Lights, campus, action
The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts equips students with the skills to find prosperous careers in the region’s resurgent film industry.
Hong Kong has high hopes of becoming a regional hub for the creative industries. But a pool of high-calibre talent, and a reliable source of well-trained professionals, are necessary to achieve this goal.
With programmes like a master of fine arts in cinema production, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) is ready to meet those needs. The two-year, full-time programme allows HKAPA students to follow three paths: making a feature film, producing a documentary, and writing a feature-length screenplay.
“We integrate theory with practice through cinematic studies, screenplay analysis and directorial exercises at each phase of the programme,” says Geoff Stitt, dean of the HKAPA’s School of Film and Television.
“Cinema production today is digital from script to shoot, and this is significantly changing the craft and the role of the director. So students learn about topics ranging from file-based cloud sharing to digital technologies for post-production,” says Stitt.
Recent graduate Wendy Zhang completed the course last year, and wants to build a career in the film industry.
Zhang recently finished a co-production assignment involving companies from Hollywood and New Zealand. Footage involving helicopter shots, crowd scenes with up to 1,000 extras, and sharks, was shot in Sanya, on Hainan Island.
