Karl Maka, born Mak Kar-sheung in Taishan, Guangdong in 1944, moved to Hong Kong as a child and emigrated to the United States with his parents after secondary school. He studied electrical engineering at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn and, drawn to photography and film, went on to postgraduate study at New York University's film school. He returned to Hong Kong in 1973, working on location shoots for Western productions such as The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), which brought him into the industry. In 1975 he founded Pioneer Films with Wu Yao-han and Lai Ying-chau, writing and directing his debut, The Good, the Bad and the Loser (1976). In 1980, backed by bus magnate Lui Kok-kwan, he co-founded Cinema City, serving mainly as producer and recruiting Eric Tsang, Tsui Hark, Nansun Shi and Teddy Robin to expand its creative team. Aces Go Places (1982), which he co-produced with Dean Shek, broke Hong Kong box-office records and grew into a five-film series (1982-89). He also expanded the company with its own sound stages and effects units. As an actor he was best known as the Taishanese-speaking bald detective in the Aces Go Places series, and in 1983 shared the Best Actor prize at the 2nd Hong Kong Film Awards. After Cinema City disbanded in the early 1990s he formed his own company and later withdrew from filmmaking.
As a producer at the heart of Cinema City, Maka helped turn a small outfit into one of the leading forces of Hong Kong cinema's golden age, and the Aces Go Places series showed that local comedy fused with Hollywood-style stunts and star power could set box-office records. By building the company its own studio and effects units, he raised the production standards of Hong Kong commercial cinema and encouraged a sharper division of genres in 1980s comedy and action.
Achievements
- 1976 · Wrote and directed his debut feature in 1976, opening a trend of bachelor comedies.
- 1980 · Co-founded Warriors Film Company and, with Lui Kok-kwan's backing, the Cinema City studio.
- 1982 · Co-produced Aces Go Places, which shattered Hong Kong box-office records and became a five-film series.