Vincent Kok Tak-chiu was born in Hong Kong on 15 August 1965, his ancestral home being Shandong, and graduated from Simon Fraser University in Canada. He entered the industry in 1988, following Clifton Ko to Canada on a shoot, and on his return wrote and assistant-directed Beyond's Diary, also writing the screenplays for Crazy Love (1993) and It's a Mad Mad Mad World Too. In 1992 he worked as an on-set screenwriter for Stephen Chow's All's Well, Ends Well and made his acting debut the same year in King of Beggars. In 1993 he played the scholar 'Duichangchang' in Flirting Scholar, whose poetry-duel scene made him widely known. A long-time collaborator of Chow, he wrote King of Destruction (1994), From Beijing with Love (1994), God of Cookery (1996), Lawyer Lawyer and All's Well Ends Well 1997, the gags of God of Cookery still being fondly remembered today. In 1995 he wrote and directed his first comedy, Whatever You Want, becoming a director, and his 1996 Forbidden City Cop ranked second among Hong Kong Chinese-language films at the box office that year. In 2002 he co-wrote You Shoot, I Shoot with Pang Ho-cheung, winning Best Screenplay at the 7th Golden Bauhinia Awards and being nominated for Best Screenplay at the 21st Hong Kong Film Awards. His further directing credits include Marry a Rich Man (2002), My Lucky Star (2003), Dragon Loaded 2003, Super Model (2004), All's Well, Ends Well 2009, Mr. and Mrs. Gambler (2011) and Hello Babies (2014); Mr. and Mrs. Gambler screened in the action section of the 13th Deauville Asian Film Festival and he hosted the 30th Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony that year. He also produced and co-wrote CJ7 (2008), nominated for Best Film at the 28th Hong Kong Film Awards, appeared in Shaolin Soccer (2001), and works as a television and radio host, his writing, directing and acting all marked by comic timing and everyday humour.
Kok's collaboration with Stephen Chow produced many classic gags of 1990s Hong Kong comedy, such as the poetry duel in Flirting Scholar. Moving from writing to directing, he helmed several Lunar New Year comedies while remaining a familiar face and host on screen.
Achievements
- 1992 · Began his career as an on-set screenwriter for All's Well, Ends Well
- 1993 · Played 'Duichangchang' in Flirting Scholar
- 2002 · Won Best Screenplay at the Golden Bauhinia Awards for You Shoot, I Shoot