Juno Mak, born Mak Wan-yin in Hong Kong on 18 March 1984, is a singer, actor, director, screenwriter and producer, the son of businessman Mak Siu-tong and the younger brother of Mak Chun-kiu. He emigrated to Canada in his first year of primary school, returned to Hong Kong and studied at the Hong Kong International School through sixth form. In 2002 he signed with Universal Music and debuted with his first EP and the song 'On the Road'; accused early on of relying on his father's money, he moved towards non-mainstream sounds and took his first Ultimate Song Chart top-ten place with 'Androgyny' in 2005, later receiving a silver Outstanding Performance award at the Jade Solid Gold Awards in 2008. His notable songs include 'Obsession' (2004), 'Androgyny', 'Writes Too Much' (2008), 'Weak Water' (2009), 'Sakura Snow' and 'Golden Hoop' (2011) and 'Rashomon' (2015). In 2015 his duet with Kay Tse, 'Rashomon', became a city-wide talking point and a pan-Chinese gold song, while the album Addendum won the Ultimate Album award, an honour he took again in 2018–2019. On film he made his directing debut with Rigor Mortis (2013), produced by Japanese horror director Takashi Shimizu, which took over HK$17 million in Hong Kong and won the FIPRESCI Prize at the 50th Golden Horse Awards. His long-gestated Sons of the Neon Night, budgeted at over HK$100 million with a full-scale Causeway Bay set built in Huizhou, was written and directed by him, released in 2025 and later won Best Art Direction at the 44th Hong Kong Film Awards. Both his music and his films carry a strong personal style, using dark and nostalgic imagery and subject matter, and he is one of the few Hong Kong artists to work seriously in both music and film.
Juno Mak turned from a boy-band idol dogged by criticism into a singer-songwriter and film author; Rigor Mortis reworked the Hong Kong hopping-vampire genre through nostalgia, while the large-scale sets of Sons of the Neon Night show his independent-minded approach to local filmmaking.
Achievements
- 2013 · Made his directing debut with Rigor Mortis, which won the FIPRESCI Prize at the 50th Golden Horse Awards.
- 2015 · His album Addendum won the Ultimate Album award and his duet 'Rashomon' with Kay Tse became a pan-Chinese gold song.
- 2025 · Released Sons of the Neon Night, which he wrote and directed; it later won Best Art Direction at the 44th Hong Kong Film Awards.