Tong Wars (TV series)

Last updated
Tong Wars
Genre Historical crime drama
Written by Paul Attanasio
Directed by Wong Kar-wai
Country of origin
  • United States
Production
Executive producer(s)Paul Attanasio
Running time60 minutes
Release
Original network Amazon Video

Tong Wars is a planned American historical crime drama web television series written by Paul Attanasio and directed by Wong Kar-wai, announced to premiere on Amazon Video. In May 2019, Screen Daily reported that the series was no longer in active development and that the rights had been relinquished by Amazon [1] .

Web television is original episodic content produced for broadcast via the Internet. The phrase "web television" is also sometimes used to refer to Internet television in general, which includes Internet-transmission of programs produced for both online and traditional terrestrial, cable, or satellite broadcast.

Paul Attanasio American screenwriter and film and television producer

Paul Albert Attanasio is an American screenwriter and film and television producer, who was an executive producer on the television series House (2004–2012). He received Academy Award nominations for Quiz Show (1994) and Donnie Brasco (1997) screenplays.

Wong Kar-wai Hong Kong screenwriter, film producer and film director

Wong Kar-wai is a Chinese film director. His films are recognized for their strong personal style, and he likes to use a slow rhythm with appropriate music to bring out the atmosphere of the movie. Wong’s films are noted for leaving a beautiful impression on the screen. His photographic techniques are also unique, and his "hand-held" and "semi-mask" techniques have become his hallmarks. His work includes As Tears Go By (1988), Days of Being Wild (1990), Ashes of Time (1994), Chungking Express (1994), Fallen Angels (1995), Happy Together (1997), In the Mood for Love (2000), 2046 (2004), and The Grandmaster (2013). He has won many awards in Hong Kong and the film stage in Asia alongside awards abroad. He has won the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival while also being a jury president of the festival in 2006.

Contents

Premise

Tong Wars follows "the journey of Vicky Sun from a slave girl in turn-of-the-century Chinatown to the richest woman in 1970s San Francisco, a gangster saga that resonates within the complex narrative of the Chinese-American experience." [2]

The series is set in late nineteenth-century San Francisco, and focuses on the gang wars that took place between tongs – criminal organizations among the city's Chinese immigrants – in the Chinatown neighborhood. [3] The series is set to span from 1905 to 1971. [4]

San Francisco Consolidated city-county in California, US

San Francisco, officially City and County of San Francisco and colloquially known as SF, San Fran, or "The City", is the cultural, commercial, and financial center of Northern California. San Francisco is the 13th-most populous city in the United States, and the fourth-most populous in California, with 883,305 residents as of 2018. It covers an area of about 46.89 square miles (121.4 km2), mostly at the north end of the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area, making it the second most densely populated large U.S. city, and the fifth-most densely populated U.S. county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs. San Francisco is the 12th-largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States, with 4,729,484 people in 2018. With San Jose, it forms the fifth-most populous combined statistical area in the United States, the San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland, CA Combined Statistical Area.

Tong (organization) chinese immigrant organization

A tong is a type of organization found among Chinese immigrants living in the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. In Chinese, the word tong means "hall" or "gathering place". These organizations are described as secret societies or sworn brotherhoods and are often tied to criminal activity. In the 1990s, in most American Chinatowns, clearly marked tong halls could easily be found, many of which have had affiliations with Chinese crime gangs.

Production

Development

In June 2016, it was announced that Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai was set to direct an online television series. It was reported that Wong had signed a deal with Huanxi Media Group 18-episode original drama series to be digitally distributed in China and around the world. Huanxi had agreed to spend $3.10 million to $3.85 million per episode. The show was expected to have two seasons — one with twelve episodes and the other with six. [5] In September 2017, Amazon Video gave a straight-to-series order for Tong Wars. Wong is still expected to direct the series which will be executive produced and written by Paul Attanasio. [3] [6] [7] In October 2017, Wong appeared at the annual Lumiere Festival in Lyons, France where he commented on the series saying, "The thing that attracted me to this project was the first opportunity to tell the story of the first Chinese-American experience in the most authentic and proper way, because I think there aren’t many films about this experience." [4]

In May 2019, Screen Daily reported an Amazon spokesperson as saying that the series was no longer in active development and that the rights had been relinquished by Amazon [1] .

Screen International is a film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company.

Casting

On November 23, 2017, a casting call notice was released that detailed further information about the series. The document clarified that the series would consist of ten episodes, provided a logline for the show, and listed the names and descriptions for the series' four lead characters that range in age from 14 to 70. The producers specified that they were looking for actors that could speak both fluent Cantonese and American English and would have to be available from July 2018 to January 2019. [2] [8]

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References

  1. 1 2 Shackleton, Liz (18 March 2019). "Filmart: Huanxi releases details on Wong Kar Wai web series 'Paradise Guesthouse'". Screen Daily.
  2. 1 2 "Casting Call: Wong Kar-Wai needs actors for 'Tong Wars'". Angry Asian Man. November 27, 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  3. 1 2 Littleton, Cynthia; Holloway, Daniel (September 9, 2017). "Amazon Orders Fred Armisen-Maya Rudolph Comedy, Wong Kar-wai Drama, 3 Other Projects (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  4. 1 2 Kohn, Eric (October 21, 2017). "Wong Kar-wai Explains His Move to Television With Amazon's 'Tong Wars' and His Next Feature Film". IndieWire. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  5. ↑ Brzeski, Patrick (June 2, 2016). "Wong Kar Wai to Direct Chinese Online Drama Series". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  6. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (September 9, 2017). "Amazon Orders Fred Armisen-Maya Rudolph Comedy & Wong Kar-wai Drama Series; Greg Daniels, Bays-Thomas Pilots". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  7. ↑ Lawrence, Derek (September 8, 2017). "Amazon Gives Series Order to Maya Rudolph, Fred Armisen Comedy". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  8. ↑ Huang, Zheping (December 1, 2017). "Wong Kar-wai is casting for his series about Chinese gangsters in 19th century San Francisco". Quartzy. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
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