Coming soon to cinemas: Thai-Hong Kong movies
Thai feature films are about to take on a distinctly Chinese flavour after Hong Kong authorities agreed to pump millions of baht into moviemaking collaborations.
The Hong Kong Film Development Council and CreateHK announced key details of the Hong Kong-Asian Film Collaboration Funding Scheme to the Thai film community at the recent Bangkok ASEAN Film Festival.
The event marked the official introduction of the co-production support scheme, which aims to foster collaboration between Hong Kong and Thai filmmakers.
The inaugural Hong Kong-Asian Film Collaboration Funding Scheme will provide grants of up to nine million Hong Kong dollars (37.6 million baht) to a maximum of eight films.
Joining a festival panel to announce the collaboration were Hong Kong film directors Chan Kin Long and Ka Sing Fung, and their Thai counterparts Nattawut Poonpiriya and Aditya Assarat.
Applications must be made by a Hong Kong production company, and the eligible projects must have a Hong Kong citizen or resident in at least one of three key roles – producer, director or screenwriter – with another taken by the Asian co-production country.
At least six out of 10 key crew positions must be filled by Hong Kongers, and at least 30% of the below-the-line budget must be spent in Hong Kong.
Applications for the collaboration are open from January until May, with the results to be announced in early 2024. Detailed guidelines and application forms will soon be available to download from the Hong Kong Film Development Council website at www.fdc.gov.hk
