With the 5 part [Files of Justice] series, Gary also helped to change the image of actors Michael Tao, Bobby Au Yeung, and William So – all second line actors at the time who were not widely known – plus actors Bowie Lam and Lawrence Ng (both joined the series later on) -- propelling all of them to instant fame. Gary Tang’s unique ability to “raise the living from the dead” (in terms of careers) was greatly admired and many artists hoped that one day they would have the opportunity to work with him.
Gary Tang joined TVB in 1981 as a script writer – as a writer, his body of work included many of the most popular series of the 80s such as the [Police Cadet] trilogy as well as [Looking Back in Anger]. Asked which actor made the deepest impression on him? Gary replied: “I remember back then, when Simon Yam was filming the [Police Cadet] sequel, he had a tremendous amount of respect toward us script writers. In the middle of the night, after he finished filming, he would run upstairs to our office to see how we were doing and if we needed anything. Also, the audiences at that time took ‘watching series’ very seriously; one time, a member of the audience called, asked for me by name, and demanded to know why a particular scene for the [Police Cadet] sequel was written so ‘foolishly’ – it was a scene where Chow Yun Fat was being ‘framed’ for something he didn’t do!”
In 1989, Gary left TVB for rival ATV, however in 1991, he returned to TVB to take on the position of Production Supervisor and was given the responsibility of producing the [Files of Justice] and [Healing Hands] series. In order to find ‘new blood’ for the series, he transferred Flora Chan – who at the time was working as a research assistant and host for TVB’s English-language channel Pearl – to the Jade channel series production department so that she could become an actress; this absolutely was a gamble on his part. Luckily, Flora did not let him down – her debut in [Files of Justice V] as a lawyer named Kat was well-received and caused her to be noticed. After that, she collaborated with Gary again in [Healing Hands] and shot to popularity, thereby becoming one of TVB’s first line lead actresses (fa-dan).
Gary certainly has a good eye for talent. Back in the day, he was the one who ‘found’ 6-time Best Actor Nick Cheung – not yet ‘polished’ at the time – and cast him as a funny but honest CID cop in [[Healing Hands]]. Nick brought a much needed comedic element to the often tense storyline and his character was well-liked by the audiences. Gary commented: “When he’s filming, Nick may give the impression that he is just playing around, but in actuality he is very precise – he considers every detail very in depth and is able to cover all bases. Definitely very serious.”
Turns ‘rocks’ into ‘gold’ but does not boast
Gary has helped propel many artists to stardom and almost all of them are currently first rate actors / actresses, however he does not feel that he should take credit for their success: “All of those actors and actresses had true acting talent, so it’s no surprise that they would become so popular and successful. I was just lucky to have the opportunity to work with them.”
It has been reported that Gary’s new series [Heroes of the Law], which he produced for ATV, is scheduled to air in August. He says: “In terms of production and creativity, hopefully [Heroes of the Law] will give audiences a sense of ‘freshness’. It’s important to note that in terms of TV series production, TVB’s ‘method’ is not the only correct ‘method’ – that’s what I hope to prove with this series.” In addition to the release of this series, the production company that he owns in partnership with Lawrence Ng is preparing to start filming on another series…fans of his series hopefully won’t have to wait too long.
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