Edmund Pang Ho-cheung[1] (Chinese: 彭浩翔) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter, producer, and novelist.
Early life
Pang was born in Hong Kong in 1973. At the age of 15, he started using a video camera to direct short films with his elder brother.[2]
After graduating from high school, he studied abroad in Taiwan for half a year, before returning to Hong Kong, where he worked for Hong Kong Asian Television Limited as a gag show writer. He later wrote his first novel, and served as a columnist for various newspapers and magazines.[2]
Career
In 1997, at the age of 24, Pang began 18 months of research for his first novel, Fulltime Killer. The novel went on to become extremely popular, selling more than 100,000 copies in Hong Kong. It was then reworked as a radio program.[2]Johnnie To adapted the novel into a feature film starring Andy Lau in 2001.[3]
While Pang was still a television and radio host, he decided to fulfill his dream of being a film director. [citation needed]
In February 2019, it was reported that Pang was going to write, direct, and produce a film trilogy based on Jin Yong's wuxia novel The Deer and the Cauldron through Pang's Making Films Production company. Each film was slated to receive an $80 million dollar budget.[6]
Style and themes
Pang has been deemed one of Hong Kong cinema's most recognizable directors. However, he is uncomfortable with being categorized as a "Hong Kong director" as he believes the attribution does not fully capture the full range of films within the industry.[3]
Muse magazine film critic Perry Lam has praised Pang for 'often demonstrat[ing] a Kafkaesque talent for seeing the absurd in the mundane realities of everyday life.'[7]
Pang is married to producer Subi Liang.[3] In 2021, Pang was rumored to have moved to Canada with his wife, over frustrations surrounding mainland Chinese censorship laws.[10]
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