in the territory. The ...
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Crouching Tiger takes eight at HK Film Awards
Hong Kong was in the mood for action as Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was the big winner at Sunday night's 20th Hong Kong Film Awards with eight statues, including best film and best director.Wong Kar-wai's 1960s love story In The Mood For Love took five awards, nabbing ...
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Crouching Tiger makes history in Hong Kong
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon secured a place in Hong Kong film history, earning more nominations than any other film in the 20 year history of the Hong Kong Film Awards. The Ang Lee film was received a record-breaking 16 nominations in 15 categories, including best film, best director, best screenplay ...
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Jackie Chan stars in biggest Hong Kong-backed film
Jackie Chan is to produce and star in The Highbinders - a police action film budgeted at $40m, thought to be the highest amount of Hong Kong capital ever invested in a film.The Asian super-star is partnering with Emperor Movie Group (EMG) rather than his usual Hong Kong financier Golden ...
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Thailand's Iron Ladies Win In Hong Kong
A team of Thai male transsexual volleyball players took the number one slot at the Hong Kong box office as the Thai hit The Iron Ladies served up $675,324 in its first four days, making a weekly gross of $954,157 (Aug 31-Sept 6). Distributed on 23 screens by Golden Scene, ...
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Hong Kong launches support for screenwriters
Hong Kong's government is backing a HK4.8m ($0.6m) scheme which will enable local screenwriters to write scripts on spec. The Hong Kong Screenwriters Guild has secured the funds from the government's Film Development Fund and hopes to launch the initiative, dubbed the "Assistance Scheme for Scriptwriters", on June 8. ...
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Chow reduces Golden Harvest stake
Golden Harvest Entertainment chairman Raymond Chow has sold an 11.7% stake in the company lowering his 34% stake to 22.3%.Chow recently acquired an additional 4.8% of the company from Australia's Village Roadshow. At the same time Roadshow offloaded the rest of its stake in Golden Harvest to Taiwan's Acer Digital ...