Wong Jing, born in Hong Kong on 3 May 1955 with the given name Wong Yat-cheung and writing screenplays under the pen name 'Not a Woman', is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter and producer, and the son of the director and Television Broadcasts producer Wong Tin-lam. Of Shaoxing descent, he was given the name Yat-cheung because in 1955 his father travelled to Japan to shoot three Mandarin films for the Xinhua company and wanted to invoke good fortune for the trip. He attended Pui Ching primary and secondary schools and graduated with a third-class honours degree in Chinese literature from United College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1978. While a student he worked as a part-time screenwriter at Television Broadcasts, learning the craft under Lau Tin-chi and writing for the long-running variety show Enjoy Yourself Tonight; from 1976 he worked in television as a screenwriter, his credits including several hit serials such as The Shell Game, The Rascal Emperor, Man in the Middle and The Tyrant. He entered the film industry in 1981, initially with Shaw Brothers, learning filmmaking under the director Chor Yuen, and made his directorial debut with The Shell Game II. In the 1980s he launched the 'chasing girls' series with The Romancing Star, and in 1989 sparked a wave of gambling films with God of Gamblers, starring Chow Yun-fat; he also founded the Bo Ho film company, producing hits such as the Young and Dangerous series. His output was enormous: over twenty-eight years he directed or produced more than 180 films with cumulative takings approaching HK$1 billion, covering gambling, comedy, triad and erotic subjects, making him one of the highest-grossing directors of the 1990s, and he helped launch actresses including Gigi Lai, Loletta Lee, Veronica Yip and Chingmy Yau. The cult classic Naked Killer was among the films he wrote and produced. He has also invested in or produced art films such as Ann Hui's The Way We Are and Stanley Kwan's Hold You Tight, and his 1999 film Crying Heart won Deanie Ip a Golden Horse Best Actress award. He heads his own production company, Star Dynasty (formerly Wong Jing's Workshop), is a leading figure at Shaw Brothers International, has served as an executive director and managing director of a listed media company and chairman of Starj & Snazz Entertainment, and in 2018 announced a three-way film and television alliance between Television Broadcasts, Shaw Brothers and Star Dynasty. He has long collaborated with Television Broadcasts while often appearing in cameo roles, launched the YouTube channel 'Wong Jing Watches the World' in 2024, and received an honorary award from the Hong Kong Screenwriters' Guild in 2025.
Through relentless commercial calculation and genre production, Wong Jing sustained the volume and box-office of 1980s and 1990s Hong Kong cinema, with signature gambling films, comedies and Category III titles; unusually active as writer, director, producer and distributor at once, his populist bent and the moral controversy it stirs have made him a yardstick in discussions of Hong Kong commercial cinema.
Achievements
- 1978 · Graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1978, having worked as a Television Broadcasts screenwriter while a student.
- 1981 · Entered the film industry in 1981, initially with Shaw Brothers, learning under director Chor Yuen.
- 1989 · Directed God of Gamblers, starring Chow Yun-fat, which sparked a wave of gambling films.