Helmed by Jackie Chan, lobby group launched to promote HK actors in China
HONG KONG: A new organisation to lobby authorities in Beijing on behalf of young talent was officially launched Wednesday.
The official launch ceremony of the Association for Betterment of Hong Kong’s Entertainment Industry in Mainland China, was held at Hong Kong Filmart Wednesday.
Jackie Chan is spearheading the campaign to push for more Hong Kong actors in Chinese television and film productions.
The body will lobby authorities in Beijing as well as collectively bargain key concessions for young Hong Kong talent to secure roles in films and on TV series produced on the mainland.
As a result of a treaty signed in 2003 that sought to promote co-productions between Hong Kong and China, actors from the city were limited to a third of the roles in film projects produced on the mainland. For television, the quotas were even stricter, with only five slots held open for Hong Kong and Macau talent for all jobs on the production including acting, directing and screenwriting.
The new association wants to relax the rules or cancel them altogether and has argued that they are stifling young talent in Hong Kong from breaking through as Chinese productions prefer to fill their quota with established stars.
At the event, Chan also said that Cantonese- speaking Hong Kong actors need to be more willing to adapt particularly when it comes to language. “People go to work in Hengdian and they feel lonely, but it’s because they don’t understand Putonghua,” he told reporters.
Chan, who also belongs to the select group of 200 Hong Kong delegates on China’s top political advisory body, will chair the association, and the group includes co-founder Eric Tsang, singer- songwriter Nicholas Tse, actress Liza Wang Ming- chuen and actor Wong Cho-lam, who were all present at the ceremony.