Biography

Johnnie To

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Overview

Born
April 22, 1955 · Hong Kong
Nickname
- To Sir

Mini bio

With over thirty directing and producing credits to his name, Johnnie To enjoyed international breakthroughs with Election (2005), Election 2 (2006) (aka "Triad Election") and Exiled (2006); those films enjoyed multiple international film festival appearances and were separately sold to more than 21 foreign territories (including theatrical distributions in France and USA).

Stretching from the height of the Hong Kong New Wave right up to today, über-filmmaker Johnnie To could be considered an institution in the former British colony. Johnnie To's Milky Way production company, which he formed in partnership with frequent collaborator Wai Ka-fai in 1996, has become the de facto hallmark of quality filmmaking in Hong Kong since the Handover in 1997. His filmography is an eclectic collection of films from almost every genre and featuring almost every major Hong Kong film star, including classic films from the late Eighties and early Nineties including Heroic Trio (1993) & All About Ah-Long (1989), some ultra-cool crime-noir productions during the late Nineties; The Longest Night, Expect the Unexpected, and The Mission. Romances; Loving You (1995) & Needing You (2000). As well as a number of crowd-pleasing comedies; Wu Yen (2001) and Love on a Diet (2001).

Unfortunately, the 'Jerry Bruckheimer of Hong Kong' has been in a creative and financial lull since 2001. In addition to facing diminishing box office returns stemming from the overall decline of the Hong Kong film industry, some of To's recent efforts have performed disappointingly, such as Fat Choi Spirit (2002), Full-Time Killer (2001), and Running Out of Time 2 (2001).

However, in 2003, the veteran filmmaker was back in fine form with the release of PTU (2003), a crime-noir thriller, and Running on Karma (2003), about a body builder/exotic dancer with special visions that helps a cop track a vicious killer. These were both award winners at the Hong Kong Film Awards that year. These were followed closely by Breaking News (2004) & Throw Down (2004), then Election (2005) and follow-up Election 2 (2006), the award nominated companion piece.
- IMDb mini biography by: Skischool2

Family

Relatives

Trademarks

Frequently casts Simon Yam (9 films together as director and actor as of 2007).
Often casts Suet Lam (19 films together as director and actor, as of 2007).
Frequently collaborates with Ka-Fai Wai, another TV crew-member turned film director.
Often casts Andy Lau in lead roles
Frequently collaborates with producer/presenter Charles Heung

Trivia

Established Milkyway Image (H.K.) Ltd. in 1996 in partnership with frequent collaborator Ka-Fai Wai.
Alain Delon is his favorite actor.
Established One Hundred Years of Film Co. Ltd. in 1999 alongside producer Charles Heung. A company dedicated to developing a huge library of content for Heung's company China Star Entertainment Group.

Quotes

I don't like to follow any "trends" - I just want to do what I want to do. I don't care about the currents. Back in 1996, I really didn't think going to Hollywood would be a wise step for me - so I didn't leave the country. I have kept the same way of thinking up until now.
I want to put more time and energy into production. Of course I hope that Wai Ka-Fai and I can continue to plan projects and make new films. We especially want to support new directors, new writers, and new actors in our production company. This is our plan. I hope we can do it together for many years.
...I've answered many questions about this before. We want to keep making movies in HK. We want to develop projects in HK. But if a good opportunity arises to shoot a movie in the West, then that would be fine. Maybe Wai Ka-Fai and I would do it together: he would write a script for a Western movie, and I would direct it. But it wouldn't be a movie just for American audiences. In our movie-making future, it's not the goal of Fulltime Killer to bring us to Hollywood.
...we wanted a good quality movie created quickly. We needed a movie good enough to be called a Milkyway Image film.
I enjoy shooting different kinds of movies. But of course you cannot always choose what kinds of movies you make: sometimes you must consider the market. If you ask what kind of movie I want to make, it is not the kind of movie that is commercially successful. I think I would prefer the other type, but I need more experience shooting different genres to find out.