appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

liveArticle

appConfig

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sectionsV2

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

json

SCMP Reporter

If you had walked the streets of Mongkok last week, you would have seen posters unashamedly proclaiming that pirated VCD copies of what is expected to be this summer's biggest local blockbuster, A Man Called Hero, would be available a full day ahead of its release on Saturday. What's more, the HK$20 copy would be equivalent in quality to the HK$60 big-screen version.

 According to the maker of the movie, Centro Digital Pictures, pirates hijacked the movie's prints two Saturdays ago when they were sent to Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia. The movie opened simultaneously across Asia last Saturday.

 'I'm very disheartened,' said John Chu, president and founder of Centro.

 'The Government's efforts [to curb piracy] have been pathetic and it damages the good intentions and hearts of serious movie producers who want to make quality pictures.'  The rampant VCD piracy, he said bitterly, is strangling the Hong Kong movie industry.

 'The industry's output has steadily declined since the mid-90s,' Mr Chu said.

 The local movie business used to be thriving and was more profitable. The mid-80s and early 90s saw the industry churn out 300 movies annually, all money-making.

 Because of piracy as well as the deteriorating quality of local movies, the output has been slashed to just 60 movies a year now, leading many to predict the inevitable demise of the ailing local film industry.

 But Mr Chu does not believe the industry is dead.

 Typical of a proud artist, he cited the phenomenal success of his first picture, Storm Riders, released last summer.

 The movie holds the box-office record in the SAR at US$10 million, outdoing big-budget movies from Hollywood such as The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

 Contrary to previous published reports, Mr Chu has changed his mind about going public with Centro.

 'Right now I'm still building up the company, so listing is not on my agenda yet,' he said, pointing out that he would like several more successes under his belt before considering going public.

 Centro's recent success is more of an anomaly in the moribund SAR film industry. Started with HK$500,000 back in 1985, the company's gross revenue now has grown more than a hundredfold: from HK$2 million a year in the mid-80s to an impressive HK$120 million yearly in the late 90s.

 As a result of Centro's highly visible success, the SAR Government has approached Mr Chu to help develop the Cyberport project which many expect will become a hi-tech, multimedia hub.

 Mr Chu said that he had in turn expressed his interest in building a centre dedicated to computer animation and a multimedia training facility at Cyberport.

 He believes the revival of the Hong Kong movie industry depends very much on the production of high-quality movies, which can be achieved through the use of hi-tech computer animation.

 Ironically, movie production is not Centro's major source of income; instead it comes from commercials and advertisements.

 Even with the success of the Storm Riders and the expected revenue from A Man Called Hero, Mr Chu sadly admits that the profit margin for these movies is very minimal and potential further earnings are curtailed by the VCD pirates.

 And whatever little was made, he said, went right back to his number one passion: making movies. 'I've plowed the money, some HK$300 million of it, back into the company,' Mr Chu said.

 For Storm Riders, which took a year and a half to produce, a total of HK$10 million was spent on special effects, including thousands of man-hours tweaking the graphics.

 In A Man Called Hero, approximately HK$15 million was spent on special effects, which took 10 months to create, within a total budget of HK$50 million.

 Centro's labours might just be beginning to pay off.

 Last month, Sony approached Centro to develop a game for PlayStation, making it the first Asian company outside Japan to develop a video game for the world's most popular gaming console. Centro is currently in the middle of game development. Tech Post was treated to an exclusive peek of the game which looks really good.

 Expect Centro's PlayStation game to be released later this year - that is, if the pirates don't get a hold of it first.



Quality movies crucial to riding out piracy storm