Shaw Brothers Studio: History and Key Facts

Shaw Brothers (HK) Limited (Chinese: 邵氏兄弟(香港)公司) was the largest film production company in Hong Kong, operating from 1958 to 2011.

In 1925, three Shaw brothers—Runje, Runme, and Runde—founded Tianyi Film Company (also called "Unique") in Shanghai, and established a film distribution base in Singapore, where Runme and their youngest brother, Run Run Shaw, managed the precursor to the parent company, Shaw Organisation. Runme and Run Run took over the film production business of its Hong Kong–based sister company, Shaw & Sons Ltd; in 1958, a new company, "Shaw Brothers," was set up. In the 1960s, Shaw Brothers established what was once the largest privately owned studio in the world, Movietown.

The company's most famous works include The Love Eterne (1963), Come Drink with Me (1966), The One-Armed Swordsman (1967), King Boxer (1972), Executioners from Shaolin (1977), The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and Five Deadly Venoms (both 1978).

Over the years, the film company produced around 1,000 films, some becoming the most popular and significant Chinese-language films of the period. It also popularized the kung fu genre of films. In 1987, the company suspended film production in order to concentrate on the television industry through its subsidiary, TVB. Film production resumed in limited capacity in 2009.

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