Nam Yin, born in Hong Kong on 11 June 1953, was originally named Lam Ling-nan and is the younger brother of director Ringo Lam. In 1973 he and his brother applied to TVB's artiste training class but were not admitted, and he only entered the industry in his thirties. Drawing on his close knowledge of the underworld, his scripts were rich in detail, and in 1987 he wrote the screenplay for Ringo Lam's Prison on Fire, which earned nominations for Best Screenplay at both the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Asia-Pacific Film Festival; he also wrote the lyrics for its theme song, The Light of Friendship. He went on to write School on Fire (1988), Women's Prison (1988), a 1989 crime picture, A Killer's Blues (1990) and Hong Kong Criminal Files (1991), among others. In 1990 he joined Silver Medal Production as an associate producer. In 1991 he became the founding chairman of the Hong Kong Screenwriters' Guild and co-founded Golden Power Productions with family members. He set up Nam Yin Production in 1995. After the Young and Dangerous series (1996) he wrote To Be No. 1, and produced the Troublesome Night series (1997–2003, nineteen instalments), The Hong Kong's Story and From the Queen to the Chief Executive (2001). Made up of linked short horror tales on low budgets, Troublesome Night was one of the few series able to keep shooting steadily as the local market slumped in the late 1990s. In 2002 he founded Nam Yin Entertainment (International). He also appeared on screen from time to time, playing Fat Lai in Young and Dangerous 4 in 1997.
Nam Yin started out with hard-edged crime and prison material, and his Prison on Fire screenplay set the tone of Hong Kong's 1980s prison films. A prolific writer and producer over the long run, he was a driving force behind both the Young and Dangerous and Troublesome Night series; as the founding chairman of the Hong Kong Screenwriters' Guild he also helped establish local screenwriting as a profession.
Achievements
- 1987 · Wrote Prison on Fire, nominated for Best Screenplay at the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Asia-Pacific Film Festival
- 1991 · Became the founding chairman of the Hong Kong Screenwriters' Guild
- 1997 · Produced the Troublesome Night series, nineteen instalments up to 2003
- 2001 · Produced From the Queen to the Chief Executive