Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) and the Hong Kong Film Development Council (FDC) today (March 15) launched Hong Kong Film New Action 2016 to explore ways of collaboration among the film industries in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau. The initiative also aims to showcase the advantages of the three areas in film facilitation and production services to attract local and overseas film companies to make their films in the Pearl River Delta region.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Assistant Head of CCIDAHK, Mr Wellington Fung, said that Hong Kong can provide a full range of services in location filming, film facilitation and post-production up to international standards. Apart from holding its intrinsic character, the city also attaches great importance to co-operating with neighbouring regions to achieve mutual success.
Mr Fung said Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, all situated in the Pearl River Delta region and sharing similar cultures and a common language, are well poised for co-operation among each other to foster development.
He expressed the hope that the film industry will continue to thrive in the Pearl River Delta region through active promotion and closer co-operation among the Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of Guangdong Province, the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macau Special Administrative Region Government and CreateHK with a view to making the Pearl River Delta region a regional film production centre.
Hong Kong Film New Action is a large-scale annual promotional event that has been organised by the FDC since 2008. With a different theme each year, it aims to promote Hong Kong films and related service sectors and to enhance the sustainable development of the local film industry.
At the ceremony today, Mr Fung also announced the launch of the third First Feature Film Initiative (FFFI) to continue to identify and nurture prospective talent for the local film industry through a competition focusing on screenplays and production proposals.
As in the second FFFI, the third FFFI is divided into a Higher Education Institution Group and a Professional Group. Each group will offer one prize. The director of each participating team shall not have previously shot any commercial film of 80 minutes or above. The Film Development Fund will provide funding for the winning teams to implement their film proposals and make their first commercial feature films. The level of grant for the winning team for the Higher Education Institution Group is $3.25 million and that for the Professional Group is $5.5 million.
Mr Fung said, "The FFFI has been effective since its launch in March 2013. The industry generally agrees that the FFFI has given young talents who wish to join the film industry a chance to polish their skills and show their flair, adding energy to the local film industry."
The three winning teams of the first FFFI have already completed film shooting. Their films are "Opus 1" (directed by Cheung King-wai) in the Professional Group, and "Weeds on Fire" (directed by Chan Chi-fat) and "Mad World" (directed by Wong Chun) in the Higher Education Institution Group.
The two winning teams of the second FFFI are "Love@TheSquare" (directed by Chan Chit-man) in the Professional Group and "In Your Dream" (directed by Tam Wai-ching) in the Higher Education Institution Group. Their productions are under preparation.
To attract more young people to participate in the FFFI, CreateHK has set up a Facebook page for promoting the scheme as well as the film personnel involved in the making of the FFFI films and building a network for the new generation film practitioners in Hong Kong.
The third FFFI is open to applications from today to August 15. For details of the scheme, please visit the Facebook page (www.facebook.com/HKFFFI), the website of CreateHK (www.ccidahk.gov.hk) or the website of the FDC (www.fdc.gov.hk).
Tuesday, March 15, 2016