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Cross My Mind, created by Hong Kong broadcaster TVB and US start-up Wong Fu Productions, stars Jocelyn Chan (left) as a burdened advertising executive in Hong Kong, and Nathan Ing as an aspiring music producer in Los Angeles. Photo: Cross My Mind

New TV series from Hong Kong’s TVB and US YouTube channel Wong Fu Productions aims to connect Asians far apart and bridge East and West

  • ‘Cross My Mind’ is an English-language series about a man in Los Angeles and a woman in Hong Kong who can communicate through their connected minds
  • The series touches on Cantonese and Asian-American culture, and how those identities contrast and overlap through the characters’ mentalities and environments

Picture this: it is morning in Los Angeles and you are woken up by the sound of a video playing. Annoyed, you suddenly realise there’s another voice in your head, one belonging to a female. You are confused, but chalk it up to the concussion you suffered yesterday, since there is no way that it could be real.

But the voice keeps speaking, and it turns out that it belongs to a woman on the other side of the world in Hong Kong. Soon, you and she realise that you’re able to speak to each other and have full conversations through your connected minds.

That is the premise of a new original six-part English-language TV series called Cross My Mind, an international collaboration between Hong Kong broadcaster TVB and Wong Fu Productions, a California-based filmmaking company that became a YouTube sensation for its shorts and videos starring Asian-Americans.

Available on TVB’s streaming platform MyTV Super, the transoceanic project is the broadcaster’s latest attempt to expand into the market for English content.

The terrestrial station, a stalwart in Cantonese entertainment, posted a record loss of HK$807 million (US$103 million) in 2022, partly due to the coronavirus pandemic but also plummeting viewership.

According to Thomas Lo, creative director of MyTV Super’s English content, this collaboration was a “great opportunity for us to find out whether there is an appetite for English content in Hong Kong”.

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“We all understand that English is an official language in Hong Kong. It’s not like it’s a foreign language, and there’s plenty of people who understand the language who may not speak it, who constantly on a daily basis consume English content,” he says.

“So I’ve always felt that there is a market there, it’s just nobody had done anything about it.”

It all began in August 2021, when MyTV Super’s head of original content, Lincoln Lam, messaged Wong Fu co-founder Philip Wang on Instagram.

Jocelyn Chan as Carmen (second right) in a scene from Cross My Mind. Photo: Cross My Mind

Though Wang’s account boasts quite a following – more than 316,000 followers as of April – he still caught Lam’s message and relayed it to his team who, in turn, were surprised by the proposal.

“We were thinking, wait, TVB, this company that’s existed for like 60 years, is asking us, this independent Asian-American start-up, more or less, to develop a show? What? This doesn’t really add up, but it’s really cool,” says Wesley Chan, another Wong Fu co-founder.

After countless meetings, as well as early promotions on Wong Fu’s Facebook page to gauge interest, the production house’s first international collaboration – and longest project ever – began to take shape.

Wong Fu’s Wesley Chan (left) and TVB’s Thomas Lo in Los Angeles. Photo: Cross My Mind

There were limitations from the start: budgetary constraints meant that production took place separately in Hong Kong and Los Angeles (TVB could not afford to fly Wong Fu’s entire team over or vice versa), and Covid-19 restrictions were still in place.

But Chan, who was the Wong Fu lead on the project, was open to the challenge. Plus, as the son of Hong Kong parents, he already had some familiarity with the city from visits as a child, and his past experience shooting a series of shorts in the city (most notably The One Days) over 13 years ago.

The resulting story arc for Cross My Mind – essentially a boy-meets-girl story – is grounded in human connection, one that also touches on Cantonese and Asian-American culture, and how those identities contrast and overlap through the characters’ mentalities, attitudes and environments.

Nathan Ing as Vincent (centre) in a scene from Cross My Mind. Photo: Cross My Mind

And while the creative team hopes that the show is able to bring the Asian community together, Chan says that it is for all audiences.

“We’re telling a story that any ethnic background can watch and understand,” he says.

“At its core, it’s a story about two people’s personal struggles – them being their [own] worst enemy, their own insecurities – and how that manifests itself and how they deal with it. And realising through their connection that they’re not alone and that there’s someone else that understands what that feels like.”

Though the whole process was a collaboration between Wong Fu and TVB, the actual script writing was handled by Wong Fu, and took place over around five months starting in early 2022.

We don’t have to be siloed in our own continents and make stuff that’s in a vacuum. We can reach out to people across the world and come together
Wong Fu co-founder Wesley Chan adds

A global open casting call was released soon after, which saw more than 2,500 applications from actors all over the world, including Canada, the UK and Singapore.

The show’s two leads – Nathan Ing and Jocelyn Chan – saw the casting call on Wong Fu’s Instagram page, and immediately felt drawn to the project.

“It’s just been a big dream of mine to, through acting or my music, to bridge the East and West, because I was born in Hong Kong, I grew up in Vancouver, and then I moved back here,” Jocelyn Chan says.

Cast members of Cross My Mind rehearse their lines. Photo: Cross My Mind

But despite identifying with the role of Carmen so intimately – a mid-20s bilingual woman in Hong Kong with career, family and anxiety issues – she did not hear back for a month.

“Sometimes you just get used to letting go of the outcome, and you just try your best,” she says. “But this one, it almost felt like this was too perfect. If I don’t get this, then what can I ever get?”

Similarly, Ing felt that Vincent – an aspiring music producer in Los Angeles – was his role to play. “It felt like it was my calling,” he says – so much so that he actually turned down a commercial that was set to pay him US$70,000 even before he officially got the role.

“I was like, I just did the audition, and I felt like I’m meant to play this character. I’m going to risk it, I’m going to risk it all,” he says.

Cast and crew of Cross My Mind meet over Zoom from their respective locations in Hong Kong and Los Angeles. Photo: Cross My Mind

To him, Vincent was a direct reflection of his former self. “It felt like who I used to be when I was younger, this guy who was pretty insecure about who he was, and he’s not very confident in his skills, or he has impostor syndrome.”

Other than relationships and cultural identities, Cross My Mind also explores the subject of mental health.

For Carmen, that manifests in her childhood trauma, and her duty and responsibility to her family.

Jocelyn Chan in a scene from Cross My Mind. Photo: Cross My Mind

“Especially in a city like Hong Kong, I think a lot of people don’t talk about their mental health,” Jocelyn Chan says.

“There’s a big gung-ho, just-keep-going attitude here, which is also what makes the city so efficient and great, but there’s also a point where it gets unhealthy. So she’s very representative of that fast-paced culture.”

The fact the series was shot in multiple locations in Hong Kong and Los Angeles adds to its visual narrative. Hong Kong locals, and those who have visited the city before, will be able to catch glimpses of what makes the city so dynamic.

The Hong Kong cast and crew of Cross My Mind. Photo: Cross My Mind

“It’s just the simple things, like the taxis and the minibuses – all that texture is so surreal,” Wesley Chan says.

“And to juxtapose it with the LA side, it really stands out. It highlights the differences. And that is literally my identity, you know? It’s like, California, Hong Kong. So it speaks to me.”

For Wong Fu and TVB, Cross My Mind goes beyond a collaborative project: it represents an opportunity to bridge the East and West, to bring the Asian community together while showing the nuances within its varying cultures and identities, and to collaborate with people across the world.

Half of the production for Cross My Mind occurred in California, where Wong Fu Productions took the lead. Photo: Cross My Mind

“Being able to shoot at two different locations with separate teams, and see what they bring to the table and stitch them together – it’s quite amazing,” TVB’s Lam says.

“It is OK if you don’t like it, or you feel it’s not working. But we are trying. As long as we try, there is room for improvement. There’s room to create.”

“We don’t have to be siloed in our own continents and make stuff that’s in a vacuum,” Wesley Chan adds. “We can reach out to people across the world and come together. I think that notion is really exciting and opens up so many doors.”

Cross My Mind is currently streaming on MyTV Super, with new episodes airing every Sunday.

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