Dennis Law (film Director)
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Dennis Law Sau-yiu (born 19 February 1963) is a Hong Kong film producer, screenwriter, actor, director and presenter. He is the former chairman and executive director of
Milkyway Image Milkyway Image (Hong Kong) Ltd. () is a production company based in Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The company was established in 1996 by prolific director Johnnie To in joint partnership with frequent collaborator Wai Ka-Fai. The company is ...
, and a founder of its subsidiary company Point of View Movie Production Co. Ltd. Films directed by Law include teen comedies such as ''
The Unusual Youth ''The Unusual Youth'' () is a 2005 Hong Kong teen comedy-drama film centering on five disillusioned Hong Kong teenagers living on the island of Cheung Chau as they try to deal with life in spite of family backgrounds. The film stars Race Wong o ...
'' and ''
Love @ First Note ''Love @ First Note'' is a 2006 Hong Kong teen romance film, written, produced and directed by Dennis Law, and starring Alex Fong, Justin Lo, and Kary Ng. Its title in the original Chinese release was 戀愛初歌. Cast *Kary Ng as Kristi ...
'', and martial arts action films that include '' Fatal Contact'' and ''
Fatal Move ''Fatal Move'' (, released in the United States as ''Triad Wars'') is a 2008 Hong Kong action film written, produced and directed by Dennis Law. The film stars Sammo Hung, Simon Yam and Wu Jing, who reunite after 2005's '' SPL: Sha Po Lang''. ...
''.


Early life

Law studied filmmaking at university in Los Angeles. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications from
Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...
.


Career

On his return to Hong Kong, rather than pursue his career in film, Law decided to go into real estate. He later befriended
Charles Heung Charles Heung Wah-keung ( zh, c=向華強) is a Hong Kong actor-turned-film producer and presenter. As founder of Win's Entertainment in the 1980s and China Star Entertainment Group in the 1990s, he has helped established the careers of vario ...
, who advised him to learn from veteran filmmakers such as
Herman Yau Herman Yau Lai-to (; born 13 July 1961) is a Hong Kong people, Hong Kong film director, screenwriter and cinematographer. Filmography * 1987: ''Tragic Hero'' – Co-Cinematographer * 1987: ''No Regret (1987 film), No Regret'' – Director * ...
. In 2003, Law befriended prolific filmmaker
Johnnie To Johnnie To Kei-fung (born 22 April 1955) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter and film producer. Popular in his native Hong Kong, To has also found acclaim overseas. Intensely prolific, To has made films in a variety of genres, though in ...
and became his financial partner at
Milkyway Image Milkyway Image (Hong Kong) Ltd. () is a production company based in Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The company was established in 1996 by prolific director Johnnie To in joint partnership with frequent collaborator Wai Ka-Fai. The company is ...
, serving as a chairman and executive director. Law had many opportunities to travel to the world's film markets and festivals, meet film industry personnel from different parts of the globe, find out their views of
Hong Kong cinema The cinema of Hong Kong ( zh, t=香港電影) is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China and the cinema of Taiwan. As a former British colony, Hong Kong had a greater degree of po ...
, as well as seeing To on set as a director. Apart from filmmaking, Law is currently a managing director of the Yu Tai Hing Company Ltd., which is a well-established private property investment and development group in Hong Kong.


Point of View Movie Production Co. Ltd.

Apart from producing ''
Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
'' with To in 2005, along with its 2006 sequel, Law formed his own production company, Point of View Movie Production Co. Ltd. (影視點制作有限公司), a subsidiary of Milkyway Image.Milky Way
/ref> Point of View was one of two companies established by Law after Milkyway Image split from its parent company, Brilliant Arts. Since its establishment, Point of View has notably been a frequent production partner for Charles Heung's company China Star Entertainment Group, producing films in which Law has served as a producer and director.


Films

Law made his directorial debut with the 2005 teen comedy-drama ''
The Unusual Youth ''The Unusual Youth'' () is a 2005 Hong Kong teen comedy-drama film centering on five disillusioned Hong Kong teenagers living on the island of Cheung Chau as they try to deal with life in spite of family backgrounds. The film stars Race Wong o ...
''. Law's next two films saw the director collaborating with entertainers managed by
Gold Label Records Gold Typhoon Group is a Chinese entertainment company. Gold Label was founded in 2004 in Hong Kong, launched with the support of EMI, and acquired EMI Music Taiwan / EMI Music China (Typhoon Records) in 2008, reforming to Gold Typhoon. On 1 Jan ...
. He wrote, produced and directed the teen comedy, ''
Love @ First Note ''Love @ First Note'' is a 2006 Hong Kong teen romance film, written, produced and directed by Dennis Law, and starring Alex Fong, Justin Lo, and Kary Ng. Its title in the original Chinese release was 戀愛初歌. Cast *Kary Ng as Kristi ...
'', which starred
Justin Lo Justin Lo (, stage name ; born 1 July 1976) is a Hong Kong American singer-songwriter, actor and record producer working in Hong Kong. Biography Lo was born in Syracuse, New York, and moved to Hong Kong with his parents when he was two years ...
,
Kary Ng Kary Ng (born 9 June 1986) is a pop rock singer in Hong Kong. When she debuted, she had been a member of a music group, Cookies; however, the members of Cookies were eventually arranged to explore their respective solo careers in 2005, and the ...
,
Stephy Tang Stephy Tang Lai-yan (; born 15 October 1983) is a Hong Kong singer and actress. She was formerly the leader of the Cantopop group Cookies. She won the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress in 2017 for her performance in ''The Empty ...
and Miki Yeung. He later made the martial arts romance film '' Fatal Contact'', hoping to establish his lead actor Wu Jing as a martial arts icon. His next film was the 2008 film ''
Fatal Move ''Fatal Move'' (, released in the United States as ''Triad Wars'') is a 2008 Hong Kong action film written, produced and directed by Dennis Law. The film stars Sammo Hung, Simon Yam and Wu Jing, who reunite after 2005's '' SPL: Sha Po Lang''. ...
'', which was originally his idea for a sequel to '' SPL: Sha Po Lang''. The film featured an ensemble cast that included ''SPL'' stars
Sammo Hung Sammo Hung Kam-bo ( zh, t=洪金寶, j=Hung4 Gam1-bou2; born 7 January 1952) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film producer and Film director, director, known for his work in martial arts films, Hong Kong action cinema, and as a fight choreog ...
, Wu Jing and
Simon Yam Simon Yam Tat-wah (; born 19 March 1955) is a Hong Kong actor and film producer. He received international acclaim for his performances in international film festival and box office hits such as ''Naked Killer'', '' SPL: Sha Po Lang'', ''Election' ...
, and marked the return of veteran Hong Kong actor Danny Lee who once again plays a just policeman in the film. Of the casting, Law wanted to cast a series of familiar Hong Kong actors as the film was aimed at a foreign market. Upon its release, ''Fatal Move'' was awarded a Category III rating in Hong Kong for its extreme violence. His next film was ''
A Very Short Life ''A Very Short Life'' () is a 2009 Hong Kong drama film written, produced and directed by Dennis Law. It is Law's fifth feature film as a writer and director. Centered on child abuse and child molestation, the film stars Maggie Shiu as a Hong K ...
'', a film about child abuse and molestation. The film was also awarded with a Category III rating for its subject matter.


Trademarks

Law uses the same production crew for all of his films as well as having an
ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to ...
of popular Chinese actors. Law also uses
computer-generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The images may ...
to create blood, as seen in films such as ''A Very Short Life'' and ''Fatal Move''.


Recurring actors


Filmography


References


External links

*
''Asia Pacific Arts'', 11 May 2007: "News From Abroad"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Law, Dennis 1963 births Hong Kong male film actors Hong Kong film directors Hong Kong film presenters Hong Kong film producers Hong Kong screenwriters Living people Loyola Marymount University alumni