Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Yin

[GeneChing]

HBO Asia, China Movie Channel to Co-Produce Martial Arts Flicks for TV (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hbo-asia-china-movie-channel-909683)
1:05 AM PDT 7/11/2016 by Patrick Brzeski

http://cdn2.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2016/07/spink.jpg
HBO Asia CEO Jonathan Spink
Courtesy of Getty Images

The project will be HBO's first Chinese-language production starring Chinese talent, said HBO Asia CEO Jonathan Spink.
HBO Asia is partnering with China Movie Channel to develop and co-produce an anthology of Chinese-language martial arts action movies for television.

The project marks HBO and its affiliates' first co-production in the massive Chinese TV sector, which counts an estimated 1.2 billion viewers. China Movie Channel (CMC), also known as CCTV6, is the flagship entertainment channel of state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV).

Set to premiere at the end of 2016, the first two films under the partnership will be executive produced by veteran Hong Kong action director Corey Yuen (co-director of the first Transporter film and action director of the first X-Men movie, among many other martial arts credits).

Set in ancient China at the end of the Qing dynasty, the movies — titled, Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So and Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying — will feature "gritty combat sequences executed by a cast of Chinese actors professionally trained in mixed martial arts, kung fu and muay thai," says HBO Asia.

They will be air simultaneously on CMC’s channels in Mainland China and across 23 Asian territories on HBO and RED by HBO.

THR first reported the plans of a development and production partnership between HBO and CMC at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

“Apart from being HBO Asia’s very first Chinese language production and approach to the genre, this also marks the network’s first collaboration with talents from China and Hong Kong,” said Jonathan Spink, CEO of HBO Asia.

Production on the first two flicks is now underway at China’s Hengdian studios. Action choreographer and director Guo Jian Yong (So Close) is directing, while Singaporean screenwriter, Koh Teng Liang, is part of the writing team behind the screenplay for Shadowless Kick.

China Movie Channel is the official Chinese broadcaster of the Oscars. The state-backed company also has invested in several Hollywood films, such as Paramount's Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014) and Skydance Production's Mission Impossible — Rogue Nation (2015).

"This is the first time CMC is doing a co-production of original TV movies," said Cao Yin, president and managing director of CMC, adding: "Through this partnership, we hope to exchange knowledge and know-how in the production of original content, and together with HBO Asia, introduce the essence of our culture through martial arts.”

HBO Asia previously collaborated with filmmakers in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Australia on various English-language productions, including the fantasy series Halfworlds, recently renewed for a second season, which is concurrently being shot in Thailand.

Hope there's an easy way to stream these in the U.S.

[GeneChing]

More on Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So & Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Yin (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68972-Chinese-and-HK-Television-Series&p=1294799#post1294799)


With two kung fu films, HBO cautiously tests the waters in China (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-hbo-china-20160818-snap-story.html)
http://www.trbimg.com/img-57bb7d4d/turbine/la-1471905179-snap-photo/750/750x422
Jonathan Spink, CEO of HBO Asia attends the "2nd Global Film Industry Value Chain Development Forum" during the 18th Shanghai International Film Festival on June 15, 2015. (Photo by VCG via Getty Images)
Julie Makinen

For American film and TV show creators and distributors, it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing in China recently.

Online video portals have been ordered to limit foreign films and TV shows to 30% of their offerings, driving down licensing fees. Authorities are discouraging broadcasters from using imported TV formats to make programs such as “The Voice of China.” This spring, the government closed down Walt Disney Co.’s movie streaming service, and Apple’s as well.

That hasn’t discouraged HBO from testing the waters. On a steamy August morning, HBO Asia Chief Executive Jonathan Spink was tromping around Hengdian World Studios, China’s largest film and TV production base, passing popsicles around an outdoor set where filming was wrapping up on the premium channel’s first two original productions in China.

In the grove of bamboo, a dummy corpse dripping with fake blood perched on a fence as cicadas buzzed in the trees. Another mannequin, hog-tied and strung up by a rope, dangled from a tree over a bed of large spikes. But this was no Chinese version of “Game of Thrones.” HBO Asia is moving cautiously out of the gate, with two made-for-TV kung fu movies, “Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So” and “Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-ying.”

The Mandarin-language films are being co-produced with China Movie Channel, a division of state broadcaster China Central Television, or CCTV. China Movie Channel, also known as CCTV6, will handle distribution on the mainland, while HBO will air the films across Asia.

“We are experimenting. We are learning,” Spink said. Rather than have HBO be seen as just another American company angling for a way to pile into China, Spink said, “this is about taking great content out of China.”

Time Warner Inc.’s HBO Asia has a presence in 23 territories across Asia, including Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. In many countries, HBO offers its own movie channels, as well as online streaming services and on-demand programming.

Time Warner, and other media companies, view foreign markets as increasingly important sources of revenue. HBO, in the last decade, has put a greater emphasis on its international profile and consolidated ownership interests in its branded channels. HBO has channels in Latin America, Europe and Asia, including India, enabling it to parlay its strong hand in original programming. The company also is determined to keep pace with its archrival streaming service, Netflix, which has been aggressively expanding oversees with local language productions.

Until recently, HBO programming in China had been restricted to high-end hotels. To reach a broader Chinese audience, HBO in 2014 signed a content licensing deal with Internet giant Tencent; the online portal now offers viewers programs including “Game of Thrones,” “Sex and the City” and “True Detective.” Last year, HBO Asia partnered with China's national cable network and an Internet protocol TV operator to provide HBO originals and Hollywood movies as part of their subscription offerings to general households.

HBO Asia began co-producing original English-language productions four years ago, starting with an action-adventure film, “Dead Mine,” and a Singapore-set 1960s noir detective series, “Serangoon Road.” Those were followed by the horror mini-series “Grace” and “Halfworlds,” a supernatural thriller series filmed in Indonesia.

This year, HBO Asia has moved into Chinese-language content, launching not just “Master of the Drunken Fist” and “Master of the Shadowless Kick” on the mainland but also starting production in Taiwan this summer on “The Psychic,” a TV series.

“Master of the Drunken Fist” and “Master of the Shadowless Kick” are directed by Guo Jian-yong, a veteran action choreographer on films including John Woo’s “Red Cliff” and “The Transporter” series that starred Jason Statham. The “masters” in both movies are real historical figures familiar to Chinese audiences and kung fu enthusiasts.

If the first two films are well-received, HBO and CMC could add further installments to essentially make a series, said Beibei Fan, senior vice president of new business at HBO Asia. “These are almost like pilots,” said Fan, though each film stands on its own.

CMC and HBO Asia refused to discuss how much they were spending on the two films, but Fan said the budgets were “slightly higher” than HBO Asia’s earlier original productions. Although there are no plans now to run the movies on HBO’s U.S. platforms, Fan said there’s already enough of a Chinese audience in Asia to make the project worthwhile.

China Movie Channel broadcasts the Oscars in China and has licensing deals with all the major Hollywood studios. The channel has been stepping up its collaborations with Hollywood. It invested in Paramount’s “Transformers: Age of Extinction” in 2014 and “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation” last year.

CMC in the past has licensed and aired HBO original TV movies, including “The Gathering Storm,” but this is the first time it’s co-producing with HBO Asia.

Noting that CMC reaches more than 1 billion viewers in China while HBO Asia has a wide presence across Asia, CMC Vice President Zhang Ling called the partnership a “powerful combination.”

Partnering with a state-run entity such as CMC on relatively tame fare, and becoming an overseas distribution partner for Chinese-made content, could help put HBO in the good graces of Chinese authorities. “President Xi Jinping wants to take Chinese culture to the world,” said Guo, the director. “I’m honored to be able to direct these two movies and be a part of it.”

Guo said he’s striving to make as much of the action as real as possible, with the actors performing almost all their own stunts. “Audiences across all cultures can appreciate that,” he said.

Although the films are being co-produced by HBO, Guo said the content would not be an awkward East-West mashup. Four of the five writers across the two films are Chinese; one is Singaporean.

“We have the endorsement of the HBO brand, but it has to be authentic Chinese if it’s going to work,” Guo said. “It can’t be half-Western and half-Chinese or audiences will be confused.”

“Master of the Shadowless Kick” tells the story of Wong Kei-ying, a martial arts master and physician who lived in the 1800s during a time when China was being invaded by European powers and ravaged by opium addiction. Trying to save his master, Wong takes on the treacherous governor of Canton province, who has a hand in the drug business.

“The role is quite sophisticated,” said Sun Hao-ran, who plays Wong. “He’s kind of a national hero who battles opium and he’s also a father.”

“Master of The Drunken Fist: Beggar So” centers on So Chan, one of the kung fu masters among the legendary “Ten Tigers of Canton.” So has been the subject of numerous martial arts films including the 1992 Steven Chow movie “King of Beggars.”

HBO’s collaboration with CMC may also help it lift its profile in mainland China, where broadcasting is heavily regulated and controlled by the state. Even Cao Jun, the star of “Master of the Drunken Fist,” admitted he had only a vague familiarity with HBO.

“HBO is an American brand, right?” he said on the sidelines of the set in Hengdian. “We can’t receive this channel in mainland China. So I don’t know much about it; I have heard the name, I know it’s a good channel. It’s a pity we cannot watch it; I don’t know if we can watch it online. These two films will be screened on HBO, right?”

Nicole Liu and Yingzhi Yang in The Times’ Beijing bureau contributed to this report. Staff writer Meg James in Los Angeles also contributed.

julie.makinen@latimes.com

[GeneChing]

Posts above copied from the Chinese and HK Television Series (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68972-Chinese-and-HK-Television-Series) thread.

Curious to see how these come over to the U.S. Will U.S. HBO show them?


Exciting gongfu action on HBO channels this Christmas (http://news.asiaone.com/news/showbiz/exciting-gongfu-action-hbo-channels-christmas)

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Photo: HBO Asia

Two action-packed martial arts movies set at the end of the Qing dynasty will premiere on prime time in Asia this Christmas.

"Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So" will screen on Dec 25 while "Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying" will debut on Dec 26, said a statement by HBO Asia today.

The two movies will be shown on HBO and Red Bb HBO in Asia. You can also catch them on HBO Go and HBO On Demand in Asia, as well as on CCTV6 in China at a later date.

The movies will boast a cast of Chinese actors professionally trained in mixed martial arts, gongfu and muay thai.

The executive producer of the films is renowned Hong Kong action director, Corey Yuen. The director is Guo Jian-yong, who had choreographed big-action sequences for Red Cliff and Transporter I, II and III.

Playing the lead roles will be Cao Jun in "Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So" and Sun Hao-ran in "Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying".

The screenplays were written by a team of writers from China, while award-winning Singaporean screenwriter, Koh Teng Liang, also contributed to the screenplay of "Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying".

Shot in Hengdian studios in China's Zhejiang province, the movies will be dubbed in English with local language subtitles when shown in Asia on HBO. Both movies will also debut at the same time on Red By HBO in its original Mandarin language with English subtitles. Both will air in Mandarin in China.

chenj@sph.com.sg

[GeneChing]

Here's the other un-conjoined twin thread: Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69828-Master-of-the-Drunken-Fist-Beggar-So).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AAc3yO-0w4

[GeneChing]

Available on Amazon, Google Play and iTunes this Friday.


HBO Asia's very first Chinese-language films, MASTER OF THE DRUNKEN FIST: BEGGAR SO and MASTER OF THE SHADOWLESS KICK: WONG KEI-YING will be available on Digital HD retailers like Amazon, Google Play and iTunes on January 27, 2017!

Some pre-order/purchase links can be found here:

MASTER OF THE DRUNKEN FIST: BEGGAR SO
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Master-Drunken-Fist-Beggar-So/dp/B01NBNN54Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=instant-video&ie=UTF8&qid=1484942095&sr=8-1&keywords=master+of+the+drunken+fist+beggar+so
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/Master_of_the_Drunken_Fist_Beggar_So?id=2KEiBoULhJ 4&hl=en
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/master-drunken-fist-beggar/id1188180754

MASTER OF THE SHADOWLESS KICK: WONG KEI-YING
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Master-Shadowless-Kick-Wong-Kei-Ying/dp/B01N9KPXJM/ref=sr_1_2?s=instant-video&ie=UTF8&qid=1484942095&sr=8-2&keywords=master+of+the+drunken+fist+beggar+so
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/Master_of_the_Shadowless_Kick_Wong_Kei_Ying?id=QF2 ivgA-2iw&hl=en
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/master-shadowless-kick-wong/id1188373882

For more information, please find our press release and images below. Be sure to tell your readers to check out MASTER OF THE DRUNKEN FIST: BEGGAR SO and MASTER OF THE SHADOWLESS KICK: WONG KEI-YING on January 24! Let us know if you would like streaming access to the films for review.

Thanks so much for your time!
Valerie

Link to images: https://app.box.com/s/0qoeuabyw8gbejfowwym5ool8o20jfny

MASTER OF THE DRUNKEN FIST: BEGGAR SO

MASTER OF THE SHADOWLESS KICK: WONG KEI-YING

Chinese Martial Arts Anthology Films Available for Digital Download January 24, 2017

New York, NY, January 20, 2017 -- Considered to be the best fighters in southern China during the 19th century Qing dynasty, each of the “Ten Tigers of Canton” was a master of a unique martial arts style, from the “Hap Family Fist” to the “Bone Melting Palm.” Their stories have been embellished by folk legends and passed down from generation to generation, and now two of their stories will be brought to American audiences when HBO releases Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So and Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-ying for digital download. Produced by HBO Asia and distributed in the U.S. by HBO Home Entertainment, both films are available for pre-order now at all digital retailers and will be available to download on January 24, 2017. The films will also be released on Blu-rayTM and DVD, with details to be announced at a later date.

Filmed in Hengdian, China, these films are HBO Asia’s very first Chinese-language productions and their first approach to the martial arts genre. The films are executive produced by acclaimed Hong Kong director Corey Yeun (The Transporter) and directed by Guo Jian-yong, who previously choreographed the action sequences for Cradle 2 the Grave, Red Cliff, and the first three films in the Transporter franchise.

Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So
Born to a wealthy merchant in Canton, So Chan is pampered—but smart and ambitious—and about to become the Emperor's top Martial Arts Warrior. But when he finds himself dragged into a conspiracy between two political powers in the imperial court, he loses everything, including his family and almost his life. With the help of the beggar gang chief and his daughter—plus a healthy dose of Chinese liquor—So Chan grasps the full essence of the long lost martial art skill the Drunken Fist to become a proud and driven Beggar So, determined to get his revenge and find the love of his life.

Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-ying
A quiet and honest physician, Wong Kei-ying spends his life upholding medical ethics and saving lives while avoiding conflicts and politics until he finds himself tricked into assisting Wei, the ruthless and treacherous new governor of Canton, in a bid to wrest control of the city’s opium business from a local gang. When his mentor leaves him with illustrations of the legendary martial art skill Shadowless Kick, Wong must master the skill and use it in a final attempt to take down Wei.

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO_cIOs7-VA

[GeneChing]

I still haven't seen either

Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69828-Master-of-the-Drunken-Fist-Beggar-So&p=1303129#post1303129) or Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69809-Master-of-the-Shadowless-Kick-Wong-Kei-Yin) (and I haven't been to Cannes (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?53853-Cannes) yet either) :o Anyone seen them yet?


Cannes: HBO, China Movie Channel to Co-Produce More Martial Arts Films (Exclusive) (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-hbo-china-movie-channel-produce-more-martial-arts-films-1005793)
8:58 AM PDT 5/20/2017 by Patrick Brzeski

http://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2017/05/zhang_ling_jonathan_spink_split_h_2017.jpg
Getty Images
China Movie Channel vp Zhang Ling (left), HBO Asia CEO Jonathan Spink

The deal marks HBO's second co-production pact for the massive Chinese TV sector, which counts some 1.2 billion viewers.
HBO Asia is again partnering with China Movie Channel to co-develop and produce a pair of Chinese-language martial arts movies for television.

The project will mark HBO and its affiliates' second co-production pact for the massive Chinese TV sector, which counts some 1.2 billion estimated viewers. China Movie Channel (CMC), also known as CCTV6, is the flagship entertainment channel of state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV).

Last year, CMC and HBO Asia co-produced Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So and Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying, two martial-arts flicks set in ancient China at the end of the Qing dynasty. The movies were directed by Guo Jian-yong, a veteran action choreographer on projects like John Woo's Red Cliff and Jason Statham's Transporter franchise. The films were then aired simultaneously on CMC’s channels in mainland China and across 23 Asian territories on HBO and RED by HBO.

"We were very pleased with how our first collaboration turned out, so we are very happy to be partnering with HBO on two more high-quality TV movies that celebrate Chinese culture and history," Zhang Ling, vice president of China Movie Channel, told The Hollywood Reporter at the Cannes Film Festival.

Zhang declined to share further details about the new projects. But, like their predecessors, each film is expected to be a stand-alone story exploring the life of a legendary martial arts master from Chinese history — together, the movies will form a loose series, or portfolio, of martial-arts sagas.

CMC is no newcomer to collaborations with Hollywood. In 2014, it invested in Paramount’s Transformers: Age of Extinction, and it also took a stake in Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation the following year.

"We are looking to partner with more experienced entertainment companies from around the world," said Zhang. "These collaborations give our talents and creative teams an opportunity to learn from Hollywood production experience, and they also help us share Chinese culture with the world in very professional way."

Zhang shared the news of the projects with THR shortly before the kickoff of the annual China Night Party held on the beach in front of the iconic Hotel Majestic in Cannes. Now in its ninth year, the China Night Party added an entertainment industry panel discussion component to the festivities for this year's edition. Panelists included leaders of the Chinese film industry, such as Bona Film Group chairman Yu Dong, as well as U.S. and international industry players, such as Lorenzo Soria, president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (the organizer of the Golden Globes); Jonathan Wolf, managing director of the American Film Market; and Valerie Lepine Karnlk, CEO of Film France. The panel series was recorded for a delayed broadcast on China Movie Channel.

"Over the nine years that we have been hosting the China Night event in Cannes, the Chinese film industry has experienced amazing growth and development," said Zhang. "Our goal is to continue finding new ways to build connections and encourage business and exchange between the Chinese film industry and experienced entertainment professionals from around the world."