All articles by Simon Wong

  • News

    Jackie Chan takes action against organised crime

    2001-03-22T18:03:00Z

    Warning that overseas productions could be scared off, action star Jackie Chan has called for measures to fight organised crime after a triad member was arrested for blackmailing a Hong Kong location on New Line Cinema's Rush Hour 2.Speaking at a function that included film professionals and some of the ...

  • News

    Star TV drops plans to launch HK pay-TV platform

    2000-12-05T18:05:00Z

    News Corp-owned Star TV has withdrawn its application to operate a pay-TV service in Hong Kong in favour of providing content to the recently-liberalised Hong Kong pay-TV market.Star TV subsidiary, Hong Kong DTV, was one of five companies granted pay-TV licences by the Hong Kong authorities in July this year. ...

  • News

    Star strikes output deal with Andy Lau's Teamwork

    2000-11-28T17:28:00Z

    Star TV has signed a five-year output agreement with Hong Kong star Andy Lau and his Teamwork Motion Pictures production company.The deal gives Star exclusive pay-TV, pay-per-view and video-on-demand rights to Teamwork films starring Lau, for Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, the Philippines and Singapore. Star also has output deals with ...

  • News

    Star wins pay-TV licence for Pakistan

    2000-11-10T15:26:00Z

    News Corp's Star TV has bagged the first pay-TV licence to be granted by the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority. At the same time, Star chairman James Murdoch has confirmed that the company still plans to go ahead with launching pay-TV services in Hong Kong.The Pakistani licence enables local cable operators to ...

  • News

    SPH, Star East form joint TV production venture

    2000-11-09T18:37:00Z

    Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) has acquired a 50% stake in Hong Kong-based Star East Holding's new TV production subsidiary, Star East Works, for $19m (HK$150m).Two of Star East Holding's existing television subsidiaries, Star East Productions and Discover China, will fall under the umbrella of the new company which plans to ...

  • News

    Star TV appoints Smith to head China

    2000-10-26T18:50:00Z

    Hong Kong-based broadcaster Star TV has appointed Laurie Smith as executive vice president, China, as part of a drive to step up operations on the mainland.Smith retains his current positions as chief representative of Star TV parent News Corp's Beijing office and COO of News Corp, China. "This enables us ...

  • News

    Hong Kong's Mei Ah steps up film, TV production

    2000-08-30T16:55:00Z

    Encouraged by the new crop of pay-TV channels about to hit Hong Kong, local producer Mei Ah Entertainment is expanding its film production slate and ploughing an additional $13m-$26m (HK$100m-HK$200m) into television production.According to Mei Ah managing director Patrick Tong, the company will produce another 11 features by the end ...

  • News

    Star inks output deal with Media Asia

    2000-08-03T15:22:00Z

    Star TV has signed a five-year output agreement with Media Asia granting it exclusive pay-TV and internet rights to the Hong Kong-based company's films. The deal was signed today (August 3) by Star TV chairman and CEO James Murdoch and Media Asia group managing director Thomas Chung.Territories covered by the ...

  • News

    UK's Yes taps Cox, Young to head Asian operations

    2000-07-27T16:13:00Z

    UK video-on-demand (VoD) pioneer Yes Television has appointed Randall Cox and Greg Young to head up its Asian operations after securing one of five pay-TV licences for Hong Kong that were handed out by the local government last month (Screendaily, July 5). Cox has been named president of Yes ...

  • News

    Sleeper hit holds strong against Dragon

    2000-07-14T16:50:00Z

    Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon had a sleepy opening last week accumulating a modest $1m (HK$7.1m) from 44 screens in its first eight days on release. Despite the presence of Hong Kong star Chow Yun-fat and the popular Michelle Yeoh, this only gave Crouching Tiger a screen average of ...

  • News

    Yes Television among winners of HK pay-TV licences

    2000-07-05T15:36:00Z

    The Hong Kong authorities awarded five pay-TV licences yesterday in a long-awaited move to open the local subscription television market to competition.One of the licences went to Elmsdale, which is 90% owned by UK video-on-demand operator Yes Television and 10% owned by Hong Kong's Shaw Media. Another went to Star ...

  • News

    Filmart reports record-breaking attendance

    2000-06-30T17:06:00Z

    Buyer numbers rocketed at leading Hong Kong film event Filmart which closed today (June 30), a surge pundits say highlights the recovery of the local film and TV sector.At the end of the three-day market, Filmart had registered more than 1,120 buyers, a record for the four-year-old event. Original predictions ...

  • News

    China Star launches web-site for Chinese film

    2000-06-19T18:34:00Z

    Hong Kong-based production house China Star Entertainment made its entry into the growing numbers of entertainment dotcoms today (June 19) with the launch of its web-site Chinastar.com.China Star claims the site has one of the most extensive databases of Chinese movie information, with more than a thousand film-related documents from ...

  • News

    Time Warner strikes alliance with CETV

    2000-06-16T18:26:00Z

    Time Warner has broken into the potentially lucrative Chinese-language programming market through a ground-breaking strategic alliance with Hong Kong-based broadcaster China Entertainment Television (CETV).Time Warner-owned Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) Asia Pacific will provide the channel with selected programming and also work closely with CETV founder Robert Chua to produce original ...

  • News

    Star pledges $64m for Chinese-language production

    2000-06-13T19:04:00Z

    News Corp-owned broadcaster Star TV is setting up a Chinese Programming Department through which $64m (HK$500m) will be invested in Chinese-language film and television productions, some of which will be aimed at the international market.Veteran Hong Kong TV producer Michael Mak will head the department which represents a significant expansion ...

  • News

    Starry Hong Kong dot.com floats for $24m

    2000-06-02T15:40:00Z

    Stareastnet.com, an entertainment portal formed by Hong Kong celebrities, rode a local market rally on its flotation yesterday to raise $24m (HK$200.6m).The company was listed for the first time on the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM), a tech-oriented listing. Chief executive officer Philip Wong said the cash raised could support operations ...

  • News

    Star stalls on joint venture with HKT

    2000-05-30T19:24:00Z

    The future of a pay-TV and Internet joint venture between Star TV and Cable & Wireless HKT has been cast into doubt after Star TV questioned the viability of the proposal.Star TV, a unit of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and a leading provider of satellite programming in South-East Asia, said ...