The Gold Standard
Born in Hong Kong (where he spent his childhood), educated in Shanghai, before getting a job at United Press, then moving on to a radio and motion picture office that catered to the Chinese communities overseas. In 1958, he started working at Shaw Bros. studio as an Advertising & Publicity Manager. After working for Shaw Bros. for (11) and a half years, he left to start his own studio (Golden Harvest). Would he make it? Could he make it? Leaving with him Lo Wei, Leonard K.C. Ho, Huang Feng, and number of people so underused by Shaw Bros' that they probably never missed them (until they became famous).
Being a very smart businessman, he has made Golden Harvest one of the biggest companies in Asia becoming just as popular as Shaw studios was in it's prime. After securing the services of Jackie Chan, he helped usher in a new era in martial-arts following his earlier association with the legendary Bruce Lee. Chan, who had became a Superstar with the success of Snake In The Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master was under contract with Lo Wei until Chow bought out his contract in 1979. His first film for Golden Harvest was The Young Master, which broke all previous records set by Lee. Yet, while Chan will forever be compared to Lee, Golden Harvest seems to be forever compared to Shaw Brothers. Their film productions were just as exciting as those of Shaw Bros' (though they had a different feel to them) and usually were more successful. Money-wise he has helped Golden Harvest surpass Shaw Bros' and went on to continue his success even after Shaw studios closed in the mid 80's. His studio not only brought us Lee and Chan, the (2) biggest stars of the kung-fu genre, but would later help in one of the biggest trends to hit America in the early 90's - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. |
Serving as Executive Producer, this film and its' sequels made well over $100-million dollars a piece (this was American dollars) and with just one film (virtually) surpassed everything that Shaw Bros' had done. With the release of the smash hit The Storm Riders, they moved into a new phase and are still showing their strength as a powerful studio. Though well up in age now, he, like former boss (and rival) Run Run Shaw, are both very rich men and have enriched countless lives, with their films and visions of cinematic excellence. The films from his company, have helped change the face of Martial-arts around the world.
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