Lau Fong, born Lau Yiu-sing in Macao in 1913 to a family from Guilin, Guangxi and registered in Zhongshan, Guangdong, studied at the Guangzhou Municipal College of Fine Arts and Wuchang Art College before graduating in law from Guangdong National University. On the invitation of his classmate Chiu Shu-tai, cousin of Joseph Sunn, he joined the publicity unit of Grandview Film Company, soon turning to screenwriting with his first credit, Song Girl White Peony (co-written in 1939), and rising to studio head in charge of production. He made his directorial debut in 1941 with the well-received Song of Exile. When Japan occupied Hong Kong he was sought by the Japanese for anti-Japanese activities. After the war he distributed films from Grandview's US branch and directed Welcome the God of Wealth (1948) and Laughter and Tears (1950) for its Hong Kong arm. When Grandview ceased production he formed the Yonglian Film Company with Ng Wui, producing Fathomless Love, Fathomless Hate (1951). In 1952 he became a shareholder and production manager of the Union Film Enterprise, and in 1956 he joined Chan Kam-yuen and Wu Long-man in setting up Hong Kong United, scripting, directing and producing its debut Laughable Mistakes (1956). In 1958 Chiu Shu-tai rented him the Diamond Hill Studio, formerly Grandview's lot, which he renamed the Hong Kong Film Studio and ran until 1967; that year he became production manager of Sun Luen, later its manager. When Great Wall, Feng Huang, Sun Luen and Chung Yuen merged into Sil-Metropole in 1982, he served as distribution manager until retiring in 1985. He died on 15 July 2004.
From screenwriter and studio head at Grandview to a production mainstay at Union and Hong Kong United, and for years running the Hong Kong Film Studio, Lau lived through the transition of Hong Kong's Mandarin- and Cantonese-language film industries from the pre-war years to the post-war era, leaving concrete marks in writing, production, direction and distribution.
Achievements
- 1939 · Earned his first screenwriting credit, Song Girl White Peony, co-written with Yeung Kwun-hap and Chan Kam-yuen
- 1941 · Made his directorial debut with the well-received Song of Exile
- 1952 · Helped found the Union Film Enterprise as a shareholder and its production manager