Sunny Chan | A famous screenwriter - “HKers, let’s remold our sorrow and march onwards with a smile.”
Screenwriter, director, lecturer, writer, host, husband, father, himself. Works include “Men on the Dragon.” Having weathered ups and downs in his career in film and television, he encourages Hong Kongers to march onwards with him.
“Then in my 20s, projecting these stories onto myself seemed to foreshadow my life 20 years into the future.”
Journalist: Alex
Translator: SL
Photos: Silver Wolf
Michael Kwan’s record started playing. The wind instruments’ bugle-like sound seemed particularly clear and crisp, spiritedly echoing amongst each other, creating a feeling reminiscent of the 80s. Such an atmosphere was applied to Men on the Dragon, an inspirational film which I have longed to shoot. The film was originally titled Ten Thousand and was only renamed Men on the Dragon prior to its release last year. The name partly references As Good As It Gets which is a film I really like. The script was already written in 2004 and despite the great recommendation from Master Joe Ma, perhaps it was fate intervening so it wasn’t filmed in the end and set aside. Yet, I have never forgotten about it.
The fact that the four characters in the film each contain a bit of me moves me the most. For instance, “Ah Long” is based on an old uncle who cared for me a lot. It was he who made traditional nine-course meals for three or four people and the kindness he shows the children in the film is, to a certain extent, what he did for me. When the script was written more than a decade ago, he was still here; when the film was made and released, he had already passed, yet the silhouette he left behind made this film of mine possible and it changed my life. Conversely, this film has become a vessel for my remembrance of him and he will live on forever in the film.
I actually really wanted to add a dragon boat race scene if the funding and circumstances had allowed for it in order to delve into the dragon boat spirit in more detail. This all began more than a decade ago when I saw people paddling dragon boats at Chai Wan Pier and thought that it was a cool thing to do. What made it cool was the perseverance and hard work within this group of middle-aged men as they silently focused on their training. Though they could not always follow their hearts due to various reasons, be it demands from family or society, yet they still had dreams. Then in my 20s, projecting these stories onto myself seemed to foreshadow my life 20 years into the future.
I graduated from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) as a screenwriter in 2000 and wrote the script for “Men on the Dragon” in 2004. We had just experienced SARS in 2003, and though Hong Kong was not exactly happy, there was still hope; despite the grief, we were still able to get on with our lives. Yet currently Hong Kong and Hong Kongers cannot bear any more tragedies. The Hong Kong then still had a spirit of standing shoulder to shoulder with one another, forging on as equals; yet social hierarchies and division are more apparent in Hong Kong today.
I teach television and film screenwriting at HKAPA. The students don’t easily trust adults which means we cannot simply rely on our experience or use top-down, paternalistic lectures. Instead, we need a friendly attitude when analyzing things and getting along with them, and we even go so far as to offer them support during critical times.
I was out of a job for some time from 2006 to 2007 when many films couldn’t get started in Hong Kong and many in the industry moved their businesses up north. During that year or so, I figured out how to use various functions on a fax machine to send leaflets in a loop to different secondary schools through trial and error, selling myself as a screenwriting teacher day after day to no avail. When my friend landed a job as a wedding photographer, I boldly worked as the assistant and didn’t even realise that the lens was off centre as a newly wed couple toasted one another. Not making money was one thing, but the fact that I lost myself was even worse. After some time, I negotiated a package deal to write television drama episodes for a more steady salary. It turns out that Lady Fortune does favour those with a positive attitude and active mindset. I then scoured for opportunities to write opinion columns on romance or anything that could be read at any time. In 2009, I joined the Jockey Club as a senior writer followed by a promotion to production manager. I had a stable income during those years, yet deep down inside, I knew that I had abandoned the film industry and what I loved the most.
I remember bumping into Miriam Yeung at an event at the Jockey Club during work. I had worked with her on six films, as well as during promotion of our productions across Mainland China. When she saw me, she called me straight by my Chinese name. Something inside me awakened at that moment. I proactively planned, first applying for a lecturer position at HKAPA, and then negotiating terms with the Academy so I could write scripts on the side. After having left the film industry and then ultimately returning, the ups and downs in between have crafted my nonchalant mentality.
While teaching at HKAPA, I believe that no students are bad. Though they may lose their temper and curse occasionally, I tend to believe that they are inherently kind-hearted, but simply lacking appropriate means of expression. Combined with the recent depressing state of the times, offering my understanding and care is the least I can do.
As a judge of “King Maker II,” the number of blue lights* given out is dependent upon the attitude of the young contestants. They can’t rely just on their looks for opportunities. Everyone has to be responsible for themselves. Contestants would win all the applause if they could add that extra layer in their performance to persuade the audience such as combining beatboxing with Di Nü Hua for example.
Running for the Hong Kong Arts Development Council is also my way of contributing something concrete to Hong Kong’s film industry. In the past decade, local themes have evolved to meet the demands of the societal atmosphere, connecting to the Hong Kong spirit in addition to providing entertainment. Stylisation comes after success. Men on the Dragon finally premiered in such an environment after more than a decade’s wait. I only reaped the fruits of my labour after ups and downs and allowing time for ideas and emotions to sink in and reshape themselves. I despise positive energy and false hopes; on the contrary, the ability to remold one’s sorrow and march onwards with a smile makes a good story, just like the ending of Men on the Dragon. What Hong Kongers need the most right now is to “make a turn” in unity.
“I am Sunny Chan, I am a HKer.”
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*The judges light up lights to reflect their satisfaction with the performance.