John Chong Ching is a Hong Kong film producer and presenter. He is one
of the most successful producers of Hong Kong cinema beginning with
the Golden Age of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan in the 1970s and 1980s. He
is now a veteran film producer of Media Asia Group, the company behind
the Infernal Affairs trilogy.Chong has spent his entire career in the
local entertainment scene. He started working for Television
Broadcasts Ltd. (TVB), Hong Kong's premier television channel, and
also wrote lyrics for Cantopop songs. In 1994, he was working at a
satellite network Star TV Ltd. when he and six partners decided the
time was ripe for an entrepreneurial approach to filmmaking. Dubbing
themselves the Seven Samurai, they aimed to reverse a sharp decline in
the Hong Kong film business as moviegoers rejected the poor quality of
locally produced films.They began taking lessons from Hollywood,
insisting, for instance, that all their stars sign the detailed
contracts necessary to distribute Media Asia's films overseas. Chong
tightened controls on costs, and Media Asia earned $5.1 million on
sales of $39 million, which is considered to be minuscule numbers by
Hollywood standards, but in Hong Kong, a solid success.Chong continues
to work as a producer for Media Asia, with his goal to expand in the
Mainland Chinese market, and to later take the company public.
of the most successful producers of Hong Kong cinema beginning with
the Golden Age of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan in the 1970s and 1980s. He
is now a veteran film producer of Media Asia Group, the company behind
the Infernal Affairs trilogy.Chong has spent his entire career in the
local entertainment scene. He started working for Television
Broadcasts Ltd. (TVB), Hong Kong's premier television channel, and
also wrote lyrics for Cantopop songs. In 1994, he was working at a
satellite network Star TV Ltd. when he and six partners decided the
time was ripe for an entrepreneurial approach to filmmaking. Dubbing
themselves the Seven Samurai, they aimed to reverse a sharp decline in
the Hong Kong film business as moviegoers rejected the poor quality of
locally produced films.They began taking lessons from Hollywood,
insisting, for instance, that all their stars sign the detailed
contracts necessary to distribute Media Asia's films overseas. Chong
tightened controls on costs, and Media Asia earned $5.1 million on
sales of $39 million, which is considered to be minuscule numbers by
Hollywood standards, but in Hong Kong, a solid success.Chong continues
to work as a producer for Media Asia, with his goal to expand in the
Mainland Chinese market, and to later take the company public.
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