| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : JUNE 14, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| INTERNATIONAL -- ASIAN COVER STORY
'I'm More a Content Creator in the Digital Age' (int'l edition) John Chu wants to be Hong Kong's next movie baron. The founder and chief executive of Centro Digital Pictures, which specializes in computer-generated special effects, Chu co-produced The StormRiders, a fantasy action picture based on a popular comic series. Attracted by the dynamic effects and two of Hong Kong's most popular matinee stars, The StormRiders became the most popular Hong Kong-made movie last year. Now Chu is working on several more pictures, including The Hero from China, to be released next month. Unlike the low-budget productions normal to Hong Kong's film industry, Chu's work features the kind of gee-whiz, high-tech innovations typical of Hollywood. From his production center in Kowloon, Chu recently spoke with Bruce Einhorn, Business Week's Hong Kong-based technology correspondent. Here are edited excerpts of their conversation: Q: How did you first get into the movie business? A: Probably it's in my blood. My father was a film producer from Shanghai [and fled to Hong Kong after the communist takeover]. In the 1950s and 1960s, he was in charge of production at Yung Hwa Studio. I remember going to sets with my father. Q: So he helped you get started? A: He wasn't particularly encouraging to be in this business. He would rather have seen me become an engineer, pursue a career in physics. I went to film school contrary to my father's wishes. Q: What was your first production? A: I went to Wah Yan College, run by Jesuits. There I produced and directed A Midsummer Night's Dream, with special effects. I used smoke and mirrors, literally: dry ice and mirrors reflecting light. The Jesuits were quite eye-opened. Q: After you went to film school in Italy, you dropped out of the business, making TV commercials instead at Centro. Why? A: I wanted to be a filmmaker.... I wrote a few scripts, only to be rejected. I found I couldn't communicate with the studio bosses. I was hoping to make dramas, love stories, not really what would make money. I now know why I was turned down by the movie bosses. I would have the same reason to turn someone down now. That kind of movie, nobody wants to see. Q: Now that you have moved Centro into the movie business, do you see yourself as a film producer like your father was? A: I'm more a content creator in the Digital Age. I'm quite a believer in technology becoming a facilitator in image creation. We [at Centro] are a film production company utilizing digital tools to create movies. We are breeding a new community of filmmakers in a vastly different way, for a new medium, for a new world. We are building a production studio of the 21st century. Q: Hong Kong moviemakers complain that they can't make any money because counterfeit disks and videos hit the stores as soon as their movies hit the theaters. A: I can't wait for the piracy problem to be solved. I have to work around it. We've got to send movies straight to home of our audience. Broadband Internet is the future. People don't need to go to movie houses anymore to see movies. The images we build need not be only limited to the screen. Q: The local press is comparing the special effects in your new release, The Hero from China with Star Wars, The Phantom Menace. A: Oh my goodness. Q: Well, how do you think they compare? A: The Phantom Menace is more a fairy tale story. The Hero from China is more realistic. Q: What is the future for Centro as electronic commerce becomes more popular? A: E-commerce all has to do with packaging your stuff on the screen. That is what we are good at. What I am doing has to do with what Hong Kong is about, what China is about. We are small players. I can't compete with Yahoo or Amazon. I have to find my own niche in entertainment, edu-tainment, e-commerce. Q: You won't say how old you are. Not even your publicist knows. Why not? A: When I passed 40, I told myself I must never remember my age. In this business, age is a detriment. I must always remain young at heart. Otherwise I'm not able to move on. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
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 RELATED ITEMS The Stars of Asia John Chu, CEO, Centro Digital Pictures, Hong Kong (int'l edition) ONLINE ORIGINAL: ``I'm More a Content Creator in the Digital Age'' (int'l edition) INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online | |||
