Certain top SAR film stars issue too many instructions over scripts and demand too much pay, compromising the quality of local movies, a leading film-maker said yesterday.
The chairman of Mandarin Entertainment, Raymond Wong Pak-ming, made the comments after a survey by the Trade Development Council revealed the widespread popularity of some of Hong Kong's screen stars.
The survey, carried out at the council's three-day film expo which ended at the Convention and Exhibition Centre yesterday, also found that Hong Kong film scripts have to be improved. Of the 205 local and overseas film buyers polled at the expo, 65 per cent said Hong Kong scripts needed much improvement.
Mr Wong, who is also chairman of the Movie Producers and Distributors Association, said: 'The reason people think Hong Kong film scripts are so poorly written is because of those big stars. These stars will come and tell you to change this and that in the script. They want to change everything. After that, there's nothing original left.'
Mr Wong, who rose from a junior scriptwriter to become a top film-maker over the past 20 years, did not name the stars, but said he was frustrated they had too much production influence.
'In the US or China, a slight change in the film script could lead to civil action. The status of the script writer in Hong Kong is not properly respected.' He said the local industry was trying to enter the mainland market and increasing competition could help originality.