Year

Shaw Story

1896

Runje Shaw was born.

1898

Runde Shaw was born.*
*Some publications indicate that his year of birth was 1899.

1901

Runme Shaw was born.

1907

Run Run Shaw was born.

1924

Runme Shaw went to Singapore and Malaysia to pave way for Shaws' distribution business.**
**The year is recorded in accordance with the information extracted from Runme Shaw's interview with the National Archives of Singapore.

1925

The Shaw brothers founded Unique (Tianyi) Film Productions in Shanghai. Inaugural film: New Leaf/Li Di Cheng Fo

1928

Shanghai's Star (Mingxing), Great China, Minxin, Youlian, Shanghai, and Huaju formed Liuhe (United Six) Film Company to challenge Unique's dominance. Known in film history as the 'Liuhe Encirclement'.
Renje Shaw dispatched sixth brother Run Run to station in Singapore and Malaysia to assist Runme in establishing distribution and exhibition networks.***
***The official Shaw Organisation website states that Run Run Shaw arrived at Singapore in 1926. Most other findings, however, establish that he left for Singapore only after the 'Liuhe Encirclement'.

1931

Unique produced the first film with a soundtrack, The Nightclub Colours/Gechang Chunse, a breakthrough in Chinese cinematic technology.

1933

Unique collaborated with renowned Cantonese opera artist Sit Kok-sin to make Platinum Dragon/Bai Jinlong in Shanghai, the first Cantonese sound film.

1934

Runje Shaw established Unique (HK branch) at 42 Pak Tai Street, To Kwa Wan, Kowloon. Inaugural film: Mourning of the Chaste Tree Flower/Qi Jinghua (a Cantonese opera film)

1937

Unique (HK) was renamed Nanyang. Runde Shaw replaced Runje Shaw as studio boss.

1946

Runde Shaw became a shareholder of Great China Film Company and leased Nanyang Studio to Great China.

1950

Nanyang was renamed Shaw and Sons Ltd, and shifted its production focus from Cantonese to Mandarin films. Nanyang Studio was also renamed Shaw Studio.

1952

The Screen Voice Pictorial (HK edition), official publication of Shaw and Sons, was published.

1955

Shaws' Cantonese Film Group was formed.
The first Cantonese film produced under the Shaw banner was The Opera Boat in Singapore/Xingdao Hongchuan, shot on location in Singapore.

1957

Production of Love with an Alien/Yiguo Qingyuan, Shaw and Sons' first co-production with a Korean company; Nishimoto Tadashi (Chinese pseudonym He Lanshan) was cinematographer.
Run Run Shaw took over production business in HK.
Southern Screen, SB's official publication, was published.

1958

Shaw Brothers (HK) Ltd was founded with Run Run Shaw as President. Shaw bought a land in ClearwaterBay, Kowloon to build the ShawMovieTown. Shaw & Sons switched to focus on distribution and cinema operations in Hong Kong.
Diau Charn/Diao Chan won five major awards at the 5th Asian Film Festival, including Best Actress (Linda Lin Dai) and Best Director (Li Han-hsiang).

1959

The Kingdom and the Beauty/Jiangshan Meiren won Best Picture award at the 6th Asian Film Festival.
Co-produced Three Dolls in Hong Kong/Xianggang San Xiaojie in Hong Kong with Japan's Toho.
Raymond Chow joined SB as publicity officer.

1961

The Southern Drama Group was founded with Ku Wen-chung as leader, providing acting training for Shaws' budding stars.
Shaw Studio began operation on 6 December.

1962

Yang Kwei Fei/Yangguifei (dir Li Hanxiang) won Grand Prix de la Commission Supérieure Technique du Cinéma Français at the 15th Cannes Film Festival for its achievement in colour cinematography.

1963

The Love Eterne/Liang Shanbo Yu Zhu Yingtai broke box office records in HK and Taiwan, lifting the curtain on the huangmeidiao hit trend.
Li Han-hsiang left SB and founded Grand (Guolian) Motion Picture Company in Taiwan.

1966

King Hu's Come Drink with Me/Da Zuixia marked the beginning of the 'new wuxia' era in Hong Kong cinema.
Hong Kong Movie News, the second official publication of SB, was published.
America's Life magazine published a feature article on the ShawMovieTown.

1967

One-Armed Swordsman/Du Bi Dao, starring Jimmy Wang Yu and directed by Chang Cheh, hit the million dollar mark at HK box office. It also steered the cinema to a violent, male-centred dominance which Chang termed yang gang (staunch masculinity).

1969

Mona Fong joined SB and worked in the purchasing department.

1970

Raymond Chow left SB.

1971

Co-founded with TVB the Shaw-HK-TVB Training Centre, replacing the Southern Drama Group.
SB issued shares and became a public-listed company.

1972

Li Han-hsiang returned to SB and made The Warlord/Da Junfa. TV star Michael Hui was chosen to play the title role.

1973

King Boxer/Tianxia Diyiquan, starring Lo Lieh, was released in the US and soon became a popular hit among western audiences.
Chor Yuen's The House of 72 Tenants/Qishi'erjia Fangke was a critical as well as box office success, reviving the declining Cantonese cinema.
Co-produced with Hammer Film Productions the horror film Dracula and the 7 Golden Vampires, starring John (David) Chiang, Shi Sze and Peter Cushing.
The Hongkong Shaw Foundation was founded to raise funds to support charity organisations, and set up scholarships and teacher training programmes.
Runde Shaw died.

1974

Michael Hui left SB.
Lui Kay founded Jinhe Film Company, a satellite company of SB.
Chang's Film Company went into production in Taiwan.
Run Run Shaw received the CBE.

1975

Run Run Shaw announced his HK$60 million investment in Taipan, a film adaptation of James Clavell's bestseller of the same title. Production commenced at Shaw Studio the following year.
Runje Shaw died on 17 February.

1978

SB invested US$16 million in Meteor (1979), a Hollywood production starring Sean Connery, Natalie Wood, and Henry Fonda.

1980

Run Run Shaw became the largest shareholder of TVB, heading the board of directors.

1982

Run Run Shaw invested in the sci-fi classic Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford.

1985

SB wound down its production. The company leased its circuits to Dickson Poon's D & B.
Runnme Shaw died on 2 March.

1986

ShawMovieTown was leased to TVB.

1988

SB and TVB co-founded Cosmopolitan Film Productions Co Ltd, with Mona Fong in charge of the new company. Inaugural film: Mr Possessed/Zhuang Xie Xiansheng
TV City, located in ClearwaterBay, officially opened.

1999

Copyrights of over 700 SB films were sold to the Malaysian group Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd for HK$600 million. The consortium later set up Celestial Pictures Ltd in HK.

2001

Run Run Shaw and Mona Fong founded Film Power Co Ltd. Inaugural film: Martial Angels/Jue Se Shentou

2002

Run Run Shaw founded the 'Run Run Shaw Award' to honour scientists who have distinctive achievements in areas of mathematics, medical science and astronomy. The award, totalled at US$1 million, is considered the 'Nobel Prize of the East'. The first 'Run Run Shaw Award' will be held in 2004.
Celestial digitally re-mastered more than 700 SB films and releases them in VCD and DVD formats. Among them are classics such as The Kingdom and the Beauty/Jiangshan Meiren, Love Without End/Bu Liao Qing, The Love Eterne/Liang Shanbo Yu Zhu Yingtai,The Blood Brothers/Ci Ma, The Empress Dowager/Qing Guo Qing Cheng, etc. The library of films will be released in batches in the next few years

2003

The new TseungKwanOTVCity, a billion-dollar joint venture with China Star Entertainment Group, is to be completed in 2004. The new movietown will house a post-production centre, an administration building, studios, cinemas and exhibition halls. Mona Fong indicated that Shaws would resume film production after the completion.