(8/29/2003) Andrew Lau Wai Keung's JAU LOK YUEN (CURSE GARDEN) tries its hands on 3D special effect. After 8 months of post production, the director was satisfied with the initial product. "Hong Kong actually has many horror films. I hope to add new elements that can give the audience a fresh feeling this time. In addition, the audience can be interactive because not the entire film will be three-dimensionalized; only the part in which (Bobo) Chan Man Woon, (Tiffany) Lee Lung Yi and others explore the haunted house. Then viewers will have to put on special glasses and explore with them." Of course writing a new page in Hong Kong film has a price to pay. Lau Wai Keung admitted that for the three dimensional post production the production cost has exceeded expectation. "This time I went overbudget with a smile. Because I want to make the production great, a price has to be paid. Luckily I dragged my special effect buddy in and told him to invest."
(6/19/2003) Director Andrew Lau Wai Keung recently has formed Base Production. Aside from making the company's first film JAU LOK YUEN, he has also teamed with experienced distributor Winnie Tsang to distribute foreign films and purchased 4 film rights with HK$3 million, including SPY KIDS 3-D: GAME OVER, SCARY MOVIE 3, and BAD SANTA.
Lau Wai Keung revealed that his attempt with distribution started with SPY KIDS 3 because earlier he read about the film production and discovered that the film's 3 dimensional effect is similar conceptually to his film JAU LOK YUEN starring Bobo Chan Man Woon and Tiffany Lee Lung Yi. JAU has used 3 dimensional effect on many of its scenes and will be the first Hong Kong film with the 3 dimensional effect. In addition he discovered that his children were watching SPY KIDS over and over again and imitating the characters. Thus he became interested in buying some movies for the family or with certain attraction for distribution. From his days as a cinematographer to today as a director and a distributor, Lau Wai Keung has enjoyed every one of his positions and hopes to try something new. Besides distributing movies, Winnie will also seek local or overseas funding for his future films. Earlier Winnie showed a minute of JAU LOK YUEN at the Cannes Film Festival and found many foreign distributors were interested. Lau Wai Keung has been very cautious with this film production. He spent half a year for the special effect scenes. He even had to invent some new software for technical assistance of the three dimensional effects in hopes of being even more innovative.
(4/19/2003)Fresh out of the oven Hong Kong Film Award winning director Andrew Lau Wai Keung is a man with a plan. Passionate about photography, he entered the business in 81. At the time the 21 year old was only a technician and an assistant, but he has set his goal to become a photographer at the age of 23, producer and director at 27 or 28 and then form his own company. He says with gratitude, "Thank God everything has been going smoothly and within expectation."
He has not run into any difficulty or unpleasantness? He thinks for awhile and says, "No, all were minor problems. If I have to pick something that was the most unpleasant......it has to be the success of YOUNG AND DANGEROUS (GOO WAT JAI) anthology. After each one has over 10 million at the box office, BEST OF THE BEST (NGO HEI BEI TIN GO) slipped off and made only 4 to 5 million! However the unpleasantness only lasted a short while. I examined the reason behind the failure and kept going. I started from the beginning and went on in success or failure. Thus with the success of INFERNAL AFFAIRS (MO GAN DOH), many feel I will make a movie that is bigger than INFERNAL AFFAIRS. No one expected me to go to Thailand and shoot JAU LOK YUEN with all new comers. I don't want to let success go to my head. I went aboard to cool down, have a little fun and enjoy the achievement then that's it." Lau Wai Keung points out that the way to his success is in diligence. "I don't think highly of myself. I work harder than others. I spend most of my time on work that the wife is complaining, hahaha...... when I first started a veteran technician told me, 'don't slack off, grab the reins'. Nowadays people are afraid of losing out. You tell them to do a little more and they feel wronged. Actually giving you work is giving you a chance to learn."
As for the future, Lau Wai Keung smiles and expresses that he wants to build his own theme park. Like the Universal Studio, it will have a studio for film production as well as rides. He wants to be the studio chief. When the reporter says he is like a kid, he says, "I have to maintain a kid mentality. By understanding today's youth mentality more I can make more movies that viewers can relate to."
(3/10/2003)Currently shooting JAU LOK YUEN with Bobo Chan Man Woon and Tiffany Lee Lung Yi in Thailand, Lau Wai Keung two days ago took time to return to the Hong Kong for the event. Lau Wai Keung said the film will wrap up in a week. After completing this film he will begin to write the script for the prequel to INFERNAL AFFAIRS (MO GAN DOH).
Articles are courtesy of Sing Tao Daily, Next Media, Apple Daily, Ming Pao Daily, Oriental Daily, the Sun and Ta Kung Pao. All Rights Reserved.
Reproduced with the kind permission of HK Film Top Ten
