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Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung and Eric Tsang starring in a new $5 million movie directed by Wong Ching-po? Say who? Something seemed definitely off-kilter. Names like Lau, Cheung and Tsang -- three of Hong Kong's best-known faces -- do not headline movies by directors none but the most die-hard movie fans have heard of, even $5 million ones.
The film, "Jiang Hu," was bankrolled by a collection of investors including Lau's Focus Films, Media Asia and Tsang's Anytime Prods. While reviews have been mixed, Wong, who had previously co-directed one indie film, "Fu Bo," is one of the lucky ones.
Few fledgling directors can boast of a $5 million commercial film debut, and many would trade their right arm for a similar chance. And, in the current climate of Hong Kong's film industry, these chances are getting fewer and farther between, with production numbers expected to fall to an all-time low of less than 50.
Since the Asian financial crisis in 1997, rampant piracy and the subsequent shrinking of the traditional Chinese films market, such as Southeast Asia and Taiwan, film production numbers have gone from a high of 300 films a year to 64 releases in 2004. In recent years, the market has also seen strong competition from Korean productions.
Industry observers are sounding the alarm for dwindling new talent in an industry that is already mainly dependent on experienced directors and big-name stars. A look at this year's nominees for the Hong Kong Film Awards shows names like Johnnie To, Derek Yee, Stephen Chow, Wong Kar-wai and Benny Chan -- all of whom have been in the industry for more than two decades.
"With production numbers dipping so low, it is going to be very hard for indie filmmakers to survive," producer and Media Asia Films executive director John Chong says. "Their films can only be aimed at the Asian market, and even that is shrinking. We've seen the small-budget movies disappear almost totally from the market."
Under the onslaught of piracy and a shrinking market, most of the major producers such as Media Asia and Universe Films are already announcing intentions for mainly bigger-budget event films. "In contrast, the risks are smaller," says Universe chief operating officer Alvin Lam.
Director Edmund Pang says it is getting more and more difficult for new filmmakers. "In any climate, new directors get something like 15% of the production pie. When the industry is making 300 films a year, they get more films per person but when the numbers fall to about 60, then there aren't going to be many films going around," he says.
Pang made the jump to directing in 2001 with the small-budget Golden Harvest production "You Shoot, I Shoot" after years of working as a scriptwriter. His third film, "Beyond Our Ken," was released last year.
Like Pang, most fledgling directors who do get their break have often spent years working with big-name directors or scriptwriters who are able to produce a finished script for pitching.
Kenneth Bi, another new director, also spent more than five years flogging his script "Rice Rhapsody" and talking to distributors and investors before Australia's Arclight Films agreed to distribute it.
Through Arclight, Bi got the chance to pitch his tale to Jackie Chan's Hong Kong production company JCE, which -- together with the Singapore Film Commission and private investors -- agreed to bankroll the $1 million he needed to complete his vision. The film, which stars chef Martin Yan and director-actress Sylvia Chang, was released late last year.
It wasn't just about luck and meeting the right people at the right time, the director says. "It's a matter of being totally prepared when the opportunity comes around," adds Bi, who cut his teeth on a digital video movie that he put his own money into.
Not all is lost, though. Leading pay TV network Cable Television recently announced it will invest about $38.5 million into 15 to 20 films to be produced by its new production subsidiary.
The first project, yet unnamed, is to be produced by former screenwriter Yau Nai-hoi, who has written the scripts for some of producer Johnnie To's most successful movies, such as "Needing You."
Cable's announcement that most of their productions would be small- to medium-budget films has given hope to some other young filmmakers waiting in the wings for their big chance. In the two months since the announcement, Cable executive director Tsui Siu-ming, also a veteran film and television producer, has received stacks of scripts vying for a production budget.
"The risks are less for us because we already have a distribution platform with three movie channels. New directors will get more chances, especially if they have good scripts. We can afford to try them out and relieve them of the pressure of marketing and selling their films. We hope this will be a catalyst for new films and new talents," Tsui says.
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