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- Jan 6, 2013
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1. The History
In 1925, three Shaw brothers (Runje, Runme, and Runde) founded the Tianyi Film Company in Shanghai. They also established a film-distribution base in Singapore, where Runme and the youngest brother, Run Run (did the parents like R's?), managed the precursor to the parent company, The Shaw Organisation. Having branched-out into Malaysia, building new cinemas and operating a mobile cinema in rural areas, in 1933 they produced the Cantonese opera film ‘Normal Dragon’ which proved a break-through for them in both Singapore and Hong Kong. By 1939, they had an empire of 139 cinemas across south-east Asia, but the war saw the Japanese invade Singapore and seize most of Shaw’s assets.
Re-grouping after the war, they again expanded into more cinemas and increased film production. Runme and Run Run then took over the film production business of its Hong Kong-based sister company, Shaw & Sons Ltd, and in 1957, a new company, "Shaw Brothers", was set up and a new studio built at Clearwater Bay. It officially opened in 1961 as "Movietown". Employing 1,500 people, at its height, it was the largest privately-owned studio in the world, boasting over twenty separate building over the 46-acre site, including residential buildings for actors and crew as well as private homes. Sir Run Run Shaw was pivotal in the studio’s success, having previously identified the potential of the market in HK that was dominated by foreign films and unattractive local productions. He was the key contributing figure to the 'Golden Era' of Hong Kong cinema.
Over the years the film company produced some 800 plus films. Some went on to be the most popular and significant Chinese-language films of the period, including popularizing the Kung-Fu genre of films. The first break-through film was ‘The Kingdom and the Beauty’ (1958), which enjoyed global success. The most famous releases to come out of the studios included 1962’s ‘The Magnificent Concubine’ and kung-fu battle-epic ‘36th Chamber of Shaolin’ in 1978. The studio did have a reputation for “churning them out” with many of its films considered to be instantly forgettable. Some likened its operations to Hollywood studios in the early 20th Century, where autocratic execs churned out films for commercial gain with little regard for artistic merit. Films were frequently shot without sound and then dubbed into the language required in one of its 12 sound studios. The place wasn’t always the best working environment for its actors, who were often subject to tight schedules and high levels of pressure and stress. Shaw Brothers were rocked in 1962 by the suicide of their top actresses, the 29-year old Linda Lin Dai.
An early Shaw Brother logo:
ShawScope by HughieDW, on Flickr
And a more recent promotion poster:
Shaw Movies by HughieDW, on Flickr
Shaw Brothers continued to diversify with the launch of their own TV station, TVB, in 1973. By the mid-seventies their empire boasted 230 cinemas and with another 600 cinemas on a distribution deal, it is estimated that every week, over 1.5 million people saw a Shaw-produced movie. However, in the early 1980s the 'Golden Era’ started to fade and in 1987, the company suspended film production in order to concentrate on the television industry through its subsidiary TVB. The last film from the site came out in 2003, although film production resumed, albeit in limited capacity, in 2009. In 2011 Shaw Brothers was reorganized into the Clear Water Bay Land Company Limited and its film production business was taken over by other companies within the Shaw conglomerate.
The studios situated on Clearwater Bay Road and Ngan Ying Road now sit empty, along with the former TVB headquarters (occupied 1986–2003) and the apartment blocks used to house Shaw actors. Next to them is the newer and still-in-use Shaw House and Shaw Villa. A new Shaw Studios was been built at Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate which opened in 2006. Negotiations have taken place between the landowners and the Town Planning Board who have been struggling to decide on what to do with the site. In late 2014, there was a decision to completely demolish the former studios and build housing and commercial properties. This was blocked by the Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB) who listed Movietown as a Grade 1 Historical Site, requiring certain buildings to be retained in their original state. It was also the year that Run Run Shaw passed away, aged 106:
run run shaw by HughieDW, on Flickr
The great man may have departed this world but his legacy lives on. I’ll leave the last words for Quentin Tarantino: “For a year, I’d watch one old Shaw Brothers movie a day, if not three.”
2. The Explore
This one is the biggie explore from my trip out to HK. So where to start with this epic place? I first came across this location randomly, while being driven back to Kowloon from Sai Kung by a friend. I had a poke around the private road round the back where the former ATV studios are and where I managed to set a PIR off so that was that. The following year I set-off to visit the site in possession of a bit more information of how to get in and what to see. I got inside the complex but nearly bumped into the security guard. That and the fact I was solo led to me chickening-out, so I bailed having done the hard bit. Hence this year one of my objectives was to do a proper job this time around. This time I met up with non-forum member Dr Howser who is something of an expert on this amazing location and am very grateful for him showing me round.
We met outside on a day the No.3 Typhoon signal was hoisted, and it was chucking it down. We got into the complex easily enough and looked round five buildings in total. This left many buildings unexplored including the large production studios – the reasons being the torrential rain and us spotting staff on site in these areas. Despite only looking at a fraction of the site, this has to be up there as one of my favourite explores of all time.
3. The Photos
Front of the complex:
Shaws 06 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Building No.1
This place was very damp and packed full of stuff over multiple floors.
img2301 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Shaw's Studios 03 by HughieDW, on Flickr
The first few rooms we went in were packed with old film canisters and spare parts and bulbs for projectors:
Shaw's Studios 04 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img2257 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img2258 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img2261 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Shaw's Studios 06 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Baby’s got a gun:
img2264 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img2271 by HughieDW, on Flickr
A floor or two up and there’s a lot of machines for processing film:
Shaw's Studios 07 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Shaw's Studios 08 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img2285 by HughieDW, on Flickr
“Yellowthread Street” was a 13-episode series screened on Yorkshire TV in 1990 where a Hong Kong police detective Chief Insp. Alex Vale (played by Ray Lonnen) goes undercover to investigate and infiltrate a drug kingpin by acting as a buyer to purchase some of his highest priced product:
img2286 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Another floor up and the have a:
img2288 by HughieDW, on Flickr
…now slowly falling apart:
img2290 by HughieDW, on Flickr
And the projectors:
img2291 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img2293 by HughieDW, on Flickr
On the same floor is this room stacked full of mouldering film canisters. The smell of celluloid from here was intense:
img2295 by HughieDW, on Flickr
This room looked like some sort of film washing facility:
img2296 by HughieDW, on Flickr
This beast of a projector was at ground level:
Shaws 03 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Shaw's Studios 10 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Shaws 05 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Shaws 04 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Shaws 01 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Building No. 2:
Shaws 02 by HughieDW, on Flickr
This was in much better condition with far less water ingress. Although far less photogenic, this place looked a lot newer and has some seriously expensive gear in, including this computer-controlled Oxberry Cinescan digital scanner that clocks in at up-wards of $200,000:
img2299 by HughieDW, on Flickr
The upper floors were used for storage. This second last floor had a number of props in:
Shaw's Studios 13 by HughieDW, on Flickr
And some archiving space:
img2303 by HughieDW, on Flickr
The highest floor was pack full of stuff. Here’s some promo material for the 1992 movie Swordsman II that starred Jet Li:
img2304 by HughieDW, on Flickr
More film promo stuff:
Shaw's Studios 19 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Shaw's Studios 20 by HughieDW, on Flickr
The amount of film canisters here was staggering:
img2305 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img2307 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img2308 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Although it looks like some of the films had been removed:
img2309 by HughieDW, on Flickr
There was also a large number of documents too:
img2312 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Shaw's Studios 17 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Shaw's Studios 18 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Building No. 3:
The smallest of the five places week looked at, at only a couple of floors. It has some of the most ‘interesting’ stuff in too:
Shaw's Studios 28 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Shaw's Studios 27 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Shaw's Studios 21 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img2321 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img2324 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img2325 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img2326 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Shaw's Studios 25 by HughieDW, on Flickr
These rooms were used for hand-painting effects on film:
img2328 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img2329 by HughieDW, on Flickr
And then there was the studio lights:
img2333 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Building No. 4:
This was perhaps in the worst condition of them all. Roof collapses, water ingress and loads of interesting stuff.
This was a specialist sound studio:
img2335 by HughieDW, on Flickr
A Westrex ST-510 Rerecorder:
img2336 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img2340 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Tapes for 1977’s Brave Archer kung-fu movie:
img2341 by HughieDW, on Flickr
The distinctive “SB” logo:
img2349 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Building No.5
This is the iconic front building. This is probably the best condition of the five we looked at. Manly empty, it had this small preview cinema which was in very good condition:
img2352 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img2355 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Shaw's Studios 32 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img2354 by HughieDW, on Flickr
And finally, a few pictures from my first visit.
This was the actors and staff accommodation:
img1734 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Back of one of the filming studios:
img1724 by HughieDW, on Flickr
The old TVB building:
img1731 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img1730 by HughieDW, on Flickr
And an old security guard post:
img1719 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img1717 by HughieDW, on Flickr
IMG1712 by HughieDW, on Flickr
In 1925, three Shaw brothers (Runje, Runme, and Runde) founded the Tianyi Film Company in Shanghai. They also established a film-distribution base in Singapore, where Runme and the youngest brother, Run Run (did the parents like R's?), managed the precursor to the parent company, The Shaw Organisation. Having branched-out into Malaysia, building new cinemas and operating a mobile cinema in rural areas, in 1933 they produced the Cantonese opera film ‘Normal Dragon’ which proved a break-through for them in both Singapore and Hong Kong. By 1939, they had an empire of 139 cinemas across south-east Asia, but the war saw the Japanese invade Singapore and seize most of Shaw’s assets.
Re-grouping after the war, they again expanded into more cinemas and increased film production. Runme and Run Run then took over the film production business of its Hong Kong-based sister company, Shaw & Sons Ltd, and in 1957, a new company, "Shaw Brothers", was set up and a new studio built at Clearwater Bay. It officially opened in 1961 as "Movietown". Employing 1,500 people, at its height, it was the largest privately-owned studio in the world, boasting over twenty separate building over the 46-acre site, including residential buildings for actors and crew as well as private homes. Sir Run Run Shaw was pivotal in the studio’s success, having previously identified the potential of the market in HK that was dominated by foreign films and unattractive local productions. He was the key contributing figure to the 'Golden Era' of Hong Kong cinema.
Over the years the film company produced some 800 plus films. Some went on to be the most popular and significant Chinese-language films of the period, including popularizing the Kung-Fu genre of films. The first break-through film was ‘The Kingdom and the Beauty’ (1958), which enjoyed global success. The most famous releases to come out of the studios included 1962’s ‘The Magnificent Concubine’ and kung-fu battle-epic ‘36th Chamber of Shaolin’ in 1978. The studio did have a reputation for “churning them out” with many of its films considered to be instantly forgettable. Some likened its operations to Hollywood studios in the early 20th Century, where autocratic execs churned out films for commercial gain with little regard for artistic merit. Films were frequently shot without sound and then dubbed into the language required in one of its 12 sound studios. The place wasn’t always the best working environment for its actors, who were often subject to tight schedules and high levels of pressure and stress. Shaw Brothers were rocked in 1962 by the suicide of their top actresses, the 29-year old Linda Lin Dai.
An early Shaw Brother logo:
ShawScope by HughieDW, on FlickrAnd a more recent promotion poster:
Shaw Movies by HughieDW, on FlickrShaw Brothers continued to diversify with the launch of their own TV station, TVB, in 1973. By the mid-seventies their empire boasted 230 cinemas and with another 600 cinemas on a distribution deal, it is estimated that every week, over 1.5 million people saw a Shaw-produced movie. However, in the early 1980s the 'Golden Era’ started to fade and in 1987, the company suspended film production in order to concentrate on the television industry through its subsidiary TVB. The last film from the site came out in 2003, although film production resumed, albeit in limited capacity, in 2009. In 2011 Shaw Brothers was reorganized into the Clear Water Bay Land Company Limited and its film production business was taken over by other companies within the Shaw conglomerate.
The studios situated on Clearwater Bay Road and Ngan Ying Road now sit empty, along with the former TVB headquarters (occupied 1986–2003) and the apartment blocks used to house Shaw actors. Next to them is the newer and still-in-use Shaw House and Shaw Villa. A new Shaw Studios was been built at Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate which opened in 2006. Negotiations have taken place between the landowners and the Town Planning Board who have been struggling to decide on what to do with the site. In late 2014, there was a decision to completely demolish the former studios and build housing and commercial properties. This was blocked by the Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB) who listed Movietown as a Grade 1 Historical Site, requiring certain buildings to be retained in their original state. It was also the year that Run Run Shaw passed away, aged 106:
run run shaw by HughieDW, on FlickrThe great man may have departed this world but his legacy lives on. I’ll leave the last words for Quentin Tarantino: “For a year, I’d watch one old Shaw Brothers movie a day, if not three.”
2. The Explore
This one is the biggie explore from my trip out to HK. So where to start with this epic place? I first came across this location randomly, while being driven back to Kowloon from Sai Kung by a friend. I had a poke around the private road round the back where the former ATV studios are and where I managed to set a PIR off so that was that. The following year I set-off to visit the site in possession of a bit more information of how to get in and what to see. I got inside the complex but nearly bumped into the security guard. That and the fact I was solo led to me chickening-out, so I bailed having done the hard bit. Hence this year one of my objectives was to do a proper job this time around. This time I met up with non-forum member Dr Howser who is something of an expert on this amazing location and am very grateful for him showing me round.
We met outside on a day the No.3 Typhoon signal was hoisted, and it was chucking it down. We got into the complex easily enough and looked round five buildings in total. This left many buildings unexplored including the large production studios – the reasons being the torrential rain and us spotting staff on site in these areas. Despite only looking at a fraction of the site, this has to be up there as one of my favourite explores of all time.
3. The Photos
Front of the complex:
Shaws 06 by HughieDW, on FlickrBuilding No.1
This place was very damp and packed full of stuff over multiple floors.
img2301 by HughieDW, on FlickrShaw's Studios 03 by HughieDW, on FlickrThe first few rooms we went in were packed with old film canisters and spare parts and bulbs for projectors:
Shaw's Studios 04 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg2257 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg2258 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg2261 by HughieDW, on FlickrShaw's Studios 06 by HughieDW, on FlickrBaby’s got a gun:
img2264 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg2271 by HughieDW, on FlickrA floor or two up and there’s a lot of machines for processing film:
Shaw's Studios 07 by HughieDW, on FlickrShaw's Studios 08 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg2285 by HughieDW, on Flickr“Yellowthread Street” was a 13-episode series screened on Yorkshire TV in 1990 where a Hong Kong police detective Chief Insp. Alex Vale (played by Ray Lonnen) goes undercover to investigate and infiltrate a drug kingpin by acting as a buyer to purchase some of his highest priced product:
img2286 by HughieDW, on FlickrAnother floor up and the have a:
img2288 by HughieDW, on Flickr…now slowly falling apart:
img2290 by HughieDW, on FlickrAnd the projectors:
img2291 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg2293 by HughieDW, on FlickrOn the same floor is this room stacked full of mouldering film canisters. The smell of celluloid from here was intense:
img2295 by HughieDW, on FlickrThis room looked like some sort of film washing facility:
img2296 by HughieDW, on FlickrThis beast of a projector was at ground level:
Shaws 03 by HughieDW, on FlickrShaw's Studios 10 by HughieDW, on FlickrShaws 05 by HughieDW, on FlickrShaws 04 by HughieDW, on FlickrShaws 01 by HughieDW, on FlickrBuilding No. 2:
Shaws 02 by HughieDW, on FlickrThis was in much better condition with far less water ingress. Although far less photogenic, this place looked a lot newer and has some seriously expensive gear in, including this computer-controlled Oxberry Cinescan digital scanner that clocks in at up-wards of $200,000:
img2299 by HughieDW, on FlickrThe upper floors were used for storage. This second last floor had a number of props in:
Shaw's Studios 13 by HughieDW, on FlickrAnd some archiving space:
img2303 by HughieDW, on FlickrThe highest floor was pack full of stuff. Here’s some promo material for the 1992 movie Swordsman II that starred Jet Li:
img2304 by HughieDW, on FlickrMore film promo stuff:
Shaw's Studios 19 by HughieDW, on FlickrShaw's Studios 20 by HughieDW, on FlickrThe amount of film canisters here was staggering:
img2305 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg2307 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg2308 by HughieDW, on FlickrAlthough it looks like some of the films had been removed:
img2309 by HughieDW, on FlickrThere was also a large number of documents too:
img2312 by HughieDW, on FlickrShaw's Studios 17 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Shaw's Studios 18 by HughieDW, on FlickrBuilding No. 3:
The smallest of the five places week looked at, at only a couple of floors. It has some of the most ‘interesting’ stuff in too:
Shaw's Studios 28 by HughieDW, on FlickrShaw's Studios 27 by HughieDW, on FlickrShaw's Studios 21 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg2321 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg2324 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg2325 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg2326 by HughieDW, on FlickrShaw's Studios 25 by HughieDW, on FlickrThese rooms were used for hand-painting effects on film:
img2328 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg2329 by HughieDW, on FlickrAnd then there was the studio lights:
img2333 by HughieDW, on FlickrBuilding No. 4:
This was perhaps in the worst condition of them all. Roof collapses, water ingress and loads of interesting stuff.
This was a specialist sound studio:
img2335 by HughieDW, on FlickrA Westrex ST-510 Rerecorder:
img2336 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg2340 by HughieDW, on FlickrTapes for 1977’s Brave Archer kung-fu movie:
img2341 by HughieDW, on FlickrThe distinctive “SB” logo:
img2349 by HughieDW, on FlickrBuilding No.5
This is the iconic front building. This is probably the best condition of the five we looked at. Manly empty, it had this small preview cinema which was in very good condition:
img2352 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg2355 by HughieDW, on FlickrShaw's Studios 32 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg2354 by HughieDW, on FlickrAnd finally, a few pictures from my first visit.
This was the actors and staff accommodation:
img1734 by HughieDW, on FlickrBack of one of the filming studios:
img1724 by HughieDW, on FlickrThe old TVB building:
img1731 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg1730 by HughieDW, on FlickrAnd an old security guard post:
img1719 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg1717 by HughieDW, on FlickrIMG1712 by HughieDW, on Flickr
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