Fala Chen to Star in HKTVE’s New Big-Budget Drama?
As ATV is facing shutdown, Richard Li‘s (李澤楷) PCWW’s HK Television Entertainment Company Limited (HKTVE) has been granted a 12-year broadcasting license. HKTVE proposed investing $2.7 billion HKD in the first 10 years of operation, bringing high-quality programming to viewers. Owning the subscription based Now TV, the company will be producing two multi-million dollar drama productions and other variety programs.
Former TVB producers, husband-and-wife team Mui Siu Ching (梅小青) and Lau Kar Ho (劉家豪), joined Now TV in 2012. Their drama production The Virtuous Queen of Han <大漢賢后衛子夫> achieved top ratings in Mainland China. The duo hopes to duplicate their success with a new drama about Emperor Taizong and his wife, Empress Zhangsun, of the Tang Dynasty.
Tentatively titled Without a Match in This World <舉世無雙>, the drama will be produced with a $100 million HKD budget and start filming in July. Aside from hoping to work with Raymond Lam (林峯) and Niki Chow (周麗淇) again, producers Mui and Lau are reportedly interested in casting Fala Chen (陳法拉) in the role of Empress Zhangsun due to her distinctive aura and beauty in ancient costume.
Mui stated, “Our production is a Mainland/ Hong Kong production. There will definitely be Mainland and Hong Kong actors, and perhaps include Taiwanese and Korean artistes. The male and female leads have not been decided yet, so we can not announce the cast. However, we have always admired Fala, and hope to be able to work together in the future.”
Another HKTVE drama, Golden Storm <黃金風暴>, is in its pre-production stages and already has a completed script. Set in the pre-modern era, the drama will revolve around the power struggles within a prominent family.
Source: ihktv.com
This article is written by Jayne for JayneStars.com.
Oh no Korean artists, please They don’t fit in playing Chinese ancient roles.
@nori except Jang Nara! Love Jang Nara.
@nori I think Korean actress or actors are fine if they can actually act well. I still have bad memories of the recent Tian Long Ba Bu with KiBum’s bad acting.
I don’t like Fala in ancient series. She looks fine but her enunciation in ancient vocabulary is bad. I prefer her in modern series.
@elizabeth You could be right. I watched Fala Chen in “Sound of the Desert” which was a Mandarin-speaking drama series. Her Cantonese is all right, but not perfect
She was okay in “Can’t Buy Me Love”, a maid for the Princess. Will see if she can act a role as a glamorous queen. Perhaps it will be a Mandarin-speaking drama series as it is co-produced with artistes in China.
I don’t see how HKTVE is any different from most Mainland studio’s, where they merge Mainland and HK actors all the time in drama series.
Knowing that they also target mostly a mainland audience, where they are required to adhere to Mainland broadcasting standards, also means it will be really boring, similar dialogues, and non-innovating.
*yawn*
@anon And Fala can’t act.
@anon Don’t agree. Fala Chen is pretty and acts well (at least to my standard). She is my No. 2 actress, next to Charmaine Sheh.
@anon I somehow think boring, similar dialogues, and non-innovating are more correct to recent TVB series than Chinese series.
HKTVE’s first series still has HK elements but it also contains the good things from Chinese studio’s: Scenes and clothes. Storyline wise, it has less love scenes than the normal Chinese series, so it is still quite HK.
I look forward to HKTVE next series if the quality is maintained.
@alluka I did watch NowTV’s first drama series, acted by Raymond Lam, Fala Chen and a mainland Chinese actress. Acting wise was good, but the storyline was too slow.
@orchid123 Fala Chen wasnt in it. Do you mean Niki?
The storyline is a bit slow and it was why I said it has HK elements, lolz. Just kidding. The storyline was written by Miu Siu Ching who is a HKer. Btw, I understand why the storyline is slow because a Chinese series was aired 3 eps per night, everyday in a week. If the storyline is too fast paced, the audience cannot get it well. Maybe Miu Siu Ching knows that fact so she chooses to adapt the slow rythm to suit the Chinese airing.
That series was a success in China, Taiwan, Japan and in HK, it was quite successful as well. I think it encourage Lau – Mui couple to continue with that path.
@alluka Sorry. It was my mistake. You are right, it was Niki Chow in “Virtuous Queen”, and Fala Chen in “Sound of the Desert”. Niki Chow is also pretty, but Fala Chen has more of an aura. Both of them are pretty, but I like Fala more. She can act a cool but pretty woman, but Niki is more for a happy and bubbling one.
@orchid123 I think Fala as the potential but she may need to work more with her weak point: crying. She looks pretty when crying but her tears dont run down naturally. Overall, she needs a good role.
I dont really think Niki has strong acting but her role in Queen was well written. I can understand why she skyrocketed after it.
@alluka Agree. Niki Chow does not have strong acting skills, plus she speaks with lazy intonations.
@orchid123 I didn’t really like “The Virtuous Queen of Han” too much either. I don’t mind the length of episodes but the plot was quite weak IMO. The villains were one-dimensional and boring. And it was pretty cliched as well.
Fala Chen, it’s worth the waiting and, moreover, you could choose our own role and drama series. If you are good, you surely will be cast by other TV filming companies.
As ATV is facing shutdown, Richard Li‘s (李澤楷) PCWW’s HK Television Entertainment Company Limited (HKTVE) has been granted a 12-year broadcasting license.
Is HKTVE one of the 2 broadcasting companies that has been granted license earlier? Does the above statement means HKTVE finally got a black and white written license?
I remember one poster (I think it’s llwy12) said the 2 approved companies have only gotten verbal approval but not yet officially get the license. Is HKTVE now got official license? What about the other company?
@kidd PCCW and Cable have been granted a TV license by the government in the previous years.
However, Ricky Wong company (HKTV) has appealed against the decision by the goverment to not give a TV license to HKTV. I wonder if HKTVE can start broadcasting if the appeal is still ongoing in the court.
@kidd Previously, HKTVE and Fantastic Television (NowTV and i-Cable’s free TV subsidiaries, respectively) were issued free TV licenses “in principle” – which merely meant that the government had approved their license applications….they never had their licenses “in hand”. With Wednesday’s announcement, the government is now officially granting HKTVE (NowTV) its license, since they have demonstrated to the government that they are actively working on all the requirements that were laid out in their application / proposal. Fantastic TV (i-Cable) on the other hand, hasn’t done much in terms of fulfilling those requirements, so for now, the government is holding off on officially giving them their license. HKTV is in a different situation entirely – they got denied a license the first time and even though Ricky Wong re-filed his application last year, it’s doubtful whether the government will approve. When asked about HKTV’s application, the government said that they are “still reviewing it”. And like someone said below, the judicial review that HKTV filed against the government is still pending (both sides gave their closing statements already, but the judge put off on making a decision yet)….so that will definitely throw a wrench into things too.
Now that HKTVE has a license, they have 1 year to “start up shop” so to speak….to be honest though, even if HKTVE starts up, their focus is on Mainland anyway, so it’s not like they will be in direct competition with TVB. And with so many unknown variables right now (i.e.: what is the government going to do with ATV’s license and also the 6 broadcasting spectrums that ATV was using), it’s hard to say how things are eventually going to pan out.
Hmm, seems like all 3 HKTVE series (including ‘Virtuous Queen) revolved around power struggle. Hope they will have more varied series later on.
‘Without a Match in This World’ most probably is about Emperor Li Shimin. Li Shimin’s queen is Empress Zhangsun and The 世 in 舉世無雙 can stand for Li Shimin.
I’m happy that Fala get this role. She did have a distinct aura. She was elegant in ‘Sound of the Desert’.
Heard that Miu Siu Ching is aiming Catherine Chou. As Catherine Chou has ended her contract with HKTV, hoping that she will sign with HKTVE. She is amazing in The Menu.
@alluka Stupid TVB did not promote Catherine Chou at all when she was there. I knew she was a pretty good actress based on her performance as 3rd, 4th or even minor roles in TVB series. TVB just promoted a very few fadans and siu sangs even if some of them could not act well.
@orchid123 Yes, I noticed her in Sister Fa. She provided a very good performance as a low IQ girl. She wasnt noticed by TVB so they lost her to other channels.
I think TVB doesnt really know how to value potential artists. Their method to promote only few biological sons make them lose a lot of good artists.
Im hoping someone will notice Deno Cheung.
@alluka I agree that TVB is so stupid and not knowing how to value their artists. Deno Cheung is a good actor but got promoted from TVB. That’s why artists left the station. I’d rather watching him playing minor roles than looking at Him Law and otherTVB newcomers.
@nori @kidd: I remember that Deno said somewhere that he might quit the acting job due to economic crisis. I still like him so so much.
@alluka Yes, hoping someone will notice Deno Cheung. I still want to see him onscreen.
@kidd It’s a shame what TVB did to Deno Cheung and Catherine Chau. I feel especially sorry for Deno, who was relegated to playing kelefe roles, some of which barely had any dialogue! He’s a good actor who was being way under-utilized – if properly utilized, he can truly shine and make himself known. Look at Alan Luk – he was virtually unknown at TVB, yet after joining HKTV, he started getting recognition….for example: even though he only had a small role in The Menu, his performance was awesome and very memorable – he got more recognition and praise for his performance in those few episodes than he did throughout his entire career at TVB (plus he gets the opportunity to lead in the next series that HKTV is airing on April 13th).
And Catherine Chau – well, what else can I say that I haven’t already said? She is absolutely FANTASTIC in The Menu! TVB once again made a bonehead decision to ignore her and essentially relegate her to kelefe status for 17 years (they are probably kicking themselves right now…lol). I’ve been following all of the interviews related to The Menu (my new favorite series as of late) and seeing how Catherine is in real life, I’m liking her more and more – she definitely has a good attitude and despite the way TVB treated her, she has no bitterness toward them. In fact, she is grateful for the opportunities she got to build up her acting those 17 years. I actually hope that she doesn’t sign with any TV station and instead, continue to remain a free artist because that’s the only way she’ll truly be able to get more varied opportunities.
@alluka I’m happy for Catherine Chau. She mentioned that her future is very uncertain after HKTV didn’t get the license. With Miu Siu Ching aiming for her, her career can continue to progress. But, kinda ironic/sad that Catherine Chau and Miu Siu Ching has been under the same company for nearly 20 years and Miu Siu Ching never noticed her or gave her any chances. Only Chik/Chow pair has made good use of Catherine Chau’s talent.
In an Apple Daily interview, Catherine has said that she has even offered to TVB to sign management contract with them in the past, but, TVB rejected her. So, she went and took a degree course in law (as a backup I think) and got straight As. But, she love acting so much that she stayed on in this field even after getting the degree.
http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/entertainment/art/20150320/19082488
@kidd It is The Menu to bring Catherine up. She is amazing in it, I admit. She can act many types of roles and her young look helps her to act younger role without being an eyesore. Hmm… which role in Li Si Min period suits her? Thinking :).
I notice that Lau Ka Ho seems to reduce his style of using family song. But he is still in his safe zone to make series about family love. Lolz, after starting to make series for HKTVE, he starts to make series about cruel kings in Chinese history.
I wonder who will act Li Si Min. Hope that he wont use a Korean actor :p. Too bad LF cant do such series or he can act all 3 cruel kings in the history. Now he only has 2.
@alluka I find it funny how recently so many threads naturally just gravitate towards The Menu after it aired. That drama has really brought out the best in television for HK and could easily be the best drama this year. As much as I enjoyed Election, TBONTB and Borderline, there’s something extra special about the script and how the entire team came together to bring it to life (they took 7 to 8 months to film it). I’ll miss this one for sure and it has a set a gold standard for modern HK television.
Quite a display of HK talent that is still readily available, hoping they can be put to good use because TVB sure snubbed on them but turns out they were the ones who lost out big time.
After ATV is gone, the broadcasting airwaves are going to RTHK (more known as a radio station, of course they also make some TV programs). Basically, TVB is the only real TV station left for 1 year of more. RTHK does not have that many TV programs and they are not going to make TV series.
PCCW and Cable are hoping the broadcasting airwaves (analogue) are given to them, so people can watch these TV stations much easier. In the current situation, I believe people in HK need a box or a TV that supports DVB in able to watch PCCW or Cable TV channels.
Also, HKTV has applied for a new TV license again. Previously, I believe a report has said HK can’t have 5 TV stations, because the market in HK is too small for 5 TV stations. Therefore, HKTV did not get a TV license back then (there were also other criteria). Instead, PCCW and Cable have been granted a TV license.
Since ATV is now gone, I wonder if HKTV will now get a TV license. It could most likely take at least a year before a new decision is made. Also, HKTV still have a appeal ongoing against the goverment to not grant a TV license to them.
Can the new TV stations start broadcasting even if the appeal is still ongoing?
Furthermore, HKTV is also interested in these broadcasting airwaves (analogue). The companies who have these broadcasting airwaves have a huge advantage. At the moment, TVB and ATV are sharing these airwaves.
In 2020, these broadcasting airwaves (analogue) are going to digital. This means much more space for a lot of TV channels.
I do agree that Fala might not be the best in acting, but at least most of the time, Fala could bring her character’s character out. Such as Fala’s character Holiday, yes, she might not be able to do crying scenes well, but we could feel/see Holiday’s character/personality well such as her being immature, rebellious and naïve.
@alien Agree. Fala was only weak in her cry scene in TITS 2, but she was good in showing her character.