Package deals: film crew catering, Hong Kong style
As glamorous as the film industry can be, the catering is usually more grease than glitz, writes Andrew Sun
difference between a film set here and in Hollywood? For the majority of cast and crew, it's the catering.
Movies made in the American system will have an entire department called craft services dedicated to providing food, snacks and beverages to satisfy everyone on the set. The "craft" in the title refers to technically trained workers, including lighting, sound, props, make-up and gaffers.
"I've done American films and it's like going to a gourmet buffet," says Antony Szeto, a fight choreographer turned filmmaker whose directing credits include the animated DragonBlade, Jackie Chan Presents: Wushu, and the soon-to-be-released, Roger Corman-produced, Fist of the Dragon.
"I will be doing a Jean-Claude Van Damme film and we're having all these conversations about what hot foods to have, and catering to people's low-fat and fruit diets. You don't normally have this on a Chinese shoot."
On Hong Kong film sets, lunch isn't so fancy. A lowly lackey would be sent out before a break to bring back a large stack of lunch boxes. Of course, there are exceptions - usually the big stars.
"Someone like Sammo Hung will bring in his own chef," Szeto says. "Most film people are foodies. But when it comes to shooting, it's about eating quickly and getting on with the job. That's why the lunch box is so popular. It's basically eating on the fly. You're holding it in one hand, chopsticks in the other and still wandering around moving cameras and issuing orders."