YMU Signs Influencer Mrs Hinch (EXCLUSIVE)

Vivienne Chow To the 12 members of Mirror, forming a boy band and becoming Hong Kong’s Canto-pop singing sensation upon winning a reality show in 2018 was a dream come true. Five years on, the boys are dreaming bigger than ever. “Some of us really want to join Marvel,” Mirror member Edan Lui tells Variety in an interview. The statement may come across as a joke. But no, it is not, as fellow member Anson Lo, Lui’s co-star in the 2021 hit ViuTV BL drama “Ossan’s Love Hong Kong,” echoes: “We want to get on some talk shows in the U.S. as well, or any Hollywood movies, TV, live performances. Yes, please invite us.” The band’s Hollywood wishlist did not emerge just out of the blue. It came after the recording of their English debut single “Rumours,” a catchy EDM-influenced tune that has just been released worldwide Friday (March 17), along with a storied music video that follows the 12 members — Frankie Chan, Alton Wong, Lokman Yeung, Stanley Yau, Anson Kong, Jer Lau, Ian Chan, Jeremy Lee, Keung To, Tiger Yau, Lui and Lo — on a secret mission after a mysterious girl, jammed with dance sequences set in the Hong Kong streetscape.

 is a heady tale of a young woman's obsession with a fictional pop star and how that evolves into a dark road trip with unpredictable encounters. But according to star Chlöe Bailey, it's more a tale of sisterhood than anything else.From co-creators and executive producers Janine Nabers and Donald Glover,  follows Dre (Dominique Fishback), a young woman obsessed with the fictional pop star Ni'Jah, whose body of work and art style are very similar to Beyoncé's. Set between 2016 and 2018, the series follows Dre as her fandom takes her to dark, unexpected places, which begins after a tragic incident involving her sister Marissa (Bailey) and Marissa's boyfriend, Khalid.

Although Filmart felt quiet on its first morning, with many attendees glued to their phones watching the Oscars, it soon turned into a reasonably vibrant market, with sales companies locked in back-to-back meetings, new project announcements and a few star appearances to liven up proceedings. 

Instagram posts by cleaning influencer Mrs Hinch have been banned after she failed to make clear to her followers that she was advertising her own products. Sophie Hinchliffe, whose Mrs Hinch Instagram account filled with cleaning tips has amassed 4.6 million followers, posted a story on 7 January last year featuring a notebook filled with writing and the text: “If you’re a little mad like me tap here for yours.” Clicking the link on the story took users to the relevant product page on the Amazon website and the video ended with the front cover of the notebook which stated “Mrs Hinch Life in Lists” as the mum-of-two added: “In my own notebook of course.” The post attracted 34 complaints that it was not obviously identifiable as an ad for Mrs Hinch's own notebook.

Cleaning influencer Mrs Hinch has had Instagram posts banned after she failed to make clear to her followers that she was advertising her own products. The social media star, whose real name is Sophie Hinchliffe, burst onto the scene back in 2018.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Kowloon Walled City — one of Hong Kong’s most famous landmarks, or infamous trouble spots, depending on your point of view — fell prey to the developers’ bulldozer 30 years ago. But it remains an icon of the territory’s gritty spirit and is being painstakingly re-created for action thriller feature “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In.” The film is a beacon for how Hong Kong cinema is now evolving. Directed by hot-shot Soi Cheang, whose “Mad Fate” recently played in Berlin and is set for imminent local release, “Twilight” boasts leading stars Louis Koo, Sammo Hung and Richie Jen, plus emerging talents Philip Ng, Raymond Lau and Terrance Lau.

Marcus Lim Chinese TV producer Linmon Media struck a decidedly international tone during the presentation of its 2023-24 slate at FilMart, with presenters speaking about their Chinese-language projects in only English and Korean, and handing out sleek project literature in multiple languages. Apart from a slate of romance, medical and crime dramas targeted at domestic audiences, the studio is actively remaking its hit female-led contemporary drama “Nothing but Thirty” in Thailand, Indonesia and Hong Kong, having previously licensed the remake rights to Korean pay TV network JTBC. The drama, which follows the lives of three women as they transition from their 20s into their 30s, is emblematic of the Linmon slate, which is heavy on female-centric contemporary romance dramas.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “We need more love stories, even if they have their ups and downs,” says Hong Kong-based producer Cora Yim, who is behind the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) in-development project “The Marriage Drive.” HAF runs takes place alongside the FilMart rights market.  The film is a simple-to-describe idea that writer-director Lawrence Kan has been kicking around and developing for some six years. The story involves a middle-class professional couple — he’s in the legal sector, she’s in finance — and tracks their childless, but not loveless, marriage over a period of 10 years from marriage to divorce.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Work-in-progress film project “The Remnant” is both a spotlight on those who feel powerless and also a very Hong Kong example of elements of the city pulling themselves up. “The Remnant” is one of the projects in the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) unspooling March 13-15 alongside Hong Kong’s Filmart market. It tells the story of a former gangster who, upon his release from prison, sets up a laundry in an anonymous district and lives a quiet life. After property developers try to grab a rundown building, young gangsters try to throw people out of the building, drug addicts cause trouble and the old-timer heeds his neighbors’ calls and fights back.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Asian premiere of Soi Cheang’s “Mad Fate” is just one of three locally-produced movies that have been set as the opening and closing titles of the upcoming Hong Kong International Film Festival. “Mad Fate” is joined in the festival opening slot on March 30 by “Elegies,” Ann Hui’s documentary portrayal of the topography of contemporary local poetry, which will have its world premiere. The closing film, another world premiere, is “Vital Sign,” an affecting drama directed by Cheuk Wan-chi and starring Louis Koo, Yau Hawk-sau, and Angela Yuen, which will wrap up proceedings on 10 April. In total, the festival has programmed some 200 films from 64 countries and territories. These include nine world premieres, six international premieres, and 67 Asian premieres.

This year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) will open with two local films – Soi Cheang’s noir thriller Mad Fate and the world premiere of Ann Hui’s Elegies, a documentary about contemporary local poetry.

online petition to remove Hong Kong actor Donnie Yen as a presenter at this year’s Oscars due to his support of the Chinese government.The actor, who stars opposite Keanu Reeves in John Wick: Chapter 4, is set to present an award at the 95th Academy Awards which takes place in Los Angeles on Sunday (March 12).As reported by the BBC, the petition was set up by Hong Kong activist Tong Wai-hung, who claims the decision “shows contempt for the people of Hong Kong” and that Yen’s presence will “damage the image and reputation of the film industry”.Speaking to GQ last month, Yen doubled down on his opposition to the 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.“It wasn’t a protest, okay, it was a riot,” Yen said. “I’m not going to be here talking about how to change how people feel about it.

Vivienne Chow Hong Kong’s Canto-pop sensation Mirror will make its global debut with a first English-language single “Rumours.” The track is a mature EDM tune that aims at a wider global audience than the boy band’s previous Cantonese-language hits. The single, to be released on March 17, will be streamed across all digital platforms. It will be accompanied by a newly-shot music video that captures the beauty of the band’s Hong Kong hometown, the 12-piece act told Variety.  “It’s been like a dream come true for us to release a song in English,” Mirror member Anson Lo (“Ossan’s Love Hong Kong”) told Variety in an exclusive English-language interview with the group.

Mrs Hinch, who's real name is Sophie Hinchcliffe, has hit back after backlash from her latest home cleaning video. In the short clip, the mum-of-two showed her 4.6million followers how she cleans her toilet. But fans were left outraged when she didn't show the entire process from start to finish.

A new snooker hall, designed to appeal to recent arrivals from Hong Kong, could open opposite the Apollo music venue in Ardwick.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Cyber Heist,” a crime thriller directed by Hong Kong’s Wong Hing-fan (“I’m Livin’ It”) and scripted by Soi Cheang (aka Cheang Pou Soi), took the top spot at the mainland Chinese box office over the weekend. It earned a very modest $6.2 million, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. But that was enough to win on the quietest weekend since January’s Lunar New Year holiday season. “Cyber Heist” stars Aaron Kwok as a cyber security engineer who develops a state-of-the-art firewall that is capable of fending off online attacks against the global financial system. But he does not realize that in doing so he has stepped into a minefield that is even more dangerous. The picture also stars Lam Ka-tun and Simon Yam.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Already the highest grossing local film in its home market, courtroom drama, “A Guilty Conscience” has broken into Hong Kong’s all-time top ten box office ranking with a cumulative of HK$107 million ($13.7 million). Data from Hong Kong Box Office Ltd. shows the film achieving the feat after just 41 days in cinemas and coming within HK$1 million ($150,000) of overtaking “Top Gun: Maverick.” The data firm noted that the last time a Hong Kong film got this far was with fantasy-action-comedy “Kung Fu Hustle” in 2004. Since then, it has been overtaken by a fleet of Hollywood titles. Hong Hong’s current top ten is headed by “Avengers: Endgame” and includes six Marvel movies, the two “Avatar” titles and “Titanic.”

After three years of taking place entirely online, Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (Filmart), the largest content market in Asia before the pandemic, is finally returning as a fully-fledged in-person event (March 13-16, 2023). 

At previous in-person editions of Filmart, Hong Kong’s major film companies, including Edko Films, Emperor Motion Pictures (EMP), One Cool Group, Universe Films and Media Asia, always anchored the trade show floor with huge, elaborate booths promoting the latest Hong Kong films, animation and TV series. 

Former education secretary Sir Gavin Williamson accused teaching unions of 'hating work' and described them as 'a bunch of absolute arses' during the coronavirus pandemic.