Kelvin Tong

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Kelvin Tong Weng Kian (Simplified Chinese: 唐永健) is a Singaporean film director, screenwriter and producer.

Career

Kelvin's passion for theatre and filmmaking began in his secondary school days in Victoria School.[1] He went on to study at Victoria Junior College and law at the National University of Singapore. After a short nine-month stint with law firm, Drew & Napier, following his graduation from law school, Kelvin started out in the film business as a film critic, writing reviews for The Straits Times from 1995 to 1999.[2][3] He made a short film, Moveable Feast in 1996. His first feature was 1999's martial arts comedy, Eating Air, which was received respectably.[3]

His next film, The Maid, a horror thriller, made a bigger impact, breaking the box office record in Singapore for the horror genre, making S$700,000 on its opening weekend. Hailed as the first Singaporean horror film, The Maid won the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation Asian Film Award at the 10th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival. It was produced by MediaCorp Raintree Pictures.

He next directed Love Story, which combined three short stories that examined different aspects of love. It was screened at the 2006 Pusan International Film Festival.[4] The film was produced by Hong Kong-based Focus Films.

In 2007 he directed the horror-comedy Men in White, about four ghosts struggling to survive in Singapore, and which examined the Singaporean obsession with superstitions.[4] It was produced by Innoform Media.

He was also working on a crime thriller, Rule No. 1, produced by Hong Kong-based Fortune Star and released in March 2008. He also plans a film called Bed, a comedy drama set in 1960s Singapore when the city-state's education system switched from Chinese language to English.[3]

Tong says his influences range "from Lars von Trier to Stephen Chow".[3]

With his brother, producer Leon Tong, Kelvin has his own production company, Boku Films, enabling him to independently develop his film projects.[2][3]

In a 2007 interview, Kelvin Tong said he is still learning his craft: "It is one thing to talk about films as a journalist, but it is fascinating that many of the decisions that make a difference between a good and a bad film are made in front of a monitor, often in a fraction of a second."[3]

Filmography

References

  1. ↑ Defying Definition – book profile from the WritersNet books and publications directory
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Bed, Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum; retrieved 26 November 2007
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Kelvin Tong remains hard to predict, Patrick Frater, Variety; retrieved 26 November 2007
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Kelvin Tong's new film to touch on superstitious side of S'pore society, Valarie Tan, Channel NewsAsia, 16 October 2006; retrieved 26 November 2007

External links

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