From crisis to opportunity

Screenwriter and producer Christine To Chi-long gained her first break in the Hong Kong film industry when still a Creative Media undergraduate at CityU. Spotting her artistic potential, lecturer and renowned director Tam Kar-ming recommended Christine for an internship at the company of well-known artiste Tsang Chi-wai. She went on to make her scriptwriting debut there with Blood Brothers. Now as the film industry starts afresh after the pandemic, Christine is keen to help others fulfil their cinematic dreams as well as boost the film business by opening up fresh directions.


She is in a good position to do so. The scripts that Christine wrote in her earlier days in cinema, including Murderer, Nightfall, Fearless and Secret, were not only diverse in focus but also boldly innovative in style and execution. She attributes such characteristics to her CityU education, which encouraged creativity through a learning environment offering a high degree of freedom. Moreover, this robust foundation has continued to give her the confidence to try additional avenues, enabling her to take on different roles and deepen her industry know-how. Serving as both producer and screenwriter on Rise of the Legend (2014) and Dynasty Warriors (2021), for example, has brought more all-round insights into filmmaking.


Indeed, her confidence extends to the film business and its future overall. While the COVID-19 outbreak dealt a severe blow to the industry, from Christine’s perspective it also brought opportunities ready to be seized. “It is true that cinemas were less frequented during the pandemic and even had to suspend screenings when disease prevention measures were stepped up,” she said. “But at the same time, streaming platforms became more popular, expanding the channels for showing films.”


With the pandemic easing, the local film industry is not just recovering but showing resilience. "Audiences are interested in watching films in a theatre and we are seeing an unprecedented trend of people re-watching films they like," Christine said. "They are also supporting entertainment that touches emotions and prefer more dramatic stories with greater resonance."

Looking ahead, demand for a diversified genre of films will definitely increase, such demand will bring ample new opportunities to the industry and emerging talents.

Christine To

On the personal front, the pandemic has brought new beginnings as well, with Christine giving birth to her second daughter during this time. It also meant she and her director-cum-screenwriter husband Roy Chow Hin-yeung had the chance to develop a closer relationship with their children as they spent more time at home rather than at work.


“During this period, I noticed something special about my elder daughter, and, after professional assessment, realised she is a gifted child. Finding out how to educate and communicate with her is new to me. It is similar to studying for a degree, which requires thinking from multiple perspectives and seeing things from different angles. This has brought many new concepts too, and I have written many screenplays in the past three years.”


Meanwhile, as a producer, Christine is keen to leverage her CityU education and film business experience to play her part in advancing film industry diversification in the future. “What I would like is to assist the development of new directors by working together with them to create different productions,” she said.

串流平台興起 電影業界新機遇

杜緻朗身兼電影編劇與監製，早在城大攻讀創意媒體學士學位課程期間，已受到本身是名導演的導師譚家明賞識，獲推薦至前輩曾志偉的公司實習，寫下躋身大銀幕的《江湖》劇本，為她帶來晉身業界的寶貴機會。時至今天，業界經歷疫情洗禮重新啟航，她亦期望可透過為新導演的電影擔任監製，助他們實現夢想。


杜緻朗入行後的編劇作品包括《殺人犯》、《大追捕》、《霍元甲》及《不能說的秘密》，題材不拘一格，令人印象深刻。她笑言，這種「不按牌理出牌」、敢於尋求突破的創作風格，正是孕育自城大創意媒體學院鼓勵創新與高自由度的學習環境，使她在劇本創作以至不同電影崗位上不斷挑戰新嘗試，如在電影《黃飛鴻之英雄有夢》及《真・三國無雙》中同時出任監製及編劇，加深對電影製作的了解。


疫情對電影業帶來甚大衝擊，杜緻朗認為是危中有機，視乎能否好好把握。「雖然疫情令公眾減少外出欣賞電影，本港戲院更在防疫措施加強下一度停業，卻造就串流平台的進一步普及，由此擴展了電影播放渠道。隨着疫情過去，本地電影業明顯不單復甦，而是比疫情前更旺，觀眾比以往更有入場欲，對喜歡的電影更會重複看，這是前所未有的，觀眾不止是為了娛樂，而是帶情感因素去支持電影這個娛樂。觀眾看電影的口味亦有所不同，已偏向一些更戲劇性、觀眾更有參與感的電影。」

未來市場對各類影視作品的需求只會有增無減，觀衆要求更多元化，為業界和新人帶來大量新機遇。

杜緻朗

家庭方面，除了在疫情期間誕下次女外，杜緻明不無感觸地稱，她與任職導演兼監製的丈夫周顯揚經常忙於工作，疫情反讓兩人有更多時間留在家中照顧兩名女兒，增進親子關係。「我們更留意到大女兒性情的特別之處，經專業評估，才發現她是資優兒童，如何與她溝通，以至教育，對我都是全新的課題，好像進修新的學位，比以前思考更加多元化，而且從更多新角度看新的事情。從中也為我帶來很多創作上的新思維與啟發，這三年間創作了很多劇本，目前我會積極監製更多新導演的電影，為他們入行引路。」