Spotlight
Passion, Hard Work and Perseverance - Secrets for becoming a Successful Screenwriter
Jack Wai-lun Ng
16 December 2013
Jack Wai-lun Ng, Class of 2000, School of Film and Television (Directing)
Screenwriter of 12 local films including The Beast Stalker(2008) and The Stool Piegon (2010) both of which were nominated for Best Screenplay at the annual Hong Kong Film Awards; Assistant Director of Hit Team(2001)
Despite his modesty, Jack Ng should be proud of his achievements: he has written screenplays for 12 local films since his graduation 13 years ago, a feat he attributes to passion, hard work and perseverance, qualities he regards as pre-requisites for aspiring students of film and television. On top of these, there must be a love for Hong Kong films because fresh graduates should aim to gain some local experience in order to understand the inner workings of the industry at large, before they define their artistic styles or deal with subjects of another land. After all, it is by understanding and expressing one’s own culture that makes it possible for movie makers to deal with topics in another culture, Ng said.
Ng’s love for movies started when he was in secondary school at St Joseph’s College. He would lose himself in the world of the movies watching the laser discs, in the days when those were rented from shops, claiming that he learned his English too, from following the English subtitles with a dictionary by his side. As for screenwriting, Ng takes to it rather naturally as he loves reading just like his mother; he has fond memories of borrowing his books from public mobile libraries. It also helped that his parents were very supportive when he chose to study Directing; he added that his older sister had also opted for the arts as she was trained in ballet at the Academy.
Right after he finished secondary school, Ng enrolled for a place at the Academy : one of his most vivid memories being the 45-minute group interview when he was much impressed by the seriousness and thoroughness of the panel. In the next five years, Ng recalls the Academy as a place of true learning : where he could share his ideas and work with like-minded people, both fellow students and teachers; the tacit understanding and the sense of camaraderie is unforgettable. Most of all, it is where youthful foolhardiness was turned into useful learning experiences that he remembers up to this day. He still sees friends from the Academy, though some of them are not in the industry.
Considering that he is a student of directing, Ng is in no hurry to take up his directorial debut, for obvious reasons. He says “The right script, the right cast and the right crew – that’s when I am ready”; he is more than certain that it takes experience and a greater understanding of ways of the world to make a movie director. Towards this end, he is paying greater attention to things happening outside of the movie world, such as the social and political changes in Hong Kong, which he now follows with great interest.
Whatever he does next, Ng goes by this philosophy: be independent in your thinking, trust your judgment, and never give up. “Take up a subject that interests you, do not think of it as a way of finding a job when you graduate”, he added. This has certainly served him well in the past years and surely excellent advice for young people.
Jack Ng wrote or co-wrote the screenplays of the following movies :
Hit Team (2001)
Runaway (2001)
The Twins Effect (2003)
Love Battlefield (2004)
S.P.L. (2005)
Mob Sister (2005)
Beast Stalker (2008)
The Sniper (2009)
Fire of Conscience (2010)
The Stool Pigeon (2010)
The Viral Factor (2012)
Unbeatable (2013)
16 December 2013
Jack Wai-lun Ng, Class of 2000, School of Film and Television (Directing)
Screenwriter of 12 local films including The Beast Stalker(2008) and The Stool Piegon (2010) both of which were nominated for Best Screenplay at the annual Hong Kong Film Awards; Assistant Director of Hit Team(2001)
Despite his modesty, Jack Ng should be proud of his achievements: he has written screenplays for 12 local films since his graduation 13 years ago, a feat he attributes to passion, hard work and perseverance, qualities he regards as pre-requisites for aspiring students of film and television. On top of these, there must be a love for Hong Kong films because fresh graduates should aim to gain some local experience in order to understand the inner workings of the industry at large, before they define their artistic styles or deal with subjects of another land. After all, it is by understanding and expressing one’s own culture that makes it possible for movie makers to deal with topics in another culture, Ng said.
Ng’s love for movies started when he was in secondary school at St Joseph’s College. He would lose himself in the world of the movies watching the laser discs, in the days when those were rented from shops, claiming that he learned his English too, from following the English subtitles with a dictionary by his side. As for screenwriting, Ng takes to it rather naturally as he loves reading just like his mother; he has fond memories of borrowing his books from public mobile libraries. It also helped that his parents were very supportive when he chose to study Directing; he added that his older sister had also opted for the arts as she was trained in ballet at the Academy.
Right after he finished secondary school, Ng enrolled for a place at the Academy : one of his most vivid memories being the 45-minute group interview when he was much impressed by the seriousness and thoroughness of the panel. In the next five years, Ng recalls the Academy as a place of true learning : where he could share his ideas and work with like-minded people, both fellow students and teachers; the tacit understanding and the sense of camaraderie is unforgettable. Most of all, it is where youthful foolhardiness was turned into useful learning experiences that he remembers up to this day. He still sees friends from the Academy, though some of them are not in the industry.
Considering that he is a student of directing, Ng is in no hurry to take up his directorial debut, for obvious reasons. He says “The right script, the right cast and the right crew – that’s when I am ready”; he is more than certain that it takes experience and a greater understanding of ways of the world to make a movie director. Towards this end, he is paying greater attention to things happening outside of the movie world, such as the social and political changes in Hong Kong, which he now follows with great interest.
Whatever he does next, Ng goes by this philosophy: be independent in your thinking, trust your judgment, and never give up. “Take up a subject that interests you, do not think of it as a way of finding a job when you graduate”, he added. This has certainly served him well in the past years and surely excellent advice for young people.
Jack Ng wrote or co-wrote the screenplays of the following movies :
Hit Team (2001)
Runaway (2001)
The Twins Effect (2003)
Love Battlefield (2004)
S.P.L. (2005)
Mob Sister (2005)
Beast Stalker (2008)
The Sniper (2009)
Fire of Conscience (2010)
The Stool Pigeon (2010)
The Viral Factor (2012)
Unbeatable (2013)
