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Peter Chan

Peter Ho-sun Chan (born 28 November 1962), also known as Peter Chan, is a Hong Kong-born filmmaker. His notable works as a director include He's a Woman, She's a Man (1994), Comrades: Almost a Love Story (1996), Perhaps Love (2005), The Warlords (2007), Dragon (2011), American Dreams in China (2013), Dearest (2014), and Leap (2020).

Chan started his career as an assistant film director, producer and crew for John Woo and Jackie Chan films in the 1980s. He then made his directorial debut with Alan and Eric: Between Hello and Goodbye in 1991. Chan has since earned multiple Best Director awards at both the Hong Kong Film Award and the Golden Horse Awards.

Early life

Chan was born in British Hong Kong to Chinese parents. His father was writer-director Chan Tung Man. He and his family moved to Thailand when he was 11, where he grew up amongst the international Chinese community in Bangkok. He speaks Thai fluently.

He later studied in the United States where he attended film school at UCLA, with a minor in accountancy. He returned to Hong Kong in 1983 for a summer internship in the film industry. Chan never returned to UCLA to complete his studies.

Career

He served as second assistant director, translator, and producer on John Woo's Heroes Shed No Tears (1986), which was set in Thailand. He then was a location manager on three Jackie Chan films, Wheels on Meals (1984), The Protector (1985) and Armour of God (1986), all of which were shot overseas.

He joined Impact Films as a producer in 1989, guiding projects such as Curry and Pepper (1990) to completion.

His directorial debut, Alan and Eric: Between Hello and Goodbye, was crowned best film at the Hong Kong Film Directors' Guild in 1991. It also won best actor at the Hong Kong Film Awards for Eric Tsang, who would become a frequent collaborator with Chan.

Chan was a co-founder of United Filmmakers Organization (UFO) in the early 1990s, which produced a number of box-office and critical hits in Hong Kong, including his own: He Ain't Heavy, He's My Father. Other critical and commercial successes followed, including Tom, Dick and Hairy, He's a Woman, She's a Man and Comrades, Almost a Love Story.

In the late 1990s, Chan worked in Hollywood, directing The Love Letter, which starred Kate Capshaw, Ellen DeGeneres and Tom Selleck.

In 2000, Chan co-founded Applause Pictures with Teddy Chen and Allan Fung. The company's focus was on fostering ties with pan-Asian filmmakers, producing such films as Jan Dara by Thailand's Nonzee Nimibutr, One Fine Spring Day South Korea's Hur Jin-ho, Samsara by China's Huang Jianxin, The Eye by Danny and Oxide Pang and cinematographer Christopher Doyle.

Since the mid-2000s, Chan has been working mostly in mainland China, capitalizing on the rapid expansion of the Chinese film industry. Chan's 2005 film, the Hong Kong-mainland China co-produced musical Perhaps Love, closed the 2005 Venice Film Festival and was Hong Kong's entry for an Academy Awards nomination in the best foreign film category. Perhaps Love became one of the year's top-grossing films in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and received a record 29 awards. Chan next directed The Warlords (2007) and produced Derek Yee's Protégé (2007). The two films were the two highest grossing Hong Kong-China co-productions of 2007. The Warlords grossed a record RMB220 million in China and over US$40 million across Asia, and garnered 8 Hong Kong Film Awards and 3 Golden Horse Awards, including Best Director and Best Feature Film.

In 2009, Chan produced Teddy Chen's Bodyguards and Assassins, which has garnered RMB300 million in China box office alone, accumulating over US$50 million Asia-wide. It has scored 8 awards in the Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Film.

In a survey conducted by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council during the 2010 Hong Kong Filmart, Chan was voted "the most valuable filmmaker", which was strongly backed by his box-office track records.

In 2022, Peter Chan launched production company Changin’ Pictures to make streaming content.