李元科

English

Lee Yuen-for, born in 1953, is a Hong Kong director and television drama producer who has worked for RTV, TVB and Asia Television and in recent years has made film and television productions on the mainland; he is a council member of the China Television Artists Association and a member of the Chinese Writers Association, and was among the earlier Hong Kong television people to head north. He grew up near Sai Yeung Choi Street in Kowloon and, out of curiosity, served as an auxiliary policeman from 1973 to 1975, with the number A4755. He entered television in the late 1970s as an assistant director at RTV, was promoted to director in 1979 and to producer in 1983, working for a time with lyricist and director Poon Yuen-leung and taking part in directing series such as The Great Land of Love (1980). Between 1983 and 1984 he also shot films for Shaw Brothers and returned to Asia Television with producer Lee Siu-hung in January 1984; as early as 1982 he had directed his first feature, The Woman File, at the invitation of actor Lau Chi-wing. After receiving his notice from ATV in February 1990 he joined Macau Television that July and moved to Television Broadcasts in 1992. Most of his series are action dramas, though his two features, The Woman File and The Station (1999), are quieter, literary films, and since 2000 he has shot dramas on the mainland. He was among the earlier Hong Kong television directors to shoot on location in mainland China, working across both television and film.