Virginia Lok Shares Shaw Brothers’ Strategy After Finding Success With “Flying Tiger” Franchise
Flying Tiger 2 <飛虎之雷霆極戰> was well received by viewers after its first week of broadcast on TVB. The station’s sister company, Shaw Brothers, produced the Flying Tiger franchise and several popular web series while retaining its core business in films production. After the success of Flying Tiger, executive Virginia Lok (樂易玲) offers insight on the studio’s future strategy.
Naturally, there are differences from dramas produced by Shaw Brothers versus TVB, as the former has a higher budget for production. “Flying Tiger 2 was shot in the style of a film and you can see it in terms of the content, production, lens processing, actions and artistes. We hoped it would be more cinematic.”
Although the drama had already been aired in Mainland China last year, it is enjoying good ratings in its current TVB broadcast. When asked if future dramas would be aired in China before Hong Kong, Ms. Lok said this will depend upon the drama.
Leveraging on “Flying Tiger”
While Shaw Brothers was successful in producing popular web dramas in recent years, Ms. Lok does not think the studio will shift its focus away from producing films. “Shaw Brothers is committed to making films. Some themes are better suited for movies. I think other movies can be filmed based on [existing] intellectual property. Like Flying Tiger, the second season is being aired and the third season is almost finalized [for production to start]. Many colleagues and friends from other production companies said they want to collaborate with us to make a Flying Tiger movie.”
Ms. Lok continued, “This is one of the reasons why we produced Flying Tiger 2. We want our company to build on its own intellectual property and make our own movies.”
Developing Artistes
While Ms. Lok has high expectations on the production, she prefers to work with the company’s own artistes by giving them more opportunities. “Even if they are not artistes under Shaw Brothers, we will invite them to join. It depends on the character. I will try to find important roles for TVB’s artistes, especially those who signed management contracts with us.”
She added, “I also hope they can try different things such as movies or stage plays. We always try to find these opportunities for them, especially for TVB’s veteran artistes. TVB and Shaw Brothers have many veteran artistes but I think they are still important. If there is a right role, I will ask them for help.”
Source: HK01
This article is written by Sammi for JayneStars.com.
Many veterans have left TVB, like Lau Kong. Probably cause they treat them like trash.
If only they did proper casting and update their music score. Even just doing that would probably help them make 10x better shows.
Also, why doesn’t TVB just merge with Shaw. They can still keep producing series and films. Combine resources, yknow?
@bubbles23 Yes, Lau Kong left because TVB decided to cut his pay, which is so sad because he’s been working there for so many years. Isnt TVB rich af? Dont understand why they treat workers poorly. https://www.jaynestars.com/news/lau-kong-left-tvb-because-of-pay-cut/
@luye actually I think TVB has been losing money , if anything. Everyone knows TVB is stingy with pay and overworks their artistes, yet people keep flocking to film for them because air time translates to endorsements and fame.
@bubbles23 true, they dont make $ from viewers as TVB is free in HK. They definitely overwork artists with insane filming schedules, which i cant believe hasnt changed over many years. It’s because they put out 2 dramas at once, with episodes everyday, which is A LOT compared to other companies.
Ratings are high because people are stuck at home with nothing else better to do. Your productions and business strategy are both garbage. If it wasn’t for nostalgia, I wouldn’t even bother with your Flying Tiger series.
@anon Virginia Lok def realizes the nostalgia effect. Not a coincidence she puts all the guys there in the same drama
@anon hahaha definitely. The same with Forensic Hero’s 4. They kept celebrating of the high view ratings but it’s all because everyone was stuck at home
“I will try to find important roles for TVB’s artistes, especially those who signed management contracts with us.”
There you go ladies and gentlemen. More opportunities if you sign a contract and I dare say award as well…
@jjwong Haha…Flying Tigers movie announcement! Shaw Brothers is so predictable!
@llwy12 smdh. How pitiful!