JIMMY Heung Wah-shing is telling a story. Little emotion shows in the eyes behind the designer glasses and his husky, low voice betrays no feeling. He pauses regularly for dramatic effect, punctuating the anecdote with jabs of his ever-present cigarette.
''So,'' he said, pausing for a second. ''I approached the Chinese official whose stamp I needed.'' Another pause. ''And asked: 'Have you ever seen any of my movies?' '' A further pause. ''Yes, he said.'' Long pause. ''But how?'' Silence, then a smile and a draw on the cigarette and Mr Heung has given a glimpse into his winning ways when it comes to doing business in a country where only pirated copies of his movies are available.
Even for a man used to getting his way - his Win's Movie Production company has grown in nine years from nothing to the territory's biggest film-maker - the 42-year-old fixer excelled even himself in that seemingly innocuous exchange with a mainland official.
That conversation set in motion probably the most staggering deal struck by a Hong Kong entertainment company in years and potentially the most profitable yet.
Last week, Mr Heung and his brother Wah-keung announced another of their companies, Win's Music and Video Enterprises, had entered a joint-venture agreement with the Shenzhen Donglong Group to launch a massive $30 million project in China.
That project includes setting up a 200,000-square-foot film studio in Shenzhen and the launch of 300 laser movie theatres across China, with video rental outlets attached to each theatre.
The brothers will kick off with 52 laser-theatres (which screen new and old movies on laser discs) in Shanghai and Beijing in the next three months.