“Who Sells Bricks in Hong Kong” Hopes to Introduce New Actors
Premiering on June 29, Who Sells Bricks in Hong Kong <地產仔> is a joint production by ViuTV, One Cool Film Production, and Media Asia. Airing in the 9:30 p.m. time slot, the drama will be directly competing with TVB’s Death by Zero <殺手>. A modern comedy about the trials and tribulations of real estate agents, Who Sells Bricks in Hong Kong covers a very relatable topic for many who understand the struggles of trying to buy a home in the expensive local market.
The drama opens with two companies competing for a newly built condo. One is the leading real estate company, and the other is a smaller company that focuses on local business. The units are extremely small with only 100 square feet of livable space. However, it is a very popular option due to its comparatively affordable price of below $4 million Hong Kong dollars and a possibility of achieving a mortgage of 90 percent.
Other than experienced artistes Mark Cheng, Queenie Chu (朱慧敏), and Michelle Saram (鄭雪兒), the rest of the cast is relatively green, consisting of Jennifer Yu (余香凝), Fish Liew (廖子妤), Tony Wu (胡子彤), Yanny Chan (陳穎欣), Stanley Yau (邱士縉), Yau Yik Pang (丘翊鵬), Eric Tsui (徐浩昌), Erica Chui (徐頴堃), and many others.
The addition of Mark Cheng to the cast is a big selling point for the drama as he has not filmed a Hong Kong drama in a long time. His character is the CEO of the local real estate company and leads his agents to fight against the leading competitor who only focuses on sales and not on clients’ needs.
Even though the media had focused on Mark’s television comeback, he is not considered the male lead in Who Sells Bricks in Hong Kong. Director Keian Chui (徐梓耀) shared that this drama will not have a traditional male or female lead, and will consist of an ensemble cast. As the drama unfolds, the audience will meet different characters. One of his goals is to introduce new faces to the audience, so he made a conscious effort to give equal time to each character.
Originally drawing his inspiration for the drama from Young and Dangerous <古惑仔>, Director Chui was walking outside one day and noticed a group of real estate agents literally fighting for business. As he watched them throwing punches at each other, the inspiration came for this drama. Though he had wanted to make something similar, he realized times have changed. “Nowadays, triads are no longer in Causeway Bay arrogantly asking for protection fees, so it would be hard for viewers to relate. Since there has been a lot of tension and unhappiness in society recently, I felt that viewers need a comedy as a barrier towards the negativity.” The ending result is Who Sells Bricks in Hong Kong, a relatable comedy with some Young and Dangerous influences.
“Who Sells Bricks in Hong Kong” Trailer
Source: HK01
This article is written by Kiki for JayneStars.com.
what a pity that tvb’s competitor is so weak.
@m0m0
Define weak.
@m0m0 Nope, ViuTV isn’t weak, at least not in my book. They have actually come into their own quite nicely the past few years, with solid dramas that draw on diverse cast from all HK entertainment sectors (television, movies, theater, etc.). More importantly, they are unafraid to tackle themes that are relevant to HK audiences, which, more and more, is what HK audiences want. Also, ViutTV has gotten more recognition in HK as well, with many of its programs winning awards from various television associations (those are the associations, none of them affiliated with any TV stations, that use “quality” as its basis to judge TV programs….not like some Mickey Mouse in-house award shows that give BS awards to its own people in order to promote them). ViuTV has gotten stronger and stronger with each year that passes and I have no doubt that it will continue to get better. If you want to talk “weak,” the station that is truly weak is HK Open TV (stupid name btw)…they’ve been around pretty much as long as ViuTV has, yet most HK audiences haven’t even heard of the station and barely anyone has watched their programs….
The younger casts, I am not familiar so it is always good to be introduced to new actors hopefully theres someone in there that could light up HK film industry. The main 3, 1 of whom is never known to be good for her acting. The other 2 , 1 I quite like and the other I never liked. So the story better be awesome, because actors alone won’t entice me. But I learn a good lesson from The Untamed. Never judge the green actors, give it a chance and well, I’m now their fan. So the story and acting may be impressive.
@funn Technically, the younger cast isn’t all new….quite a few are “experienced” actors, it’s just that most of their work has been in movies…but since many audiences don’t pay attention to HK movie industry nowadays, these artists get classified as “new” when they show up in a TV series. Some of these artists have been nominated for and / or won multiple awards in the film industry. Jennifer Yu for example, has been in the industry almost 10 years already and has been in countless films, with a slew of nominations and awards to her name. Tony Wu has been in the industry nearly 5 years (he came from the sports world, as he used to be a baseball player) and also has a slew of nominations/awards, including winning many of the best newcomer awards the year he debuted. And that’s just 2 examples…