Jonathan Chik Kei-yee was born in Hong Kong on 13 November 1957. He joined TVB in 1976, starting as a location manager and later working as a coordinator under the celebrated producer Kam Kwok-leung, whom he regards as his mentor. He moved briefly to ATV in 1992, producing series such as Nobody's Child, and returned to TVB at the end of 1994, going on to serve as a drama production manager and producer until 2012 — more than eighteen years with the station and a leading figure in its family dramas. His long-time partner was script editor Chow Yuk-ming, whom he had first met at ATV and with whom he made some fourteen TVB series before When Heaven Burns; he produced Archive of Detectives (1995), Cold Blood Warm Heart (1996) and Secrets of the Heart (1998) in the 1990s, then At the Threshold of an Era (2000), Healing Hands II, War and Beauty (2004), The Dance of Passion (2006) and The Gem of Life (2008), followed by When Heaven Burns (2011), 4 in Love (2012), Master of Play (2012) and Beauty at War (2013). War and Beauty, shot from August 2003 to January 2004 and set amid Qing-dynasty palace intrigue, sparked a wave of court-intrigue dramas and won the TVB Anniversary 'My Favourite Drama of the Year' award in 2004, while When Heaven Burns, framed around a rock band, began shooting in September 2009 and was completed in February 2010 before its premiere on 21 November 2011; it won Favourite TVB Drama at the 3rd StarHub TVB Awards and Best Drama at the TVB Anniversary Awards on 17 December 2012 under a one-person-one-vote system. In 2012 he left TVB with Chow Yuk-ming to work on the mainland, later contributing to productions such as The Legendary Tycoon (2017), continuing to portray human nature and family feuds in long-form drama.
Chik and Chow Yuk-ming were known for their portrayal of human nature and bold subject matter; War and Beauty reshaped TVB drama in the early 2000s, and When Heaven Burns became one of the most discussed Hong Kong series of its time. Over more than three decades at TVB he established himself as a leading force in family and business dramas.
Achievements
- 1976 · Joined TVB, starting as a location manager
- 2004 · Produced War and Beauty, which sparked a palace-intrigue drama trend
- 2012 · When Heaven Burns won Best Drama at the TVB Anniversary Awards