According to producer-director Teddy Chen Tak-sam, the time may soon come when we stop talking about 'the Hong Kong film industry' or 'the mainland film industry' and refer instead to a Chinese-language film industry. With the mainland easing restrictions on film production - and filmmakers from around the region collaborating on unprecedented levels - the boundaries between the film industries of Hong Kong, China and Taiwan are starting to become blurred. 'Most audiences, particularly in the west, don't care if a film is from Hong Kong or China or Taiwan - they just care about whether it's a good story or if it's beautifully shot,' says Chen from his office in Kowloon. 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was the perfect example of that.' With this regional approach in mind, Chen has launched a production company, Jin Chuan Pictures, which aims to 'seek out and bring together the best filmmaking talents among the Chinese community' - wherever they originate - to make quality Chinese-language films. In addition to offices in Hong Kong and Taipei, Chen plans to open a Beijing outpost by the end of the year. The company's ambitious production slate includes the US$8.5 million action drama Dark October, about modern China's founding father Sun Yat-sen; the US$3 million sci-fi thriller Tunnelling and Aubrey Lam's Hidden Track, which is currently shooting in Wuhan and Hong Kong. Described by Chen as a 'romantic drama with lots of music', Hidden Track tells the story of a mainland girl who moves to Hong Kong when her boyfriend deserts her. She's determined to find the hidden song on a CD that reminds her of her disloyal ex - and along the way dates an oddball collection of music fans including a New Age nut, a jazz freak and a hip-hop homeboy. The girl is played by newcomer, Po Po, who Chen discovered at the Beijing Film Academy, while the male lead is played by Hong Kong's Shawn Yue Man-lok. The girl's capricious dating habits allow for a wide range of cameos, which are dutifully filled by stars such as Eason Chan Yick-shun, Daniel Wu Yin-cho and MTV Asia VJ David Wu. Chen says Hidden Track is typical of the kind of film he wants to produce - commercial, entertaining and jam-packed with talent from around the region. Adding to its mainstream appeal is a soundtrack from Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou who will also help to promote the film on MTV. Meanwhile, Dark October, which Chen plans to direct himself, was originally scheduled to start shooting this April, but was postponed because of Sars. The film is a fictionalised account of Sun Yat-sen's visit to Hong Kong in 1905 and the five martial arts experts who were dispatched to protect him. Chen plans to rebuild Victoria Harbour, as it looked in 1905, on a site near Guangzhou. But because of Sars his cast and crew were reluctant to work. Chen is now attempting to reschedule the film, but is finding this no easy task as it involves eight major stars and a three-month shoot. Among the stars he is talking to are Chang Chen, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Eason Chan, Ekin Cheng Yee-kin and Aaron Kwok Fu-shing. Jin Chuan's production slate also includes Tunnelling, a thriller about teleporting to be written and directed by Su Chao-pin - currently Taiwan's hottest property after writing Double Vision and Peter Chan Ho-sun's segment of Three. Chen also plans to produce mainland comedy Prenuptial Experiment, comprised of three short films, and comedy drama The Enchanter - about a con artist whose life changes when he meets a magician - to be directed by Hong Kong's Wilson Yip Wai-shun. Chen, who last directed The Accidental Spy starring Jackie Chan, was one of the co-founders of Applause Pictures with Peter Chan Ho-sun and Allan Fung Yu-hing in 2000. But he left the company at the end of 2001 to pursue his dream of winning back the Taiwanese market which is currently dominated by Hollywood films. 'About 10 to 15 years ago, you could recoup the budget of a HK$30 million film just from the Taiwan market - but now Taiwanese audiences won't even go to see their own films, let alone movies from Hong Kong,' explains Chen. Jin Chuan's first production, Twenty Something Taipei, was designed to lure young Taiwanese audiences back to Chinese-language films by featuring a youthful cast and contemporary storylines. Directed by Taiwanese star Leon Dai, the film was the second-biggest local movie there last year behind Double Vision, but Chen says it could have done better. 'I don't understand what's happened in Taiwan - it's difficult for local movies to break through.' Chen is taking comfort from the growth of talent and lifting of restrictions on the mainland: 'China can still produce movies at one-fifth of the cost of Hollywood and has an abundance of talent and technical know-how. What we aim to do at Jin Chuan is build a bridge between China and the rest of the world.'