Dennis Law
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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 film production company based in Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The company was established in 1996 by director Johnnie To in partnership with frequent collaborator Wai Ka-Fai. The company is known best f ...
, 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'' and '' Love @ First Note'', and martial arts action films that include '' Fatal Contact'' and '' Fatal Move''.


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. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...
. Prior to that, he completed his high school at Albert College in Belleville,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
.


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 establish the careers of variou ...
, 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 As director * 1987: ''No Regret'' – Director * 1991: ''Don't Fool Me'' – Director * 1992: ''Best of the ...
. In 2003, Law befriended prolific filmmaker
Johnnie To Johnnie To Kei-fung (born 22 April 1955) is a Hong Kong filmmaker. 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 the West he is best known for his H ...
and became his financial partner at
Milkyway Image Milkyway Image (Hong Kong) Ltd. () is a film production company based in Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The company was established in 1996 by director Johnnie To in partnership with frequent collaborator Wai Ka-Fai. The company is known best f ...
, 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 Crown colony, Hong Kong had a greater degree of ar ...
, 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 whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...
'' 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''. Law's next two films saw the director collaborating with entertainers managed by Gold Label Records. He wrote, produced and directed the teen comedy, '' Love @ First Note'', which starred
Justin Lo Justin Lo Ting Wei (, born 1 July 1976), known professionally by his stage name Jak Teen (), 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 t ...
,
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 Stephanie 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 E ...
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'', 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 Samuel "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 figh ...
, Wu Jing and
Simon Yam Simon Yam Tat-wah (; born 19 March 1955) is a Hong Kong actor and film producer. He is best known for his performances in films such as '' PTU'' (2003), ''Election'' (2005), '' SPL: Sha Po Lang'' (2005), ''Triangle'' (2007), '' Sparrow'' (2008), ' ...
, 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 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 comprises many 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 the po ...
of popular Chinese actors. Law also uses
computer-generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is a specific-technology or application of computer graphics for creating or improving images in Digital art, art, Publishing, printed media, Training simulation, simulators, videos and video games. These images ...
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 producers Hong Kong screenwriters Living people Loyola Marymount University alumni