ARTICLE
'You Are The Apple Of My Eye? It's this Saturday,' says Ms Cora Yim
By InCinemas / 04 Jul 2012 (Wednesday)
[Look out for our InC-terview with Ms Cora Yim below!]
That's right, the record breaking Taiwanese movie, You Are The Apple Of My Eye, will be premiering on STAR Chinese Movies (SCM) this coming Saturday, 7 July at 9:30pm.
"Do share about it," Ms Cora Yim, Vice President for Chinese Movie & Entertainment Channels (Hong Kong), replied when we told her that it's one of our favourite movies and we look forward to seeing it on SCM this Saturday.
This July, Singapore's STAR Chinese Movies (SCM) will transform its channel logo from a star into a royal crown and introduce a slate of popular Chinese blockbuster movies which includes Love in Space, starring Aaron Kwok and Eason Chan, We Not Naughty, directed by Jack Neo as well as Turning Point 2, featuring an ensemble cast of Hong Kong stars Francis Ng, Michael Tse, Bosco Wong and Chapman To.
Besides bringing exciting movies to the channel, SCM will be co-producing The Wedding Diary 2 which marks the first film that SCM will be co-producing with Singapore/Malaysia.
Q: How did the decision to co-produce in our local productions came about?
Cora: You have to look at the whole Hong Kong and Chinese film movie industry at the
moment. It used to be the Chinese Hong Kong movie dominating the market
in regional sense.
(Image - From left: Cora Yim 嚴嘉念,
Cynthia Ruby Wang 王心如, Jack Choo 朱厚任, Kara Hui 惠英红, Elanne Kwong 江若琳, Ah
Niu 阿牛 陈庆祥, Adrian Teh 郑建国)
Cora: Today, part of the co-productions shift more to China for the Hong Kong
movies, so they cater more for the China market. I would say there's
less product suitable for the SEA. So we were thinking
of getting products that are sutiable for SEA and we came up with ideas to
look for co-production opportunities. Besides, the co-production here is doing quite well, eg. We Not Naughty, Wedding Diary.
The majority of our content still come
from Hong Kong but we see the potential of Singapore and Malaysia productions. It's kind of like the Hong Kong film industries 2 decades ago when it's still rising. Singapore and Malaysia film industry is just starting and picking up.We want to
be a part of it and grow with them. This is what we had done with the Hong
Kong market back in the 90s.
Q: How do you see STAR Chinese Movies' role in South East Asia (SEA)?
Cora: I
think we are one of the key platforms for the Chinese audience to see
Chinese movies. Sometimes, some films may not be screened in cinemas, but once you have the Chinese Movie Channel, you'll be able to see them from our channels.
For audience is good news. We bring all the different movies to Singapore and Malaysia and vice versa, we actually bring out the Singapore and Malaysia's films to the world with our penetration and network. People in Hong Kong and Taiwan can also see Singapore films. This is a really rare chance.
Q: Why choose The Wedding Diary 2?
Cora: I
think it’s the combination of the cast and story as well. Wedding is a
universal thing. The couple relationship, it doesn’t vary from Hong Kong
and Taiwan. It’s always similar.
The cast, they have the combination of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia elements.
The combination of the casting is suitable. It’s not pure Singapore and people in Hong Kong, Taiwan cannot associate. People in Hong Kong know Elanne Kwong, Kara Hui. Cynthia Ruby Wang is from Taiwan. So we think this is the right project we want to get on.
(View more photos of The Wedding Diary II on InCinemas Facebook Page!)
Q: Will SCM still be looking out our local productions for in future?
Cora: We do but we don't have any numbers in mind. We want to find the right one for our audience. If we find some projects suitable in advance, then we'll come onboard early stage even before the film got produced.
It actually varies case by case. But I think for Lim Teck (Director, Clover Films) or even Mr Tung (Senior Manager, GSC Movies) from Malaysia, I've known them for many years. I actually have confidence in them, in what they believe in. So it's good for us to be partners together.
THE WEDDING DIARY II is under production in July and is slated for release next February 2013.