B.A. (Hons) Graphic Design (Canterbury College of Art), Certificate in Radio, Film and TV (University of Bristol), Advanced Certificate in Radio, Film and TV (University of Bristol)
BIO-FILMOGRAPHY
Gary Pollard has spent most of his professional life working in the field of communication, both in television and radio, producing educational, current affairs, documentary, and drama programmes, predominantly as a freelance producer/director for Radio Television Hong Kong.
In 1981, he became the first non-Chinese director to have written and directed a Cantonese drama for Hong Kong television, an episode of Under The Same Roof entitled A Double Life. Throughout his career with RTHK, he went on to write over forty bilingual or Cantonese drama scripts for Hong Kong television, as well as short stories, broadcast on BBC radio.
In 1982 he began working on RTHK’s English current affairs programmes, including Newsplus, Hong Kong Now, Dollar Sense, In Sight, and the award-winning Here and Now as a producer/reporter.
In 1991 he moved to Radio Television Hong Kong’s Drama Department, as a major creative force behind Hong Kong’s first multilingual drama series, City Life, writing six of the seven episodes and directing two.
He wrote three episodes of the 1992 Below the Lion Rock series, directed Wall of Glass, (Silver Medal – Rehabilitation International Festival 1993) the first episode of Radio Television Hong Kong’s 1993 series dealing with the lives of the disabled, and wrote three episodes, directing two, of RTHK’s series Affairs of the Heart. In 1993, he wrote the screenplay for the feature film Young Offenders, a Hong Kong – Canada co-production.
In 1991, the programme Legacy, written by him and directed by Elizabeth Wong Lo Tak, was selected as Best International TV Drama at the San Francisco Film Festival. Family, and Valentine’s Day also written by him, were awarded Certificates of Merit by the Chicago Film Festival in 1994 and 1995 respectively. In 1999, The Truth is Out There was awarded a certificate of merit at the Golden Gate Awards. In 2000, Gypsies (Writer) was awarded a Golden Spire, as Best Drama of 60 minutes or less, at the San Francisco Film Festival Golden Gate Awards. Valentine’s Day (Writer) and Still Life (Writer/Director), were both shown in the 1994 Hong Kong International Film Festival. The programme Living Space (Writer) was presented in Film Festivals in Ankara and Szechuan.
After leaving RTHK in 1989 to run his own video-production company Screenworks, Gary was invited to return to the station in 2004 to head English-language TV programming and executive produce the current affairs programme The Pulse (which he created), and the arts and culture show The Works. He also created the RTHK interview show In Conversation. For a long time, he was also a regular film and video critic for radio and television.
In 2017 he scripted the one-hour documentary “Hong Kong – The Cantonese Sensibility” for Singapore’s Channel NewsAsia’s “Understanding Asia” series.
Apart from teaching, he continues to write and to work in video production, sub-editing, communication training, and as an occasional videographer for international news.
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DRAMA FOR HONG KONG FILM AND TV
FEATURE FILM
1993 – YOUNG OFFENDERS Writer (Mandarin / Cantonese / English)
Canada / Hong Kong / Taiwan Co-production
TV (as Writer/Director)
1995 – LIVING Writer/Director (30 min.)
1995 – THE CAMERA Writer/Director (30 min.)
1993 – STILL LIFE Writer/Director (30 min.) Shown at 1994 Hong Kong International Film Festival
1992 – WALL OF GLASS Writer/Director (30 min.) – Silver Medal, Rehabilitation International Festival 1993
1991 – SONG OF VIETNAM Writer/Director (30 min.)
1991 – DREAMING OF CHINA Writer/Director (30 min.)
1980 – A DOUBLE LIFE Writer/Director (30 min.)
TV (as Writer)
2014 – SPIDER Writer (60 mins) ICAC Drama
1999 – GYPSIES Writer (30 min.) Golden Spire, Best Drama 60 minutes or less, Golden Gate Awards, SFIFF
1999 – DANCING WITH YUEN LING-YUK Writer (30 min.)
1998 – THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE Writer (30 min.) Certificate of Merit, Golden Gate Awards (SFIFF)
1998 – THE BODY Writer (30 min.)
1996 – EMPTY WORLD Writer (30 min.)
1995 – WORMWOOD Writer (30 min.)
1995 – MEMORIES OF THE DANCE Writer (30 min.)
1995 – WINDOWS Writer (30 min.)
1994 – LIVING SPACE Writer (60 min.) Shown at Ankara and Szechuan Film Festivals.
1994 – TRUE PERSPECTIVE Writer (60 min.)
1993 – VALENTINE’S DAY Writer (30 min.) Certificate of Merit, 1995 Chicago Film Festival / Shown at 1994 Hong Kong International Film Festival
1993 – NIGHT LIFE Writer (30 min.)
1993 – THE CONTRACT Writer (30 min.)
1993 – IRON ROSES Writer (30 min.)
1992 – ANNIE AND AH-YUEN Writer (30 min.)
1992 – VOICES IN THE AIR Writer (30 min.)
1992 – FAMILY Writer (60 min.) Certificate of Merit, 1994 Chicago Film Festival
1992 – GHOSTS Writer (60 min.)
1992 – MASKS Writer (60 min.)
1991 – SEPTEMBER SONG Writer (30 min.)
(2 segments of 4 segment programme)
1991 – LIGHT OF THE HEART Writer (30 min.)
1991 – WORLDS APART Writer (30 min.)
1990 – FAR FROM LUZZARA Writer (30 min.)
1990 – NIGHT SHIFT Writer (30 min.)
1990 – LEGACY Writer (60 min.) – Best International TV Drama 1991 Golden Gate Awards (SFIFF)
1989 – OLD DAYS Writer (30 min.)
1989 – SYMPTOMS Writer (30 min.)
1988 – IN THE RED Writer (30 min.)
1988 – PAPER MEN Writer (30 min.)
1986 – TRUE COLOURS / RETURNING WITH HONOURS Writer (60 min.)
1986 – DOES GOD SPEAK CANTONESE, FATHER? Writer (60 min.) (Not produced)
1985 – REQUIEM Writer (30 min.)
1985 – SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES Writer (30 min.)
1985 – NOT A LOVE STORY Writer (30 min.)
1984 – THE FLAMING TREE Writer (60 min.)
1984 – CLIMBING THE LADDER Writer (60 min.)
1983 – HEROES Writer (60 min.)
1983 – LAST SUMMER Writer (60 min.)
1982 – QUIET DESPERATION Writer (30 min.)
1981 – FONG-SIR Writer (30 min.)
1981 – A DIFFERENT DRUMMER Writer (30 min.)
1980 – WITHIN THE BESEIGED CITY Writer (30 min.)
