Joseph M. Chan

The Hong Kong film industry – the Hollywood of the Orient – has been losing its glamour since the mid-1990s. The prolonged recession has given rise to serious doubts about its survival. As competition intensifies globally, further hesitation in taking action may well render the film industry unredeemable.

This study aims to account for the decline of the Hong Kong film industry and to make recommendations to revitalize it. The primary questions to be faced are: What should the government do to revive the film industry? Is the opening of the China market what really matters? What can film practitioners and other parties, especially the Hong Kong Film Development Council, do to reinvigorate the film industry? The authors argue that time is not on the side of the Hong Kong film industry. Whether the film industry will bounce back will depend on the actions that it takes and how fast the government acts. This monograph maps out the directions for such actions.