Hailing from an environment where actors rarely pursue behind-the-scenes work, former TVB mainstay Lam Ka-tung has just completed his first screenplay, and is working on a second.
But Lam is the first to admit that it might be some time before the scripts are made into films.
Andy Lau Tak-wah, whose company Focus Group manages Lam's career, has 'asked me to focus more on my acting first', said Lam (right).
But Lau has been supportive and has commented on his work. 'I gave him the screenplays and asked for his advice - and I told him, 'Hey, this would not cost much to make, so even if it lost money it wouldn't really bleed the finances'.'
The success of Lau's Focus: First Cut films - a series of independent works that include surprise successes such as Lam Tze-chung's I'll Call You and, Ning Hao's Crazy Stone - will hopefully be a boost for his own foray into screenwriting, said Lam.
Lam starred in I'll Call You and will soon appear in the last film in the series, Lee Lung-lok's My Mother is a Belly Dancer. Intent on keeping his latest brainchild under wraps, Lam would reveal only that it's a comedy. It's a far cry from his on-screen persona these days: he's now better known as local cinema's most trusted on-screen psychotic villain, as shown in his starring turn in Johnnie To Kei-fung's Election.