Shaw Brothers Studio: Difference between revisions

Shaw Brothers Studio
Shaw Brothers Studio
	Shaw Studios, Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong
Chinese	邵氏片場
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Shào Shì Piànchǎng
Wade–Giles	Shao Shih P'iench'ang
Yale Romanization	Shàu Shr̀ Pyànchǎng
IPA	[ʂâʊ ʂɻ̩̂ pʰjɛ̂nʈʂʰàŋ]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization	Siuh Sih pin chèuhng
Jyutping	Siu6 si6 pin3 coeng4
IPA	[ɕìːu ɕìː pʰɪ̄n tsʰœ̏ŋ]

Shaw Brothers Holdings Limited
	The Shaw Brothers logo, modeled after the Warner Bros. logo
Native name	邵氏兄弟控股有限公司
Formerly	Shaw Brothers (HK) Ltd. (1958–2011)
Company type	Public company
Traded as	SEHK: 953
Industry	Film production; Television production
Founded	27 December 1958; 65 years ago
Defunct	28 November 2011; 13 years ago
Fate	Merged with Shaw Brothers to form a new Clear Water Bay Land Company Limited
Successor	Clear Water Bay Land Company Limited
Headquarters	Hong Kong (main; English-speaking); Macau (main; Portuguese-speaking)
Area served	Worldwide
Products	Films; Television shows
Subsidiaries	Shaw Brothers International Pictures
Website	shawbrotherspictures.com

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Shaw Brothers (HK) Limited (Chinese: 邵氏兄弟(香港)公司) was the largest film production company in Hong Kong, operating from 1925 to 2011.

In 1925, three Shaw brothers—Runje, Runme, and Runde—founded Tianyi Film Company (also called "Unique") in Shanghai, and established a film distribution base in Singapore, where Runme and their youngest brother, Run Run Shaw, managed the precursor to the parent company, Shaw Organisation. Runme and Run Run took over the film production business of its Hong Kong–based sister company, Shaw & Sons Ltd; in 1958, a new company, "Shaw Brothers," was set up. In the 1960s, Shaw Brothers established what was once the largest privately-owned studio in the world, Movietown.

The company's most famous works include The Love Eterne (1963), Come Drink with Me (1966), The One-Armed Swordsman (1967), King Boxer (1972), Executioners from Shaolin (1977), The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and Five Deadly Venoms (both 1978).

Over the years, the film company produced around 1,000 films, some becoming the most popular and significant Chinese-language films of the period. It also popularized the kung fu genre of films. In 1987, the company suspended film production in order to concentrate on the television industry through its subsidiary, TVB. Film production resumed in limited capacity in 2009.

In 2011, Shaw Brothers was reorganized into the Clear Water Bay Land Company Limited; its film production business was taken over by other companies within the Shaw conglomerate. However, the company continues to remain active in producing TV shows under the Shaw Brothers name to this day as of 2022.

History

Prior to their involvement in the filmmaking business, the Shaw brothers were interested in opera and happened to own a theater in Shanghai; their father also owned a cinema.^[1] One of the plays in their theater, The Man from Shensi, was very popular. The Shaw brothers then bought their first camera, and Runje Shaw made this play into a silent film that turned out to be a success.^[2] Runje Shaw and his brothers Runde and Runme formed a film production company in 1925 in Shanghai called the Tianyi Film Company (also known as Unique).^[3]^[4] The company's earliest films, New Leaf (立地成佛) and Heroine Li Feifei (女侠李飛飛), were shown in Shanghai in 1925.^[5]^[6]

A rival studio, Mingxing Film Company, formed a syndicate with five other Shanghai companies to monopolize the distribution and exhibition markets in order to exclude Tianyi films from being shown in theater chains in Shanghai and Southeast Asia.^[7] The brothers therefore became interested in forming their own network, and Runme Shaw, who was then the distribution manager, traveled to Singapore to establish a movie distribution business for Southeast Asia.^[4] Runme incorporated the Hai Seng Co. (海星, which later became the Shaw Brothers Pte Ltd) to distribute films made by Tianyi and other studios. In 1927, they operated their own cinema in Tanjong Pagar in Singapore,^[1] expanded in Malaya, and opened four cinemas there.^[8] The number of cinemas owned by the Shaw chain in Southeast Asia would eventually reach 200 by the 1970s before it declined.^[2] In 1928, Run Run Shaw moved to Singapore to assist Runme.

In 1931, the Tianyi Studio in Shanghai produced what is considered by some to be the first sound-on-film Chinese talkie, Spring on Stage (歌場春色).^[9] In 1932, they teamed up with Cantonese opera singer Sit Gok-Sin (薛覺先) to make the first Cantonese talkie, White Golden Dragon (白金龍). This film proved to be very successful, and in 1934, they established the Tianyi Studio (Hong Kong) in Kowloon to make Cantonese films.^[7]^[10] The move to Hong Kong was accelerated as the Nanjing government had issued a ban on martial arts films as well as Cantonese films, and two years later, they moved the entire film production operation from Shanghai to Hong Kong.^[7] Tianyi was reorganized into Nanyang (南洋) Productions with Runde Shaw as the studio head.^[11] They also announced plan for their first film production studio in Singapore in 1937 to make films in Malay; a studio was built in 1940 to make Malay and Cantonese films, followed by another called Singapore Film Studios in 1941 on Jalan Ampas.^[12] It produced Malay films under the studio named Malay Film Productions (formally incorporated in 1949) which lasted until 1967.^[13]^[14] The most prominent Malay actor, director and producer of this period was P. Ramlee.^[12]

The Shaw Brothers continued to expand but suffered a setback during the Second World War when the Japanese occupied Malaya and Singapore.^[15] After the war, they began to rebuild. In the 1950s, Nanyang started to switch film production from Cantonese to Mandarin as the communist takeover of mainland China had cut off the supply of Mandarin films to overseas Chinese communities. In this period, Nanyang Studio operated under the company name of Shaw and Sons Ltd.^[16] The Mandarin films of the 1950s were primarily wenyi films (文藝片) in a contemporary setting as well as a few period dramas.^[17] In 1957, Run Run Shaw moved to Hong Kong, set up a new company, Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Ltd., and built a new studio at Clearwater Bay, which officially opened in 1961 as Movietown.^[4] In the mid-1960s, Movietown was the largest and best-equipped studio in Chinese filmmaking as well as the largest privately owned studio in the world, with 15 stages, two permanent sets, state-of-the-art film-making equipment and facilities, and 1,300 employees.^[18] Period and music dramas were popular in the 1960s, and later in the decade Kung fu films also became popular. Some of Shaw Brothers' most notable films were made in this period, including The Magnificent Concubine, The Love Eterne, as well as One-Armed Swordsman, which broke the box office records and some spawned multiple sequels.^[19] The studio popularized the kung-fu genre of films, which included Five Fingers of Death and The 36th Chamber of Shaolin made in the 1970s.^[20] The 1960s was a period of intense rivalry between Shaw Brothers and Cathay Organisation, but eventually Shaw Brothers gained the upper hand and Cathay ceased film production in 1970. Sir Run Run Shaw became involved in television when TVB was launched in 1967.^[19] In 1969, Shaw Brothers (HK) issued shares and became a public listed company.

In the 1970s, Shaw Brothers faced a strong challenge from a new studio, Golden Harvest, which had considerable success internationally with the martial arts film, Enter the Dragon starring Bruce Lee. Shaw Brothers then also began to co-produce films with Western producers for the international market^[21] and invest in films such as Meteor and Blade Runner.^[22] However, Shaw Brothers ceased film production in 1986 because of competition from Golden Harvest and increasing piracy, focusing instead on TV production. In 1986, Movietown became TV City, which was leased to TVB for TV production. In 1988, the company was reorganized under the umbrella of the Shaw Organization.^[4] In the 1990s, Shaw again started making a few films, but no longer on the same scale as before.^[23] Shaw has since relocated to a new site in Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong.

Legacy

Directors

Shaw Brothers is noted for film directors such as King Hu, Lau Kar-leung, P. Ramlee^[24] and Chang Cheh. King Hu was an early director who is best remembered for his film, Come Drink with Me, a martial arts film which differed from those of Chang Cheh in that it featured a capable female protagonist and revolved around romance in the martial arts world, rather than fast-paced action and the tales of brotherhood which Chang Cheh would later popularize. Chang Cheh, who was more fond of the latter components, would go on to be Shaw Studio's best-known director, with such films as Five Deadly Venoms, The Brave Archer (based on the works of Jin Yong), One-Armed Swordsman, and other classics of Wuxia and Wushu film. Almost equally as famous was fight-choreographer-turned-director Lau Kar-leung, who would produce such highly regarded kung fu films as The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter, while P. Ramlee was known for Malay style romantics and comedy such as Nujum Pa' Belalang, Seniman Bujang Lapok and Do Re Mi.

Actors

Shaw Brothers was modeled after the classic Hollywood system, with hundreds of actors signed to exclusive contracts. While other studios rotated cast members, Shaw Brothers assigned certain groups of actors to work exclusively with certain directors.

Shaw Brothers productions during the late 1950s to early 1960s were dominated by actresses like Li Li-Hua, Ivy Ling Po, Linda Lin Dai, Betty Loh Ti, Li Ching in dramatic and romantic features. In particular, the Huangmei opera The Love Eterne, starring Ivy Ling Po and Betty Loh Ti and based on the Butterfly Lovers folk legend from the Jin Dynasty, is one of the highest-grossing features of the Shaw Studio. Its huge success is in part due to the ingenious casting of Ivy Ling Po, who was a relatively unknown supporting actress, as the male lead. In the story of Butterfly Lovers, the female lead, played by Betty Loh Ti, disguised herself as a male to attend college because social mingling between the sexes was forbidden. The film resonated with its audience, and reportedly some members of the audience in Hong Kong and Taiwan repeatedly bought tickets and watched the feature in theaters over and over again in 1962, with some having watched it over 20 times.

From the late 1960s onward, production of dramatic features was reduced in favor of martial arts features. The group of actors from the 1978 release, Five Deadly Venoms, and the subsequent series of films—known by the name the Venom Mob—were among the most memorable. They were Lo Mang, Lu Feng, Sun Chien, Chiang Sheng, and Kuo Chui, who had been stars in the Shaw Studio for years, but did not become memorable faces until Five Deadly Venoms. Wei Pai, who played the Snake (referred to as "Number Two" throughout the film Five Deadly Venoms), was also part of the Venom Mob, which numbered over 15 actors who appeared in almost all of the Venom movies.

In the first half of the 1970s, two other stars were particularly renowned and favored by the "Million-Dollar Director" Chang Cheh in his movies: Ti Lung and David Chiang. He is also accredited as a capable actor who reinforced his muscular glamor with strong characterization over his many films. Chiang, on the other hand, was slight and wiry and often played the sarcastic antihero to Lung's standard archetype. Chang Cheh, with his stars Ti Lung and David Chiang, were known as the cinematic "Iron Triangle" throughout Southeast Asia. In the middle of that decade, the duo was overshadowed by the rise of Alexander Fu Sheng, who had played supporting roles opposite them on many occasions. Fu was killed in 1983 in a car accident, at age 28, ending a brief but spectacular career.

Members of the Peking Opera School, including Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, and Sammo Hung, played extras and bit parts in several Shaw Brothers films in the 1970s, although they were unknowns at the time.

Better-known female martial arts actresses of Shaw Brothers include Cheng Pei-pei, Lily Ho, Shih Szu, Lily Li, and Kara Hui Ying-Hung. Cheng Pei-pei in particular is relatively well-known for her starring role in King Hu's Come Drink with Me and more recently in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as Jade Fox.

Influences

The films produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio were highly popular among Chinese communities in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia and they would have a significant influence on later filmmakers, particularly in the kung fu genre. These films also reached the West and were popular for a time in the 1970s and early 1980s, having some influence on filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino, who paid homage to the studio by displaying their logo in his Kill Bill: Volume 1 and 2 films and adapting the styles of some of their films.^[25]

The 2023 animated movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem also paid homage to the studio by adding clips from classic Shaw Brothers movies into the movie when the title characters were trained in martial arts by their father figure, Master Splinter (voiced by Jackie Chan, who played smaller roles in few Shaw Brothers films), by showing them various video clips containing martial arts techniques, including clips from The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Dirty Ho, The Magnificent Ruffians and Mad Monkey Kung Fu.^[26]

Celestial Pictures acquisition and distribution

Many Shaw Brothers classic films have been bootlegged due to the popularity of particular kung fu/martial arts titles. Celestial Pictures acquired rights to the Shaw Studio's legacy and is releasing, on DVD, 760 out of the nearly 1,000 films^{[citation needed]} with restored picture and sound quality. Many of these DVDs have come under controversy, however, for remixing audio and not including the original mono soundtracks.

Karmaloop TV's licensing deal

Karmaloop TV, a multi-platform programming network designed to help operators "reclaim" viewership among the 18- to 34-year-old demographic, announced its first film licensing deal with Celestial Pictures. The Hong Kong–based company owns, restores and licenses the world's largest collection of Chinese-made films including the Shaw Brothers library of fan-favourite kung fu and action classics such as The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Five Deadly Venoms, and The One-Armed Swordsman.

The licensing deal with Karmaloop TV means that kung fu and action fans in the United States will see these films in their digitally restored versions, many of which will be premiering for the first time on U.S. television in high definition. The licensed collection includes more than 60 of the greatest martial arts masterpieces—movies which launched the careers of stars like Jimmy Wang Yu, Cheng Pei-Pei, Ti Lung, David Chiang, Alexander Fu Sheng, Chen Kuan-Tai, and Gordon Liu.

Shaw Studios

The Clearwater Bay site at Clearwater Bay Road and Ngan Ying Road is the former home of Shaw Studio (built 1960 to 1961), as well as the vacated TVB headquarters and studios (1986–2003, since relocated to TVB City) and Celestial Pictures.^[27] There are also apartment blocks used to house Shaw actors. The newer Shaw House and Shaw Villa are there. The site has been vacant since 2003^[28] and has been targeted for redevelopment several times since 2006.^[29] In 2015, Hong Kong's Antiquities Advisory Board declared the entire studio complex a site of cultural significance and subsequent redevelopment plans have included measures to restore and preserve the existing structures.^[29]

A new Shaw Studios (note the plural s) was built at Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate and opened in stages between 2006 and 2008.

References

^ ^a ^b "The Beginning 1924–1933". Shawonline.
^ ^a ^b Stephen H. Y. Siu (16 September 1972). "A New Made in Hong Kong Label". The Montreal Gazette.
^ "1925: The Start of a Legendary Studio". The Chinese Mirror: A Journal of Chinese Film History. Archived from the original on 19 April 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Poshek Fu (2008). China Forever: The Shaw Brothers and Diasporic Cinema. University of Illinois Press. pp. 28–29. ISBN 978-0-252-07500-1.
^ Justin Corfield (2010). Historical Dictionary of Singapore. Scarecrow Press. p. 238. ISBN 978-0-8108-7387-2.
^ "Heroine Li Feifei (1925) and "Shuomingshu"". The Chinese Mirror: A Journal of Chinese Film History. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c Meaghan Morris; Siu Leung Li; Stephen Ching-kiu Chan (2006). Hong Kong Connections: Transnational Imagination in Action Cinema. Duke University Press Books. p. 193. ISBN 978-1-932643-01-5.
^ Matthew Fletcher; Santha Oorjitham. "Autocrat". AsiaWeek. Archived from the original on 23 June 2012.
^ Gary G. Xu (2012). "Chapter 24 - Chinese Cinema and Technology". In Yingjin Zhang (ed.). A Companion to Chinese Cinema. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-4443-3029-8.
^ Lisa Odham Stokes (2007). Historical Dictionary of Hong Kong Cinema. Scarecrow Press. p. 427. ISBN 978-0-8108-5520-5.
^ Poshek Fu (2003). Between Shanghai and Hong Kong: The Politics of Chinese Cinemas. Stanford University Press. pp. 56–59. ISBN 978-0-8047-4518-5.
^ ^a ^b "Shaw ventures into local Malay film productions". History SG. National Library Board. Archived from the original on 2 April 2018.
^ "About Shaw - Shaw Studio, Pre War - The Great Depression 1930". Shaw Online. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
^ "The Last Days Of Malay Film Productions". Shaw Online.
^ Richard Corliss (7 January 2014). "Run Run Shaw: The Last Emperor of Chinese Movies". Time.
^ "Shaw Cinemas in Asia, Japanese Occupation". Shawonline.
^ China Forever: The Shaw Brothers and Diasporic Cinema. University of Illinois Press. 2008. pp. 114–115. ISBN 978-0-252-07500-1.
^ Poshek Fu (2008). China Forever: The Shaw Brothers and Diasporic Cinema. University of Illinois Press. pp. 3–5. ISBN 978-0-252-07500-1.
^ ^a ^b "Run Run Shaw, Hong Kong film pioneer, dies aged 107". BBC. 7 January 2014.
^ Martin Chilton (7 January 2014). "Run Run Shaw, kung-fu film pioneer, dies aged 106". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022.
^ "Shaw Organization, 1970". Shawonline.
^ Vivian Wai-yin Kwok (15 November 2007). "Who Will Run Shaw Brothers After Run Run?". Forbes.
^ "Shaw Brothers History".
^ "P. Ramlee: Seniman yang dibenci & tak dihiraukan sebelum akhir hayatnya | SOSCILI". 9 September 2022. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
^ Chan, Kenneth. "The Shaw-Tarantino Connection: Rolling Thunder Pictures and the Exploitation Aesthetics of Cool" (PDF). Mediascape. Fall 2009.
^ "New Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie delivers 'a cinematic pizza-with-the lot'". ABC News. 6 September 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
^ "Shaw Online - About Shaw - Shaw History". Shaw.sg. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
^ "Shaw Brothers Studios, Clearwater Bay « Hong Kong (& Macau) Stuff". Orientalsweetlips.wordpress.com. 17 September 2009. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Revised plans for development of old Shaw Brothers Studio building announced". Hong Kong Buzz. 19 May 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2019.

External links

Shaw Studios
Shaw.intercontinental.com—official site ((in English and Chinese) (Big5))
The Shaw Story—at the official company website.
Shaw Brothers History — at Hong Kong Cinema UK.
Shaw-Brothers_Reloaded - Global international site
The Rise and Fall of the House of Shaw - scholarly essay by Tom Green.
Alexander Fu Sheng: Biography of the Chinatown Kid

[early_history-1] "The Beginning 1924–1933". Shawonline.

[gazette-2] Stephen H. Y. Siu (16 September 1972). "A New Made in Hong Kong Label". The Montreal Gazette.

[3] "1925: The Start of a Legendary Studio". The Chinese Mirror: A Journal of Chinese Film History. Archived from the original on 19 April 2015.

[fu-4] Poshek Fu (2008). China Forever: The Shaw Brothers and Diasporic Cinema. University of Illinois Press. pp. 28–29. ISBN 978-0-252-07500-1.

[dictionary-5] Justin Corfield (2010). Historical Dictionary of Singapore. Scarecrow Press. p. 238. ISBN 978-0-8108-7387-2.

[6] "Heroine Li Feifei (1925) and "Shuomingshu"". The Chinese Mirror: A Journal of Chinese Film History. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013.

[morris-7] Meaghan Morris; Siu Leung Li; Stephen Ching-kiu Chan (2006). Hong Kong Connections: Transnational Imagination in Action Cinema. Duke University Press Books. p. 193. ISBN 978-1-932643-01-5.

[Asiaweek-8] Matthew Fletcher; Santha Oorjitham. "Autocrat". AsiaWeek. Archived from the original on 23 June 2012.

[9] Gary G. Xu (2012). "Chapter 24 - Chinese Cinema and Technology". In Yingjin Zhang (ed.). A Companion to Chinese Cinema. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-4443-3029-8.

[10] Lisa Odham Stokes (2007). Historical Dictionary of Hong Kong Cinema. Scarecrow Press. p. 427. ISBN 978-0-8108-5520-5.

[11] Poshek Fu (2003). Between Shanghai and Hong Kong: The Politics of Chinese Cinemas. Stanford University Press. pp. 56–59. ISBN 978-0-8047-4518-5.

[nlb-12] "Shaw ventures into local Malay film productions". History SG. National Library Board. Archived from the original on 2 April 2018.

[malay_films1-13] "About Shaw - Shaw Studio, Pre War - The Great Depression 1930". Shaw Online. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.

[14] "The Last Days Of Malay Film Productions". Shaw Online.

[15] Richard Corliss (7 January 2014). "Run Run Shaw: The Last Emperor of Chinese Movies". Time.

[16] "Shaw Cinemas in Asia, Japanese Occupation". Shawonline.

[17] China Forever: The Shaw Brothers and Diasporic Cinema. University of Illinois Press. 2008. pp. 114–115. ISBN 978-0-252-07500-1.

[18] Poshek Fu (2008). China Forever: The Shaw Brothers and Diasporic Cinema. University of Illinois Press. pp. 3–5. ISBN 978-0-252-07500-1.

[bbc-19] "Run Run Shaw, Hong Kong film pioneer, dies aged 107". BBC. 7 January 2014.

[20] Martin Chilton (7 January 2014). "Run Run Shaw, kung-fu film pioneer, dies aged 106". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022.

[21] "Shaw Organization, 1970". Shawonline.

[22] Vivian Wai-yin Kwok (15 November 2007). "Who Will Run Shaw Brothers After Run Run?". Forbes.

[23] "Shaw Brothers History".

[24] "P. Ramlee: Seniman yang dibenci & tak dihiraukan sebelum akhir hayatnya | SOSCILI". 9 September 2022. Retrieved 29 February 2024.

[25] Chan, Kenneth. "The Shaw-Tarantino Connection: Rolling Thunder Pictures and the Exploitation Aesthetics of Cool" (PDF). Mediascape. Fall 2009.

[26] "New Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie delivers 'a cinematic pizza-with-the lot'". ABC News. 6 September 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2024.

[history-27] "Shaw Online - About Shaw - Shaw History". Shaw.sg. Retrieved 8 December 2011.

[28] "Shaw Brothers Studios, Clearwater Bay « Hong Kong (& Macau) Stuff". Orientalsweetlips.wordpress.com. 17 September 2009. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2011.

[HKBuzz-29] "Revised plans for development of old Shaw Brothers Studio building announced". Hong Kong Buzz. 19 May 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2019.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{For|the Malaysian film company with a similar name|Astro Shaw}}{{Update|reason=According to the article, the company stopped operation since 2011, but in fact as of 2022 it is still active in producing TV series|date=December 2022}}
 {{Short description|Film production company in Hong Kong}}
 {{Use Hong Kong English|date=January 2014}}
 {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}
 {{Infobox company
-| name = Shaw Brothers (HK) Ltd.
+| name = Shaw Brothers Holdings Limited
+| native_name = 邵氏兄弟控股有限公司
-| logo = [[File:Shaw Brothers Logo.jpg]]
-| logo_caption = The Shaw Brothers logo, modeled after the [[Warner Brothers]] logo
+| logo = Shaw Brothers.png
+| logo_caption = The Shaw Brothers logo, modeled after the [[Warner Bros.]] logo
 | type = [[Public company]]
+| traded_as = {{sehk|0953}}
-| fate =
+| fate = Merged with Shaw Brothers to form a new Clear Water Bay Land Company Limited
 | successor = Clear Water Bay Land Company Limited
+| former_names = Shaw Brothers (HK) Ltd. (1958–2011)
 | foundation = {{start date and age|df=y|1958|12|27}}
-| defunct =
+| defunct = {{End date and age|2011|11|28|df=y}}
-| location_city = [[Hong Kong]] (main; English-speaking)<br>[[Macau]] (main; Portuguese-speaking)
+| location_city = [[Hong Kong]] (main; English-speaking)<br />[[Macau]] (main; Portuguese-speaking)
 | key_people =
-| industry = [[Film production]]
+| industry = [[Film production]]<br />[[Television production]]
-| products = [[Films]]
+| products = [[Films]]<br>[[Television shows]]
+| subsid = Shaw Brothers International Pictures
 | num_employees =
+| website = {{url|http://shawbrotherspictures.com}}
+| owner =
 | revenue =
-| homepage =
 | area_served = Worldwide
 }}
@@ Line 35: / Line 41: @@
 }}
-'''Shaw Brothers (HK) Ltd.''' ({{zh|t=邵氏兄弟（香港）公司}}) was the largest film production company in [[Cinema of Hong Kong|Hong Kong]], and operated from 1925 to 2011.
+'''Shaw Brothers (HK) Limited''' ({{zh|t=邵氏兄弟(香港)公司}}) was the largest film production company in [[Cinema of Hong Kong|Hong Kong]], operating from 1925 to 2011.
-In 1925, three Shaw brothers&mdash;[[Runje Shaw|Runje]], [[Runme Shaw|Runme]], and [[Runde Shaw|Runde]]&mdash;founded [[Tianyi Film Company]] (also called "Unique") in [[Shanghai]], and established a film distribution base in [[Singapore]], where Runme and their youngest brother, [[Run Run Shaw]], managed the precursor to the parent company, [[Shaw Organisation]]. Runme and Run Run took over the film production business of its [[Hong Kong]]-based sister company, Shaw & Sons Ltd, and in 1958 a new company, "Shaw Brothers," was set up. In the 1960s, Shaw Brothers established what was once the largest privately owned studio in the world, Movietown.
+In 1925, three Shaw brothers&mdash;[[Runje Shaw|Runje]], [[Runme Shaw|Runme]], and [[Runde Shaw|Runde]]&mdash;founded [[Tianyi Film Company]] (also called "Unique") in [[Shanghai]], and established a film distribution base in [[Singapore]], where Runme and their youngest brother, [[Run Run Shaw]], managed the precursor to the parent company, [[Shaw Organisation]]. Runme and Run Run took over the film production business of its [[Hong Kong]]–based sister company, Shaw & Sons Ltd; in 1958, a new company, "Shaw Brothers," was set up. In the 1960s, Shaw Brothers established what was once the largest privately-owned studio in the world, Movietown.
-The company's most famous works include ''[[The One-Armed Swordsman]]'', ''[[Come Drink with Me]]'' and ''[[The Mighty Peking Man]]''.
+The company's most famous works include ''[[The Love Eterne]]'' (1963), ''[[Come Drink with Me]]'' (1966), ''[[The One-Armed Swordsman]]'' (1967), ''[[King Boxer]]'' (1972), ''[[Executioners from Shaolin]]'' (1977), ''[[The 36th Chamber of Shaolin]]'' and ''[[Five Deadly Venoms]]'' (both 1978).
-Over the years the film company produced around 1,000 films, some becoming the most popular and significant Chinese-language films of the period. It also popularized the [[Kung fu film|kung fu genre]] of films. In 1987, the company suspended film production in order to concentrate on the television industry through its subsidiary [[TVB]]. Film production resumed in limited capacity in 2009.
+Over the years, the film company produced around 1,000 films, some becoming the most popular and significant Chinese-language films of the period. It also popularized the [[Kung fu film|kung fu genre]] of films. In 1987, the company suspended film production in order to concentrate on the television industry through its subsidiary, [[TVB]]. Film production resumed in limited capacity in 2009.
-In 2011 Shaw Brothers was reorganized into the Clear Water Bay Land Company Limited; its film production business was taken over by other companies within the Shaw conglomerate.
+In 2011, Shaw Brothers was reorganized into the Clear Water Bay Land Company Limited; its film production business was taken over by other companies within the Shaw conglomerate. However, the company continues to remain active in producing TV shows under the Shaw Brothers name to this day as of 2022.
 ==History==
 [[File:Shao Zuiweng.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Runje Shaw]], the eldest Shaw brother who started the film empire]]
-Prior to their involvement in the filmmaking business, the Shaw brothers were interested in opera and happened to own a theater in [[Shanghai]]; their father also owned a cinema.<ref name="early history">{{cite web |url=http://www.shaw.sg/sw_abouthistory.aspx?id=59%2035%20193%2039%2078%20227%20238%20144%20186%20229%20185%2078%20181%20196%2042%2031 |title=The Beginning 1924–1933 |work=Shawonline}}</ref>  One of the plays in their theater, ''The Man from Shensi'', was very popular. The Shaw brothers then bought their first camera, and [[Runje Shaw]] made this play into a silent film which turned out to be a success.<ref name="gazette">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19720916&id=HYs0AAAAIBAJ&pg=2593,4177748|author=Stephen H. Y. Siu |title= A New Made in Hong Kong Label |work= The Montreal Gazette |date=16 September 1972}}</ref> Runje Shaw and his brothers [[Runde Shaw|Runde]] and [[Runme Shaw|Runme]] formed a film production company in 1925 in Shanghai called the [[Tianyi Film Company]] (also known as Unique).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chinesemirror.com/index/2011/04/1925-start-legendary-studio.html |title=1925: The Start of a Legendary Studio |work=The Chinese Mirror: A Journal of Chinese Film History |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150419144255/http://www.chinesemirror.com/index/2011/04/1925-start-legendary-studio.html |archive-date=19 April 2015 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref name=fu /> The company's earliest films, ''New Leaf'' (立地成佛) and  ''Heroine Li Feifei'' (女侠李飛飛), were shown in Shanghai in 1925.<ref name="dictionary">{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vhBMmG9yXgYC&pg=PA238 |title=Historical Dictionary of Singapore |author= Justin Corfield |page=238 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |date= 2010 |isbn=9780810873872 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chinesemirror.com/index/2011/11/heroine-li-feifei-1925-shuomingshu.html |title=Heroine Li Feifei (1925) and "Shuomingshu" |work=The Chinese Mirror: A Journal of Chinese Film History |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202224141/http://www.chinesemirror.com/index/2011/11/heroine-li-feifei-1925-shuomingshu.html |archive-date=2 December 2013 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
+Prior to their involvement in the filmmaking business, the Shaw brothers were interested in opera and happened to own a theater in [[Shanghai]]; their father also owned a cinema.<ref name="early history">{{cite web |url=https://shaw.sg/thebeginning |title=The Beginning 1924–1933 |work=Shawonline}}</ref>  One of the plays in their theater, ''The Man from Shensi'', was very popular. The Shaw brothers then bought their first camera, and [[Runje Shaw]] made this play into a silent film that turned out to be a success.<ref name="gazette">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19720916&id=HYs0AAAAIBAJ&pg=2593,4177748|author=Stephen H. Y. Siu |title= A New Made in Hong Kong Label |work= The Montreal Gazette |date=16 September 1972}}</ref> Runje Shaw and his brothers [[Runde Shaw|Runde]] and [[Runme Shaw|Runme]] formed a film production company in 1925 in Shanghai called the [[Tianyi Film Company]] (also known as Unique).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chinesemirror.com/index/2011/04/1925-start-legendary-studio.html |title=1925: The Start of a Legendary Studio |work=The Chinese Mirror: A Journal of Chinese Film History  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150419144255/http://www.chinesemirror.com/index/2011/04/1925-start-legendary-studio.html |archive-date=19 April 2015 }}</ref><ref name=fu /> The company's earliest films, ''New Leaf'' (立地成佛) and  ''[[Heroine Li Feifei]]'' (女侠李飛飛), were shown in Shanghai in 1925.<ref name="dictionary">{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vhBMmG9yXgYC&pg=PA238 |title=Historical Dictionary of Singapore |author= Justin Corfield |page=238 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |date= 2010 |isbn=978-0-8108-7387-2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chinesemirror.com/index/2011/11/heroine-li-feifei-1925-shuomingshu.html |title=Heroine Li Feifei (1925) and "Shuomingshu" |work=The Chinese Mirror: A Journal of Chinese Film History  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202224141/http://www.chinesemirror.com/index/2011/11/heroine-li-feifei-1925-shuomingshu.html |archive-date=2 December 2013 }}</ref>
-A rival studio, [[Mingxing Film Company]], formed a syndicate with 5 other Shanghai companies to monopolize the distribution and exhibition markets in order to exclude Tianyi films from being shown in theater chains in Shanghai and Southeast Asia.<ref name="morris"/>  The brothers therefore became interested in forming their own network, and Runme Shaw, who was then the distribution manager, traveled to Singapore to establish a movie distribution business for [[Southeast Asia]].<ref name=fu>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uJh2iuFNr4YC&pg=PA28 |title=China Forever: The Shaw Brothers and Diasporic Cinema |author= Poshek Fu |pages=28–29 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year= 2008 |isbn=978-0252075001 }}</ref> Runme incorporated the Hai Seng Co. (海星, which later became the Shaw Brothers Pte Ltd) to distribute films made by Tianyi and other studios. In 1927, they operated their own cinema in [[Tanjong Pagar]] in Singapore,<ref name="early history"/> expanded in [[British Malaya|Malaya]], and opened four cinemas there.<ref name=Asiaweek>{{cite web |url=http://www-cgi.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/96/1011/cs6.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623154832/http://www-cgi.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/96/1011/cs6.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-06-23 |title=Autocrat |authors=Matthew Fletcher and Santha Oorjitham |work=AsiaWeek }}</ref>  The number of cinemas owned by the Shaw chain in South East Asia would eventually reach 200 by the 1970s before it declined.<ref name="gazette"/>  In 1928 Run Run Shaw moved to Singapore to assist Runme.
+A rival studio, [[Mingxing Film Company]], formed a syndicate with five other Shanghai companies to monopolize the distribution and exhibition markets in order to exclude Tianyi films from being shown in theater chains in Shanghai and Southeast Asia.<ref name="morris"/>  The brothers therefore became interested in forming their own network, and Runme Shaw, who was then the distribution manager, traveled to Singapore to establish a movie distribution business for [[Southeast Asia]].<ref name=fu>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uJh2iuFNr4YC&pg=PA28 |title=China Forever: The Shaw Brothers and Diasporic Cinema |author= Poshek Fu |pages=28–29 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year= 2008 |isbn=978-0-252-07500-1 }}</ref> Runme incorporated the Hai Seng Co. (海星, which later became the Shaw Brothers Pte Ltd) to distribute films made by Tianyi and other studios. In 1927, they operated their own cinema in [[Tanjong Pagar]] in Singapore,<ref name="early history"/> expanded in [[British Malaya|Malaya]], and opened four cinemas there.<ref name=Asiaweek>{{cite web |url=http://www-cgi.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/96/1011/cs6.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623154832/http://www-cgi.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/96/1011/cs6.html  |archive-date=2012-06-23 |title=Autocrat |author1=Matthew Fletcher |author2=Santha Oorjitham |work=AsiaWeek }}</ref>  The number of cinemas owned by the Shaw chain in Southeast Asia would eventually reach 200 by the 1970s before it declined.<ref name="gazette"/>  In 1928, Run Run Shaw moved to Singapore to assist Runme.
-In 1931, the Tianyi Studio in Shanghai produced what is considered by some to be the very first [[sound-on-film]] Chinese [[talkie]], ''Spring on Stage'' (歌場春色).<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gDRxR-wb-fsC&pg=PT262 |title=A Companion to Chinese Cinema |editor= Yingjin Zhang |publisher= Wiley-Blackwell |chapter=Chapter 24 - Chinese Cinema and Technology |author=Gary G. Xu |year=2012 |isbn=978-1444330298 }}</ref>  In 1932, they teamed up with Cantonese opera singer Sit Gok-Sin ([[:zh:薛覺先|薛覺先]]) to make the first [[Cantonese]] talkie, ''White Golden Dragon'' ([[:zh:白金龙 (电影)|白金龍]]).  This film proved to be very successful, and in 1934, they established the Tianyi Studio (Hong Kong) in [[Kowloon]] to make Cantonese films.<ref name="morris">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DdrHAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA193 |title=Hong Kong Connections: Transnational Imagination in Action Cinema |authors= Meaghan Morris, Siu Leung Li, Stephen Ching-kiu Chan |page=193 |publisher=Duke University Press Books |year= 2006  |isbn=978-1932643015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=9eUlAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA427 |title=Historical Dictionary of Hong Kong Cinema |author= Lisa Odham Stokes |page=427 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |date= 2007 |isbn= 978-0810855205 }}</ref>  The move to Hong Kong was accelerated as the [[Nationalist Government|Nanjing government]] had issued a ban on [[wuxia film|martial arts films]] as well as Cantonese films, and two years later, they moved the entire film production operation from Shanghai to Hong Kong.<ref name="morris"/> Tianyi was reorganized into Nanyang (南洋) Productions with [[Runde Shaw]] as the studio head.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gx0_4QJ7zpwC&pg=PA56 |title=Between Shanghai and Hong Kong: The Politics of Chinese Cinemas |author= Poshek Fu |pages=56–59 |publisher= Stanford University Press |year= 2003 |isbn=9780804745185 }}</ref>  They also announced plan for their first film production studio in Singapore in 1937 to make films in Malay; a studio was built in 1940 to make Malay and Cantonese films, followed by another called Singapore Film Studios in 1941 on [[Jalan Ampas]].<ref name=nlb /> It produced Malay films under the studio named [[Malay Film Productions]] which lasted until 1967.<ref name="malay films1">{{cite web |url= http://www.shaw.sg/sw_abouthistory.aspx?id=155%20228%20232%2026%20251%20183%2049%2096%20185%2092%2072%20190%2094%20180%20241%20241 |title=About Shaw - Shaw Studio, Pre War - The Great Depression 1930|work=Shaw Online }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shaw.sg/sw_abouthistory.aspx?id=159%2044%20235%20173%209%20160%20105%20230%2012%20182%2038%20136%2092%20107%2021%2088 |title=The Last Days Of Malay Film Productions |work=Shaw Online }}</ref> The most prominent Malay actor, director and producer of this period was [[P. Ramlee]].<ref name=nlb>{{cite web |url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/history/events/6854ed6a-6614-4ecc-b728-278f0a8ffb98 |title=Shaw ventures into local Malay film productions  |work=History SG |publisher=National Library Board }}</ref>
+In 1931, the Tianyi Studio in Shanghai produced what is considered by some to be the first [[sound-on-film]] Chinese [[talkie]], ''Spring on Stage'' (歌場春色).<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gDRxR-wb-fsC&pg=PT262 |title=A Companion to Chinese Cinema |editor= Yingjin Zhang |publisher= Wiley-Blackwell |chapter=Chapter 24 - Chinese Cinema and Technology |author=Gary G. Xu |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4443-3029-8 }}</ref>  In 1932, they teamed up with Cantonese opera singer Sit Gok-Sin ([[:zh:薛覺先|薛覺先]]) to make the first [[Cantonese]] talkie, ''White Golden Dragon'' ([[:zh:白金龙 (电影)|白金龍]]).  This film proved to be very successful, and in 1934, they established the Tianyi Studio (Hong Kong) in [[Kowloon]] to make Cantonese films.<ref name="morris">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DdrHAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA193 |title=Hong Kong Connections: Transnational Imagination in Action Cinema |author=Meaghan Morris |author2=Siu Leung Li |author3=Stephen Ching-kiu Chan |page=193 |publisher=Duke University Press Books |year= 2006  |isbn=978-1-932643-01-5 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=9eUlAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA427 |title=Historical Dictionary of Hong Kong Cinema |author= Lisa Odham Stokes |page=427 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |date= 2007 |isbn= 978-0-8108-5520-5 }}</ref>  The move to Hong Kong was accelerated as the [[Nationalist Government|Nanjing government]] had issued a ban on [[wuxia film|martial arts films]] as well as Cantonese films, and two years later, they moved the entire film production operation from Shanghai to Hong Kong.<ref name="morris"/> Tianyi was reorganized into Nanyang (南洋) Productions with [[Runde Shaw]] as the studio head.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gx0_4QJ7zpwC&pg=PA56 |title=Between Shanghai and Hong Kong: The Politics of Chinese Cinemas |author= Poshek Fu |pages=56–59 |publisher= Stanford University Press |year= 2003 |isbn=978-0-8047-4518-5 }}</ref>  They also announced plan for their first film production studio in Singapore in 1937 to make films in Malay; a studio was built in 1940 to make Malay and Cantonese films, followed by another called Singapore Film Studios in 1941 on [[Jalan Ampas]].<ref name=nlb /> It produced Malay films under the studio named [[Malay Film Productions]] (formally incorporated in 1949) which lasted until 1967.<ref name="malay films1">{{cite web |url= http://www.shaw.sg/sw_abouthistory.aspx?id=155%20228%20232%2026%20251%20183%2049%2096%20185%2092%2072%20190%2094%20180%20241%20241 |title=About Shaw - Shaw Studio, Pre War - The Great Depression 1930|work=Shaw Online|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304192858/http://www.shaw.sg/sw_abouthistory.aspx?id=155%20228%20232%2026%20251%20183%2049%2096%20185%2092%2072%20190%2094%20180%20241%20241 |archive-date=4 March 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shaw.sg/sw_abouthistory.aspx?id=159%2044%20235%20173%209%20160%20105%20230%2012%20182%2038%20136%2092%20107%2021%2088 |title=The Last Days Of Malay Film Productions |work=Shaw Online }}</ref> The most prominent Malay actor, director and producer of this period was [[P. Ramlee]].<ref name=nlb>{{cite web |url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/history/events/6854ed6a-6614-4ecc-b728-278f0a8ffb98 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180402104925/http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/history/events/6854ed6a-6614-4ecc-b728-278f0a8ffb98 |archive-date=2 April 2018|title=Shaw ventures into local Malay film productions  |work=History SG |publisher=National Library Board }}</ref>
-[[File:Run Run Shaw youth.jpg|thumb|upright|Run Run Shaw in 1927.]]
+[[File:Run Run Shaw youth.jpg|thumb|upright|Run Run Shaw in 1927]]
-The Shaw Brothers continued to expand but suffered a setback during the [[Second World War]] when the Japanese [[Japanese occupation of Malaya|occupied Malaya]] and [[Japanese occupation of Singapore|Singapore]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://entertainment.time.com/2014/01/07/run-run-shaw-the-last-emperor-of-chinese-movies/ |title=Run Run Shaw: The Last Emperor of Chinese Movies |author=Richard Corliss |newspaper=Time |date=7 January 2014 }}</ref> After the war, they began to rebuild. In the 1950s, Nanyang started to switch film production from Cantonese to [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] as Communist takeover in mainland China had cut off the supply of Mandarin films to overseas Chinese communities. In this period, Nanyang Studio operated under the company name of Shaw and Sons Ltd.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.shaw.sg/sw_abouthistory.aspx?id=125%20239%20190%20213%2051%2058%20124%20113%20112%20169%2024%2045%20230%20240%20249%20136 |title=Shaw Cinemas in Asia, Japanese Occupation |work=Shawonline }}</ref> The Mandarin films of the 1950s were primarily ''wenyi'' films (文藝片) in a contemporary setting as well as a few period dramas.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=uJh2iuFNr4YC&pg=PA114 |pages=114–115|title=China Forever: The Shaw Brothers and Diasporic Cinema  |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year= 2008 |isbn=978-0252075001 }}</ref> In 1957, Run Run Shaw moved to Hong Kong, set up a new company, Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Ltd., and built a new studio at [[Clearwater Bay]], which officially opened in 1961 as Movietown.<ref name=fu /> In the mid-1960s, Movietown was the largest and best-equipped studio in Chinese filmmaking as well as the largest privately owned studio in the world, with 15 stages, two permanent sets, state-of-the-art film-making equipment and facilities, and 1,300 employees.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uJh2iuFNr4YC&pg=PA5 |title=China Forever: The Shaw Brothers and Diasporic Cinema |author= Poshek Fu |pages=3–5 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year= 2008 |isbn=978-0252075001 }}</ref>  Period and music dramas were popular in the 1960s, and later in the decade [[Kung fu films]] also became popular. Some of Shaw Brothers' most notable films were made in this period, including ''[[The Magnificent Concubine]]'', ''[[The Love Eterne]]'', as well as ''[[One-Armed Swordsman]]'', which broke the box office records and some spawned multiple sequels.<ref name="bbc">{{cite news|title=Run Run Shaw, Hong Kong film pioneer, dies aged 107|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-25618414|date=7 January 2014|work=BBC}}</ref> The studio popularized the [[Kung fu film|kung-fu genre]] of films, which included ''[[King Boxer|Five Fingers of Death]]'' and ''[[The 36th Chamber of Shaolin]]'' made in the 1970s.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/10555131/Run-Run-Shaw-kung-fu-film-pioneer-dies-aged-106.html |title=Run Run Shaw, kung-fu film pioneer, dies aged 106 |author= Martin Chilton |date=7 Jan 2014 |work=The Daily Telegraph }}</ref> The 1960s was a period of intense rivalry between Shaw Brothers and [[Cathay Organisation]], but eventually Shaw Brothers gained the upper hand and Cathay ceased film production in 1970. Sir Run Run Shaw became involved in television when [[TVB]] was launched in 1967.<ref name="bbc"/> In 1969, Shaw Brothers (HK) issued shares and became a public listed company.
+The Shaw Brothers continued to expand but suffered a setback during the [[World War II|Second World War]] when the Japanese [[Japanese occupation of Malaya|occupied Malaya]] and [[Japanese occupation of Singapore|Singapore]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://entertainment.time.com/2014/01/07/run-run-shaw-the-last-emperor-of-chinese-movies/ |title=Run Run Shaw: The Last Emperor of Chinese Movies |author=Richard Corliss |newspaper=Time |date=7 January 2014 }}</ref> After the war, they began to rebuild. In the 1950s, Nanyang started to switch film production from Cantonese to [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] as the communist takeover of mainland China had cut off the supply of Mandarin films to overseas Chinese communities. In this period, Nanyang Studio operated under the company name of Shaw and Sons Ltd.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://shaw.sg/japoccupation |title=Shaw Cinemas in Asia, Japanese Occupation |work=Shawonline }}</ref> The Mandarin films of the 1950s were primarily ''wenyi'' films (文藝片) in a contemporary setting as well as a few period dramas.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=uJh2iuFNr4YC&pg=PA114 |pages=114–115|title=China Forever: The Shaw Brothers and Diasporic Cinema  |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year= 2008 |isbn=978-0-252-07500-1 }}</ref> In 1957, Run Run Shaw moved to Hong Kong, set up a new company, Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Ltd., and built a new studio at [[Clearwater Bay]], which officially opened in 1961 as Movietown.<ref name=fu /> In the mid-1960s, Movietown was the largest and best-equipped studio in Chinese filmmaking as well as the largest privately owned studio in the world, with 15 stages, two permanent sets, state-of-the-art film-making equipment and facilities, and 1,300 employees.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uJh2iuFNr4YC&pg=PA5 |title=China Forever: The Shaw Brothers and Diasporic Cinema |author= Poshek Fu |pages=3–5 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year= 2008 |isbn=978-0-252-07500-1 }}</ref>  Period and music dramas were popular in the 1960s, and later in the decade [[Kung fu films]] also became popular. Some of Shaw Brothers' most notable films were made in this period, including ''[[The Magnificent Concubine]]'', ''[[The Love Eterne]]'', as well as ''[[One-Armed Swordsman]]'', which broke the box office records and some spawned multiple sequels.<ref name="bbc">{{cite news|title=Run Run Shaw, Hong Kong film pioneer, dies aged 107|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-25618414|date=7 January 2014|work=BBC}}</ref> The studio popularized the [[Kung fu film|kung-fu genre]] of films, which included ''[[King Boxer|Five Fingers of Death]]'' and ''[[The 36th Chamber of Shaolin]]'' made in the 1970s.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/10555131/Run-Run-Shaw-kung-fu-film-pioneer-dies-aged-106.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/10555131/Run-Run-Shaw-kung-fu-film-pioneer-dies-aged-106.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Run Run Shaw, kung-fu film pioneer, dies aged 106 |author= Martin Chilton |date=7 Jan 2014 |work=The Daily Telegraph }}{{cbignore}}</ref> The 1960s was a period of intense rivalry between Shaw Brothers and [[Cathay Organisation]], but eventually Shaw Brothers gained the upper hand and Cathay ceased film production in 1970. Sir Run Run Shaw became involved in television when [[TVB]] was launched in 1967.<ref name="bbc"/> In 1969, Shaw Brothers (HK) issued shares and became a public listed company.
-In the 1970s, Shaw Brothers faced a strong challenge from a new studio, [[Orange Sky Golden Harvest|Golden Harvest]], which had considerable success internationally with the martial arts film, ''[[Enter the Dragon]]'' starring [[Bruce Lee]].  Shaw Brothers then also began to co-produce films with Western producers for the international market,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shaw.sg/sw_abouthistory.aspx?id=193%2028%2038%20182%20251%2049%20212%20146%2056%20148%20173%20187%2075%20173%2082%20165 |title=Shaw Organization, 1970 |work=Shawonline}}</ref> and invest in films such as ''[[Meteor (film)|Meteor]]'' and ''[[Blade Runner]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/2007/09/15/run-run-shaw-face-cx_vk_0914autofacescan01.html |title=Who Will Run Shaw Brothers After Run Run? |author=Vivian Wai-yin Kwok |work=Forbes |date=15 November 2007 }}</ref>  However, Shaw Brothers ceased film production in 1986 because of competition from Golden Harvest and increasing piracy, focusing instead on TV production. In 1986, Movietown became TV City, which was leased to TVB for TV production. In 1988, the company was reorganized under the umbrella of the Shaw Organization.<ref name=fu /> In the 1990s, Shaw again started making a few films, but no longer on the same scale as before.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hkcinema.co.uk/Articles/shawbronews.html |title=Shaw Brothers History }}</ref> Shaw has since relocated to a new site in [[Tseung Kwan O]], Hong Kong.
+In the 1970s, Shaw Brothers faced a strong challenge from a new studio, [[Orange Sky Golden Harvest|Golden Harvest]], which had considerable success internationally with the martial arts film, ''[[Enter the Dragon]]'' starring [[Bruce Lee]].  Shaw Brothers then also began to co-produce films with Western producers for the international market<ref>{{cite web |url=https://shaw.sg/shaw70s |title=Shaw Organization, 1970 |work=Shawonline}}</ref> and invest in films such as ''[[Meteor (film)|Meteor]]'' and ''[[Blade Runner]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/2007/09/15/run-run-shaw-face-cx_vk_0914autofacescan01.html |title=Who Will Run Shaw Brothers After Run Run? |author=Vivian Wai-yin Kwok |work=Forbes |date=15 November 2007 }}</ref>  However, Shaw Brothers ceased film production in 1986 because of competition from Golden Harvest and increasing piracy, focusing instead on TV production. In 1986, Movietown became TV City, which was leased to TVB for TV production. In 1988, the company was reorganized under the umbrella of the Shaw Organization.<ref name=fu /> In the 1990s, Shaw again started making a few films, but no longer on the same scale as before.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hkcinema.co.uk/Articles/shawbronews.html |title=Shaw Brothers History }}</ref> Shaw has since relocated to a new site in [[Tseung Kwan O]], Hong Kong.
 ==Legacy==
 ===Directors===
-Shaw Brothers is noted for film directors such as [[King Hu]], [[Lau Kar-leung]], [[P. Ramlee]] and [[Chang Cheh]]. King Hu was an early director who is best remembered for his film, ''[[Come Drink with Me]]'', a martial arts film which differed from those of Chang Cheh in that it featured a capable female protagonist and revolved around romance in the martial arts world, rather than fast-paced action and the tales of brotherhood which Chang Cheh would later popularize. Chang Cheh, who was more fond of the latter components, would go on to be Shaw Studio's best-known director, with such films as ''[[Five Deadly Venoms]]'', ''[[The Brave Archer]]'' (based on the works of [[Jin Yong]]), ''[[One-Armed Swordsman]]'', and other classics of [[Wuxia]] and [[Chinese martial arts|Wushu]] film. Almost equally as famous was [[fight choreographer|fight-choreographer]]-turned-director Lau Kar-leung, who would produce such highly regarded kung fu films as ''[[The 36th Chamber of Shaolin]]'' and ''[[The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter]].'' While P. Ramlee was known for Malay style romantics and comedy such as ''[[Nujum Pa' Belalang]], [[Seniman Bujang Lapok]]'' and ''[[Do Re Mi (1966 film)|Do Re Mi]].''
+Shaw Brothers is noted for film directors such as [[King Hu]], [[Lau Kar-leung]], [[P. Ramlee]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-09-09 |title=P. Ramlee: Seniman yang dibenci & tak dihiraukan sebelum akhir hayatnya {{!}} SOSCILI |url=https://soscili.my/p-ramlee-dibenci-shaw-brothers-hidup-susah-miskin/ |access-date=2024-02-29 |language=en-US}}</ref> and [[Chang Cheh]]. King Hu was an early director who is best remembered for his film, ''[[Come Drink with Me]]'', a martial arts film which differed from those of Chang Cheh in that it featured a capable female protagonist and revolved around romance in the martial arts world, rather than fast-paced action and the tales of brotherhood which Chang Cheh would later popularize. Chang Cheh, who was more fond of the latter components, would go on to be Shaw Studio's best-known director, with such films as ''[[Five Deadly Venoms]]'', ''[[The Brave Archer]]'' (based on the works of [[Jin Yong]]), ''[[One-Armed Swordsman]]'', and other classics of [[Wuxia]] and [[Chinese martial arts|Wushu]] film. Almost equally as famous was [[fight choreographer|fight-choreographer]]-turned-director Lau Kar-leung, who would produce such highly regarded kung fu films as ''[[The 36th Chamber of Shaolin]]'' and ''[[The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter]],'' while P. Ramlee was known for Malay style romantics and comedy such as ''[[Nujum Pa' Belalang]], [[Seniman Bujang Lapok]]'' and ''[[Do Re Mi (1966 film)|Do Re Mi]].''
 === Actors ===
-[[File:Saigon 1967 Shaw Brothers.jpg|thumbnail|A movie theater in [[Ho Chi Minh City|Saigon]] (today's Ho Chi Minh City), [[South Vietnam]], 1967, advertising for ''The Thundering Sword'' starring the "queen of swords" [[Cheng Pei-pei]].]]
+[[File:Saigon 1967 Shaw Brothers.jpg|thumbnail|A movie theater in [[Ho Chi Minh City|Saigon]] (today's Ho Chi Minh City), [[South Vietnam]], 1967, advertising ''The Thundering Sword'' starring the "queen of swords" [[Cheng Pei-pei]].]]
 Shaw Brothers was modeled after the classic Hollywood system, with hundreds of actors signed to exclusive contracts. While other studios rotated cast members, Shaw Brothers assigned certain groups of actors to work exclusively with certain directors.
-Shaw Brothers productions during the late 1950s to early '60s were dominated by actresses like [[Li Li-Hua]], [[Ivy Ling Po]], [[Linda Lin Dai]], [[Betty Loh Ti]], [[Li Ching (actress)|Li Ching]] in dramatic and romantic features. In particular, the [[Huangmei opera]] ''[[The Love Eterne]]'', starring Ivy Ling Po and Betty Loh Ti and based on the ''Butterfly Lovers'' folk legend from the [[Jin Dynasty (265–420)|Jin Dynasty]], is one of the highest-grossing features of the Shaw Studio. Its huge success is in part due to the ingenious casting of Ivy Ling Po, who was a relatively unknown supporting actress, as the male lead.  In the story of ''Butterfly Lovers'', the female lead, played by Betty Loh Ti, disguised herself as a male to attend college because social mingling between the sexes was forbidden. The film resonated with its audience, and reportedly some members of the audience in Hong Kong and Taiwan repeatedly bought tickets and watched the feature in theaters over and over again in 1962, with some having watched it over 20 times.
+Shaw Brothers productions during the late 1950s to early 1960s were dominated by actresses like [[Li Li-Hua]], [[Ivy Ling Po]], [[Linda Lin Dai]], [[Betty Loh Ti]], [[Li Ching (actress)|Li Ching]] in dramatic and romantic features. In particular, the [[Huangmei opera]] ''[[The Love Eterne]]'', starring Ivy Ling Po and Betty Loh Ti and based on the ''Butterfly Lovers'' folk legend from the [[Jin Dynasty (265–420)|Jin Dynasty]], is one of the highest-grossing features of the Shaw Studio. Its huge success is in part due to the ingenious casting of Ivy Ling Po, who was a relatively unknown supporting actress, as the male lead.  In the story of ''Butterfly Lovers'', the female lead, played by Betty Loh Ti, disguised herself as a male to attend college because social mingling between the sexes was forbidden. The film resonated with its audience, and reportedly some members of the audience in Hong Kong and Taiwan repeatedly bought tickets and watched the feature in theaters over and over again in 1962, with some having watched it over 20 times.
 From the late 1960s onward, production of dramatic features was reduced in favor of martial arts features. The group of actors from the 1978 release, ''Five Deadly Venoms'', and the subsequent series of films—known by the name the [[Venom Mob]]—were among the most memorable. They were [[Lo Mang]], [[Lu Feng]], Sun Chien, [[Chiang Sheng]], and [[Kuo Chui]], who had been stars in the Shaw Studio for years, but did not become memorable faces until ''Five Deadly Venoms''. Wei Pai, who played the Snake (referred to as "Number Two" throughout the film ''Five Deadly Venoms''), was also part of the ''[[Venom Mob]]'', which numbered over 15 actors who appeared in almost all of the ''Venom'' movies.
@@ Line 79: / Line 85: @@
 ===Influences===
-The films produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio were highly popular among Chinese communities in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia and they would have a significant influence on later filmmakers, particularly in the [[Kung fu film|Kung fu genre]].  These films also reached the West and were popular for a time in the 1970s, and had some influence on filmmakers such as [[Quentin Tarantino]], who paid homage to the studio by displaying their logo in his ''[[Kill Bill: Volume 1]]'' and ''[[Kill Bill: Volume 2|2]]'' films and adapting the styles of some of their films.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.tft.ucla.edu/mediascape/Fall09_ShawBrothers.pdf |title=The Shaw-Tarantino Connection: Rolling Thunder Pictures and the Exploitation Aesthetics of Cool |first= Kenneth |last=Chan |journal=Mediascape |volume=Fall 2009 }}</ref>''
+The films produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio were highly popular among Chinese communities in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia and they would have a significant influence on later filmmakers, particularly in the [[Kung fu film|kung fu genre]].  These films also reached the West and were popular for a time in the 1970s and early 1980s, having some influence on filmmakers such as [[Quentin Tarantino]], who paid homage to the studio by displaying their logo in his ''[[Kill Bill: Volume 1]]'' and ''[[Kill Bill: Volume 2|2]]'' films and adapting the styles of some of their films.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.tft.ucla.edu/mediascape/Fall09_ShawBrothers.pdf |title=The Shaw-Tarantino Connection: Rolling Thunder Pictures and the Exploitation Aesthetics of Cool |first= Kenneth |last=Chan |journal=Mediascape |volume=Fall 2009 }}</ref>
+The 2023 animated movie ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem]]'' also paid homage to the studio by adding clips from classic Shaw Brothers movies into the movie when the [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|title characters]] were trained in martial arts by their father figure, [[Splinter (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)|Master Splinter]] (voiced by Jackie Chan, who played smaller roles in few Shaw Brothers films), by showing them various video clips containing martial arts techniques, including clips from ''[[The 36th Chamber of Shaolin]]'', ''[[Dirty Ho]]'', ''[[Magnificent Ruffians|The Magnificent Ruffians]]'' and ''[[Mad Monkey Kung Fu]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-09-06 |title=New Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie delivers 'a cinematic pizza-with-the lot' |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-07/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-mutant-mayhem-movie-review/102820588 |access-date=2024-02-27 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU}}</ref>
 ==Celestial Pictures acquisition and distribution==
@@ Line 85: / Line 93: @@
 ===Karmaloop TV's licensing deal===
-[[Karmaloop]] TV, a multi-platform programming network designed to help operators "reclaim" viewership among the 18- to 34-year-old demographic, announced its first film licensing deal with Celestial Pictures. The Hong Kong-based company owns, restores and licenses the world's largest collection of Chinese-made films including the Shaw Brothers library of fan-favourite kung fu and action classics such as ''[[The 36th Chamber of Shaolin]]'', ''[[Five Deadly Venoms]]'', and ''[[The One-Armed Swordsman]]''.
+[[Karmaloop]] TV, a multi-platform programming network designed to help operators "reclaim" viewership among the 18- to 34-year-old demographic, announced its first film licensing deal with Celestial Pictures. The Hong Kong–based company owns, restores and licenses the world's largest collection of Chinese-made films including the Shaw Brothers library of fan-favourite kung fu and action classics such as ''[[The 36th Chamber of Shaolin]]'', ''[[Five Deadly Venoms]]'', and ''[[The One-Armed Swordsman]]''.
 The licensing deal with Karmaloop TV means that kung fu and action fans in the United States will see these films in their digitally restored versions, many of which will be premiering for the first time on U.S. television in high definition. The licensed collection includes more than 60 of the greatest martial arts masterpieces—movies which launched the careers of stars like Jimmy Wang Yu, Cheng Pei-Pei, Ti Lung, David Chiang, Alexander Fu Sheng, Chen Kuan-Tai, and Gordon Liu.
@@ Line 91: / Line 99: @@
 ==Shaw Studios==
-The [[Clearwater Bay]] site at Clearwater Bay Road and Ngan Ying Road is the former home of Shaw Studio (built 1960–1961), as well as the vacated [[TVB]] headquarters and studios (1986–2003, since relocated to [[TVB City]]) and [[Celestial Pictures]].<ref name=history>{{cite web|url=http://www.shaw.sg/sw_abouthistory.aspx?id=161%20219%20131%20178%202%2079%20226%20230%2045%20139%2083%20250%20130%2065%20118%20191 |title=Shaw Online - About Shaw - Shaw History |publisher=Shaw.sg |access-date=2011-12-08}}</ref> There are also apartment blocks used to house Shaw actors. The newer Shaw House and Shaw Villa are there. The site has been vacant since 2003,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://orientalsweetlips.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/shaw-brothers-studios-clearwater-bay/ |title=Shaw Brothers Studios, Clearwater Bay « Hong Kong (& Macau) Stuff |publisher=Orientalsweetlips.wordpress.com |date=2009-09-17 |access-date=2011-12-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308051552/http://orientalsweetlips.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/shaw-brothers-studios-clearwater-bay/ |archive-date=8 March 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> and has been targeted for redevelopment several times since 2006.<ref name="HKBuzz">{{cite web |url=https://hongkongbuzz.hk/2018/05/revised-plans-for-development-of-old-shaw-brothers-studio-building-announced|title=Revised plans for development of old Shaw Brothers Studio building announced|publisher=Hong Kong Buzz|date=2018-05-19|access-date=2019-12-15}}</ref> In 2015, Hong Kong's [[Antiquities and Monuments Office|Antiquities Advisory Board]] declared the entire studio complex a site of [[cultural heritage|cultural significance]], and subsequent redevelopment plans have included measures to restore and preserve the existing structures.<ref name="HKBuzz"/>
+The [[Clearwater Bay]] site at Clearwater Bay Road and Ngan Ying Road is the former home of Shaw Studio (built 1960 to 1961), as well as the vacated [[TVB]] headquarters and studios (1986–2003, since relocated to [[TVB City]]) and [[Celestial Pictures]].<ref name=history>{{cite web|url=http://www.shaw.sg/sw_abouthistory.aspx?id=161%20219%20131%20178%202%2079%20226%20230%2045%20139%2083%20250%20130%2065%20118%20191 |title=Shaw Online - About Shaw - Shaw History |publisher=Shaw.sg |access-date=2011-12-08}}</ref> There are also apartment blocks used to house Shaw actors. The newer Shaw House and Shaw Villa are there. The site has been vacant since 2003<ref>{{cite web |url=http://orientalsweetlips.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/shaw-brothers-studios-clearwater-bay/ |title=Shaw Brothers Studios, Clearwater Bay « Hong Kong (& Macau) Stuff |publisher=Orientalsweetlips.wordpress.com |date=2009-09-17 |access-date=2011-12-08  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308051552/http://orientalsweetlips.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/shaw-brothers-studios-clearwater-bay/ |archive-date=8 March 2012 }}</ref> and has been targeted for redevelopment several times since 2006.<ref name="HKBuzz">{{cite web |url=https://hongkongbuzz.hk/2018/05/revised-plans-for-development-of-old-shaw-brothers-studio-building-announced|title=Revised plans for development of old Shaw Brothers Studio building announced|publisher=Hong Kong Buzz|date=2018-05-19|access-date=2019-12-15}}</ref> In 2015, Hong Kong's [[Antiquities and Monuments Office|Antiquities Advisory Board]] declared the entire studio complex a site of [[cultural heritage|cultural significance]] and subsequent redevelopment plans have included measures to restore and preserve the existing structures.<ref name="HKBuzz"/>
-A new Shaw Studios (note the plural ''s'') has been built at [[Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate]], and was opened in stages between 2006 and 2008.
+A new Shaw Studios (note the plural ''s'') was built at [[Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate]] and opened in stages between 2006 and 2008.
 ==See also==
@@ Line 107: / Line 115: @@
 ==Further reading==
-* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uJh2iuFNr4YC |title=China Forever: The Shaw Brothers and Diasporic Cinema |author= Poshek Fu |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year= 2008 |isbn=978-0252075001 }}
+* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uJh2iuFNr4YC |title=China Forever: The Shaw Brothers and Diasporic Cinema |author= Poshek Fu |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year= 2008 |isbn=978-0-252-07500-1 }}
 * Glaessner, Verina. ''Kung Fu: Cinema of Vengeance''. London: Lorimer; New York: Bounty Books, 1974. {{ISBN|0-85647-045-7}}, {{ISBN|0-517-51831-7}}.
 * Wong, Ain-ling. ''The Shaw Screen: A Preliminary Study''. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Film Archive, 2003. {{ISBN|962-8050-21-4}}.

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