Sunny Chan (filmmaker)

Sunny Chan
陳詠燊
Chan in June 2019
Born
Chan Wing San
Education
Occupations
  • Director
  • Screenwriter
Years active2000–present

Sunny Chan Wing San (Chinese: 陳詠燊) is a Hong Kong director and screenwriter best known for co-writing comedy film Love Undercover (2002) with Joe Ma, and directing drama films Men On The Dragon (2018) and Table for Six (2022), which earned him nominations for Best Director twice in the 38th and 41st Hong Kong Film Awards respectively.

Biography

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Chan became interested in storytelling after reading the novels of Hong Kong fantasy writer Christopher Woo [zh].[1] He later attended the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 1997 and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in film and television in 2000.[2][3] He began to write commercial screenplays after graduation and co-wrote romance film Funeral March [zh] with filmmaker Joe Ma in 2001.[4] They received a nomination for Best Screenplay in the 7th Golden Bauhinia Awards.[5] Chan then became an apprentice of Ma and the duo co-wrote more than ten films together, including the 2002 comedy film Love Undercover.[1][6] In 2006, Ma decided to pursue a career in mainland China, while Chan, who had just gotten married and preferred a more stable life, chose not to join him.[7] However, Chan did not receive any scriptwriting offers after Ma's departure. After being unemployed for two years, he found a job at Hong Kong Jockey Club and taught screenwriting part-time at Hong Kong Design Institute.[3][7] He also acquired a Master of Arts in Chinese from Lingnan University.[6]

In 2018, Chan was invited to join the production of fantasy comedy film Monster Hunt 2 by his APA classmate Jack Ng, as Ng found himself rather inexperienced in comedy writing, while Chan was well-versed in the field.[2][8] Chan also made his directorial debut with drama film Men On The Dragon [zh] in the same year,[9] and received nominations for Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best New Director in the 38th Hong Kong Film Awards.[10] In 2022, Chan directed and wrote comedy film Table for Six.[11] The film received widespread acclaim and became the third highest-grossing domestic film of all times in Hong Kong.[4] Chan also received nominations for Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best New Director and Best Original Film Song (as lyricist) in the 41st Hong Kong Film Awards.[12][13] Table for Six 2 [zh], a sequel also directed and wrote by Chan, was released in 2024.[14][15]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Writer Director Notes
2001 Funeral March [zh] Yes No [7]
Dummy Mommy, without a Baby [zh] Yes No [16]
Horror Hotline... Big Head Monster [zh] Yes No [17]
Feel 100% II Yes No [18]
2002 The Lion Roars Yes No [19]
Summer Breeze of Love [zh] Yes No [20]
Love Undercover Yes No [7]
2003 Sound of Colors Yes No [7]
Love Undercover 2 [zh] Yes No [7]
Diva... Ah Hey [zh] Yes No [16]
2004 Three of a Kind Yes No [19]
2006 Love Undercover 3 [zh] Yes No [7]
2018 Monster Hunt 2 Yes No [8]
Men On The Dragon [zh] Yes Yes [9]
Napping Kid [zh] Yes No [21]
2022 Table for Six Yes Yes [11]
2024 Table for Six 2 [zh] Yes Yes [14]

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
2001 7th Golden Bauhinia Awards Best Screenplay Funeral March [zh] Nominated [5]
2019 38th Hong Kong Film Awards Best Director Men On The Dragon [zh] Nominated [10]
Best Screenplay Nominated
Best New Director Nominated
2023 29th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award Best Director Table for Six Nominated [22]
Best Screenplay Nominated
41st Hong Kong Film Awards Best Director Nominated [12]
Best Screenplay Nominated
Best New Director Nominated
Best Original Film Song Nominated [13]

References

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  1. ^ a b 張綺霞 (2 February 2024). "7700萬票房導演陳詠燊:寫喜劇的誘惑很難擺脫". Hong Kong Economic Journal (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 25 February 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  2. ^ a b "【LINE TODAY 5周年專訪】陳詠燊吳煒倫對談 見證港片重上千萬到破億". Entertainment on Line (in Chinese). 26 April 2023. Archived from the original on 26 April 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  3. ^ a b 葉詩 (20 September 2020). "電影編劇實錄|創作自由是天方夜譚 李敏無奈:寫個劇本喊5次!". HK01 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 4 February 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  4. ^ a b "專訪|《飯戲攻心 2》陳詠燊:商業喜劇像原罪,但香港需要". Wavezine (in Chinese). 11 February 2024. Archived from the original on 25 February 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  5. ^ a b "陳詠燊《片場職人》". Now TV (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  6. ^ a b 柯美 (11 August 2022). "逆境靠老婆養家 追夢堅持到底 導演陳詠燊:繼續好好拍電影". Ming Pao (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 13 August 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Wong, Nic (9 February 2024). "陳詠燊導演專訪|《飯戲攻心2》盡訴婚姻殘酷勿語 港產愛情片不缺男神卻少了成熟男主角". Jet Magazine (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 25 February 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  8. ^ a b 陳澔琳 (23 July 2018). "【香港電影夢.二】合拍片當道 導演陳詠燊:港味漸漸消失". HK01 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 25 February 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  9. ^ a b Lee, Edmund (1 August 2018). "Men on the Dragon film review: dragon boat racing tale a bittersweet comedy about mid-life crisis". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 24 September 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  10. ^ a b Chu, Karen (12 February 2019). "Hong Kong Film Awards: 'Project Gutenberg' Dominates With 17 Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  11. ^ a b Lee, Edmund (3 September 2022). "Table for Six movie review: Dayo Wong, Stephy Tang lead charming ensemble cast in wordy family comedy originally meant for Lunar New Year". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  12. ^ a b Lee, Edmund (9 February 2023). "Hong Kong Film Awards 2023 nominations: The Sparring Partner leads the race with 16 nods; Mabel Cheung's disgraced documentary up for best picture, director". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  13. ^ a b "【金像獎2023】詳盡提名名單 《正義迴廊》最多提名《給十九歲的我》最引爭議". TOPick (in Chinese). 16 April 2023. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  14. ^ a b Le, Phuong (6 February 2024). "Table for Six 2 review – second round of hit couples comedy heads for the wedding party". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 February 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  15. ^ 黃靜美智子 (25 February 2024). "【導演陳詠燊專訪】談《飯戲攻心2》續集之難,從「大佬」的缺席到近乎「老套」的情感聯繫 陳詠燊:步向傷感,治癒之後就有一份感動". Ming Pao (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 25 February 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  16. ^ a b 陳穎思 (19 September 2022). "導演‧門|馬偉豪憶述同梁朝偉合作:佢嘅格局再大啲". HK01 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  17. ^ 許育民 (29 March 2023). "鄭保瑞專訪|8萬8拍出首部作品︰冇錢就用其他方法尋找自己味道". HK01 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 25 February 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  18. ^ "拍戲路難行 導演陳詠燊堅持好好拍電影 最重要控制成本". Ming Pao (in Chinese). 10 August 2022. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  19. ^ a b "《導亦有道》專訪陳詠燊". Macao Daily News (in Chinese). 16 December 2018. Archived from the original on 25 February 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  20. ^ 羅偉強 (30 July 2018). "【陳詠燊.專訪】不忿電影圈壓榨編劇 原來合約列明可以唔畀錢?". HK01 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  21. ^ 許育民 (27 October 2018). "【逆向誘拐】黃浩然陳詠燊為港片重拾位置 黃︰港產片會再爆發". HK01 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  22. ^ "第二十九屆香港電影評論學會大獎得獎理由撮要". Hong Kong Film Critics Society (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 16 January 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
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