Chung Shu-kai was born in Hong Kong in 1966 and attended Pui Shing Catholic Primary School, Sheng Kung Hui Holy Trinity Church Secondary School and New Method College. In 1974 he acted in a Radio Television Hong Kong drama in the Below the Lion Rock series, where he met director Allen Fong and decided to become a filmmaker. Leaving secondary school at seventeen, he entered the industry as a production manager, joined Television Broadcasts at nineteen as an assistant director and rose through director and senior director to producer at twenty-nine; his first produced series, Old Time Buddy, collected several prizes at the station's 1998 anniversary gala. While at the station he also worked on series such as Files of Justice and Instinct. He moved into feature films in 2000, directing Hong Kong pictures sometimes credited under the pen name Chung Ching, usually telling stories drawn from grassroots life and leaning to comedy. In 2001 Eric Tsang invited him to direct the mainland drama You Don't Understand My Heart, after which he settled in Beijing in 2005 and directed series including Prince of Lan Ling and Fighter of the Destiny. In 2010 he co-directed the Lunar New Year film 72 Tenants of Prosperity with Eric Tsang and others. In 2022, again at Eric Tsang's invitation, he took charge of TVB's co-production arm, later renamed Studio 77, overseeing mainland and overseas projects such as The Queen of News and The Tower; made around a news division, The Queen of News stirred wide discussion in both places after it aired.
He established himself as a producer with Old Time Buddy, then moved to the mainland before returning to TVB, blending Hong Kong subjects with the mainland market; The Queen of News drew attention on both sides and opened a new path for co-productions.
Achievements
- 1997 · He took his first producer credit on the Television Broadcasts series Old Time Buddy, which went on to collect several prizes at the station's anniversary awards.
- 2001 · Invited by Eric Tsang, he directed the mainland drama You Don't Understand My Heart and afterwards based himself on the mainland.
- 2022 · He became head of the broadcaster's Studio 77, handling co-productions with the mainland and overseas.