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Sha Po Lang (HK 2005) - A Wilson
Yip Film
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About The Filmmakers
Wilson Yip (Director)
Renowned for his careful handling of characters whichever genre he’s
working in, Yip has established himself as one of Hong Kong’s
leading directors in a relatively short time. He made his directing
debut with horror film 1.00am in 1995 and has since directed
critically-acclaimed action films such as Bullets Over Summer (1999)
and Skyline Cruisers (2000) and romantic dramas such as Juliet In
Love (2000). In 2003, he directed superstars Leon Lai and Faye Wong
in romantic drama Leaving Me, Loving You which became a huge hit
over Valentine’s Day 2004. In addition to SPL, his upcoming projects
include highly-anticipated action romance The White Dragon, starring
white-hot Hong Kong actress Cecilia Cheung.
Carl Chang (Producer)
A leading media business manager for the past decade, Chang is now
also regarded as one of Hong Kong’s top film producers following a
string of blockbusters including Fighting For Love, The Twins Effect
and Protégé De La Rose Noire. After working his way up the ranks of
Hong Kong’s broadcasting industry in the early 1990s, Chang held a
series of key positions in Asian media including president of
Taiwan’s Rock Communications, CEO of Hong Kong’s Metro Broadcast
Corporation and CEO of rare internet success Tom.com. In 2002, he
joined Emperor Multimedia Group as CEO, where he began to focus on
film production, and in 2003 established his own entertainment
business, the 1618 Group. He is currently in the process of setting
up a Hong Kong-based production and artist management outfit, See
Corporation, with backing from Hong Kong and overseas investors.
Lam Wah Chuen (Director of Photography)
A regular collaborator of world-renowned indie director Fruit Chan,
Lam’s credits as cinematographer also include Wilson Yip’s
critically-acclaimed romantic drama Juliet In Love and Kenneth
Bi’supcoming Rice Rhapsody which screens in competition at this
year’s Tokyo International Film Festival. He also recently made his
debut as a director with Runaway Pistol which was nominated for best
picture, director and screenplay at the Golden Horse Awards in 2002.
Chan Kwong Wing (Original Music)
Regarded as one of Hong Kong’s leading film composers, Chan’s
credits include the internationally acclaimed Infernal Affairs
trilogy, blockbuster The Twins Effect and the last two episodes of
the long-running Young And Dangerous series. He was awarded best
original film score at the 1999 Hong Kong Film Awards for his work
on Andrew Lau’s action adventure film The Stormriders.
About The Cast
Donnie Yen (Ma)
Born in China and raised in Hong Kong and the US, Yen has won
acclaim on both sides of the Pacific for his work as a martial arts
actor, choreographer and director. While training as a teenager with
the same Beijing Martial Arts Team that spawned Jet Li, Yen was
spotted by world-renowned action director and choreographer Yuen
Woo-ping. He made his film debut aged 19 in Yuen’s Drunken Tai Chi
(1984) and appeared in a string of popular Hong Kong action movies
before being catapulted to stardom following his fight scene with Li
in Once Upon A Time In China 2 (1992). By the early 1990s, Yen had
also started serving as action choreographer on most of the films he
starred in – including Yuen’s Iron Monkey (1993). In 1997, he made
his directorial debut with critically-acclaimed action drama Legend
Of The Wolf.
In 2000, Yen made his Hollywood debut in Highlander: Endgame which
was quickly followed by roles in Blade II (2002) and Shanghai
Knights (2003) with Jackie Chan. More recently, Yen astounded US
audiences with a fight scene, once again opposite Jet Li, in Zhang
Yimou’s Chinese-language blockbuster Hero. Although he’s now a star
in the West, Yen continues to support Chinese cinema and also
recently co-directed Hong Kong blockbusters The Twins Effect and its
sequel The Twins Effect II.
Sammo Hung (Po)
A legendary figure in modern Hong Kong cinema, Sammo Hung has more
than 140 films to his credit as either an actor, director or action
choreographer. A former classmate of Jackie Chan at the Peking Opera
School, Hung entered the film industry as a stunt man and quickly
worked his way up the ranks to the roles of stunt coordinator and
action director. In the 1970s, he helped launch the kung-fu comedy
genre with hits such as Enter The Fat Dragon, while in the 1980s he
smashed Hong Kong box office records with a series of films,
starting with Winners And Sinners, that also starred his opera
school brothers Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao.
More recently, Hung has become a household name in the US by
starring in CBS cop show Martial Law He’s also worked as action
choreographer on two Jean-Claude Van Damme movies, Double Team
(1997) and Knock Off (1998). In 2002, he reunited with old friend
Jackie Chan as the action director of The Medallion, also starring
Claire Forlani. At $35m, the film is most expensive ever produced in
Hong Kong.
Simon Yam (Chan)
One of Hong Kong’s most popular and versatile actors Yam has
appeared in more than 125 movies and 40 TV series during a career
spanning 25 years. A graduate of broadcaster TVB’s actor training
courses, Yam became a huge TV star in Hong Kong before moving into
the film business in the 1980s. Since his breakthrough film
performance in John Woo’s Vietnam epic Bullet In The Head (1990), he
has appeared in almost every genre of Hong Kong movie including
Ringo Lam action title Full Contact (1992), cult classic Naked
Killer (1993) and psychological drama Scarred Memory (1996). In the
latter film he delivered a stand-out performance as a triad member
who suffers a head injury and becomes a child-like amnesiac.
In 1998, Yam starred in Johnnie To’s Expect The Unexpected and soon
became a regular feature of the director’s internationally acclaimed
crime films including The Mission (1999) and Fulltime Killer (2001).
More recently he scored best actor nods at both the Hong Kong Film
Awards and the Golden Horse Awards PTU (2003). Yam also recently
made his debut in a big-budget Hollywood production, playing a
villain in Tomb Raider 2.
Jing Wu (Jack)
Former national wushu champion Jing Wu has been hailed as Asia’s
most promising martial arts actor and a natural successor to action
stars such as Jet Li and Jackie Chan. Born in Beijing in 1974, he
joined the Beijing Martial Arts Team at the age of six and trained
under the same coach who had helped shape Jet Li’s wushu skills a
decade earlier. Inspired by his famous classmate, he went on to
become national champion four times between 1986 and 1991.
Although just starting out on his movie career, Jing Wu has already
worked with some of the world’s leading martial arts directors and
choreographers. Discovered – like Donnie Yen – by Yuen Woo-ping, he
made his movie debut in the director’s 1995 action romance Tai Chi
2. He left the Beijing Martial Arts Team in 2000 to pursue a
full-time career in entertainment and was soon cast in Tsui Hark’s
fantasy epic The Legend Of Zu (2001). In 2002, he was selected by
veteran action director and fight choreographer Lau Kar-leung to
star in Drunken Monkey opposite kung-fu legend Gordon Liu SPL marks
his first starring role in a contemporary film.
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The End
* Special Thanks to Golden
Screen Cinema,
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