hollywoodtone.blogspot.com Billionaire Hong Kong media mogul Run Run Shaw dies aged 107
hollywoodtone.blogspot.com Billionaire Hong Kong media mogul Run Run Shaw dies aged 107
Billionaire entertainment mogul Run Run Shaw, who founded Shaw Brothers Studios and is credited with bringing the kung fu or martial arts genre of movies to a mainstream audience, has died at home, aged 107.
Hong Kong resident Run Run Shaw was a major player in the Asian film industry but as BBC News reports "He also launched Hong Kong's biggest local TV station, TVB, in 1967 and remained its chairman until 2011." He was born November 23, 1907 and, according to Wikipedia, died January 7, 2014, aged 107. Others report Mr Saw died aged 106 but, either way, it is a great age. Run Run Shaw was born in Shanghai but moved to Hong Kong in the 50s. Early in his film industry career Mr Shaw worked with his brothers to open cinemas across Singapore and Malaysia. However, once he was living in Hong Kong he formed a film production company, and later opened a movie studio. His vast Movie Town studio, located in Hong Kong's rural Clearwater Bay, released numerous films each year. Early award winning work included the 1962 drama The Magnificent Concubine and the 1967 movie One-Armed Swordsman. The latter broke Hong Kong box office records and led to multiple sequels. Shaw moved onto producing films for a wider audience and the lucrative American market. This included co-producing the Ridley Scott's 1982, US movie classic Blade Runner. Run Run Shaw however did not stick with movie work and spread his creative wings to include television. A spokesperson for TVB, television broadcasts limited, the company he built into a huge Chinese-language broadcaster said,
"With his vision and energy, he had built the company to become Hong Kong's premier television station and a world leader in the Chinese-language television industry."Shaw's success continued and in 1974 he was knighted by the Queen, becoming Sir Run Run Shaw. At that time Hong Kong still had British sovereignty. The UKs 99-year-lease ended in 1997 and Hong Kong returned to Chinese ownership. Sir Run Run was a generous man and philanthropic. He founded Shaw Prizes, which recognizes scientific successes in Asia. After TVB (Television Broadcasts Limited) announced Mr Shaw's death in a statement Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung described him as "an elder that we very much respect". He went on to say,
"Sir Run Run Shaw has for a long time promoted the entertainment industry in Hong Kong, his philanthropy also has spread from Hong Kong to China and beyond."Shaw was a pioneer and his movie work influenced producers such as Quentin Tarantino. The Telegraph remembers,
"For a year, I'd watch one old Shaw Brothers movie a day – if not three," director Quentin Tarantino told the Los Angeles Daily News in 2003, talking about his preparation for filming. Tarantino appropriated the Shaw Brothers logo – the initials SB on a shield – for use in his two Kill Bill films.
hollywoodtone.blogspot.com Billionaire Hong Kong media mogul Run Run Shaw dies aged 107