Halal certification boosts HK tourism
To highlight Hong Kong as a Muslim-friendly destination, the Hong Kong Tourism Board encourages restaurants to obtain halal certification and has launched online training material to boost the industry's understanding of Muslim customs.
News.gov.hk spoke with a representative from the Hong Kong Tourism Board to explore the content of its training material and strategies for promoting Hong Kong among Muslim source markets in order to attract more Muslim visitors. A cafe owner also shared his insights into the reasons for pursuing halal certification and the benefits it brings.
The story is available at www.news.gov.hk/eng/feature/ from today (July 6) in text and video format.
Results of final winners of Content Development Scheme for Streaming Platforms announced
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Film Development Council (FDC):
Four final winners of the Content Development Scheme for Streaming Platforms under the Film Development Fund (FDF) have been selected. Each winner will receive a maximum of $4.5 million for the production of a pilot of their streaming series. The four final winning projects are "Kowloon Grand Hotel", "Bus Lightyear", "Spirited Away" and "Balikbayan Box Club", details of which are available on the FDC's website (www.fdc.gov.hk/common/whatson/CDSSP_result.pdf).
The Chairman of the FDC, Dr Wilfred Wong, said, "I am glad that all 10 projects under the Scheme clearly demonstrate the versatility and international perspectives of local filmmakers in developing cross-sector, cross-platform content. The four winning projects selected after keen competition have both commercial and artistic appeal. I am confident that these projects will soon win the favour of various platforms for further investment opportunities."
The Scheme aims to nurture cross-media production teams developing works on streaming platforms and expand new distribution markets for the Hong Kong film industry by producing high-quality content.
The Scheme, having received over 50 eligible applications, recruited participating teams through a competition to develop content for a series for streaming platforms. Among the applications, 10 projects were shortlisted, and each received a script development fee of $600,000 to $1.2 million to develop a full production proposal and scripts of an entire series. The final four winners out of the 10 shortlisted projects each receive a maximum of $4.5 million to produce a pilot of the series to identify potential platform investors. Together with the script development fee, each final winning team is awarded a total of up to $5.7 million.
The Hong Kong Film Development Council, Photo source: online image
