Hong Kong's Emperor Motion Pictures has unveiled a slate of new productions that have been developed by COO Philip Chan who joined the company last summer to ramp up its production activities.

The slate includes in-house productions and projects to be co-produced with partners from other Chinese-speaking markets including mainland China, Singapore and Taiwan.

First to start shooting is drama Home Run, to be directed Fang Gang-liang, a co-production with China's International Entertainment Corp which is part of the same group of companies as US-based Media 8 Entertainment.

Chan describes it as a 'story of reconciliation between a mother and her son'. It follows a child trying to find his way home in Shanghai unaware that the journey is being filmed by his mother who is also the host of a reality TV show. Production is scheduled to start in late April in Shanghai.

Meanwhile, EMP has two in-house projects scheduled to crank up in June - comedy The Fantastic Water Babes, written and to be directed by Jeff Lau, and Laurence Lau's action romance Downloading Alice.

Gillian Chung, one half of pop duo Twins, has signed up to star in the former while Lau's film will star Isabella Leong as a girl from a wealthy family who gets dragged into the volatile nightlife of modern-day Hong Kong.

In August, EMP expects to start shooting action comedy Oh! My Dog to be produced by Lau with Tsang Kan-cheung directing.

Also on EMP's slate are Jack Neo's I Not Stupid - China, a co-production with Singapore's Raintree Pictures, and Zhang Jing's The Deserted Inn, a co-production with Beijing Polybona. EMP is also developing projects with Taiwan's Chang-Hong Channel Film and Video Co, from which it recently acquired Hong Kong rights to Jay Chou starrer Slam Dunk.

While Chan has been focusing on new productions, EMP CEO Albert Lee has been handling international sales and co-production projects such as Jiang Wen's upcoming The Sun Also Rises.