Terry Tong Kei-ming was born on 29 July 1950, with family roots in Nanhai, Guangdong, and is counted among the directors of the Hong Kong New Wave. Educated at Ying Wa College, he graduated from the fourth actor training class of Rediffusion Television in 1969 and took a fine arts degree at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1975, joining Television Broadcasts first as a researcher and then in its publicity department. In 1978 he moved to Commercial Television to direct a martial-arts serial, and after that station closed he joined Rediffusion for a run of wuxia dramas. He first directed a feature in 1980 with The Chase, though the company changed hands during shooting; in 1982 he completed Coolie Killer, which became a signature work of the New Wave, and went on to direct dramas such as Women (1985) and Chicken and Duck Talk-style romances as well as male-dancer pictures such as Dances with the Duck. He is also credited with completing the second half of Nomad when its original director exhausted the budget. From 1993 to 2002 he directed dramas for the anti-corruption agency's community relations department, then produced serials at Television Broadcasts including A Very Handsome Father, Next Station Rainbow, and drama hits such as The Rippling Blossom, until 2012, when he moved to the mainland. He has taught at a film school and joined Shaw Brothers in 2021.
A member of the Hong Kong New Wave, Tong is known for Coolie Killer and its coolly handled gunfights and hitman story, a work to which later Hong Kong crime films can trace certain techniques; he later spent years as a television producer, bringing feature-film pacing to series production.
Achievements
- 1969 · Graduated from the fourth actor training class of Rediffusion Television and went on to work as a television director
- 1982 · Directed Coolie Killer, which became one of the signature works of the Hong Kong New Wave
- 2003 · Joined Television Broadcasts as a drama producer and stayed until 2012, when he moved to the mainland