Made  in  China

The Story of Adopted Chinese Children in Canada

key creative profiles

HOLIDAY PICTURES LTD.  is a Vancouver-based independent production company founded by Shan Tam and Michael Parker whose focus is on developing and producing original feature films and documentaries.  Their first feature film, “Young Offenders” (1993), was the fist ever Canada-Hong Kong co-production.  It deals with a Chinese teenage immigrant boy left alone in Vancouver, vulnerable to the criminal world. The company has since produced the romantic comedy “Lunch With Charles”, written and directed by Michael Parker.   Holiday Pictures Ltd. maintains a strong link with Asian film communities.  It has organized a “Canadian Film Showcase” in Shanghai in 1999 to further develop co-production opportunities between the two countries.  The event was supported by Telefilm Canada and the Canadian Consulate General in Shanghai.  In addition, Shan Tam and Michael Parker provide complete production support for producers filming in Canada through their servicing company, Maple Ridge Films Ltd.  Included in their portfolio of numerous feature films they have line-produced is the action blockbuster, “Rumble in the Bronx” starring Jackie Chan.  In addition to feature films, Maple Ridge Films Ltd. has been involved in the production of commercials and an interactive video.

KARIN L. LEE (WRITER AND DIRECTOR) is a Vancouver based independent filmmaker who has been working in film and television over the last 10 years.   She has worked as a writer, director and producer of narrative and documentary films. She has just completed Made in China a documentary on the plight of abandoned Chinese girls due to China's One-Child Policy and their adoption by Canadian families.  It looks at the joys and heartaches of  trans-racial and inter-country adoption. Ms. Lee also recently completed an one hour historical documentary on the role of Chinese immigrants in building the railway in Western Canada in the 1880's.  She wrote and co-directed Canadian Steel Chinese Grit. She is currently completing post-production on Songs of the Phoenix - a short documentary on the status of Chinese women in the rural and urban areas.  It is a critical look at the inequities of gender differences in traditional Chinese culture, and how that affects the role of women in China today. Ms. Lee's first work was in narrative film.  My Sweet Peony is a thirty minute experimental drama on the conflicts of cultural identity and sexuality.  She has also written a feature-length script - The New Empress based on the life of her grandmother whose husband betrayed her trust and brought her to Canada to languish under oppressive conditions.  She is currently working on adapting The Diamond Grill by award winning Canadian writer Fred Wah into a film script. Ms. Lee received a Bachelor of Arts (Double Major) in Chinese and English Literature from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and continued post-graduate work on a scholarship in the People's Republic of China at Beijing University from 1982-1985.  During her stay in China she began working with the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and continued to work in media since that time.  Upon her return to Canada she followed the path of independent filmmaking and began to apply for film and video grants from the Canada Council for the Arts.  She has apprenticed at the National Film Board of Canada, worked with Mina Shum (Double Happiness, Me, Mom & Mona) and has taken a workshop in screenwriting with Anthony Minghella (Truly, Madly, Deeply; The English Patient). Much of her work focuses on women's issues as well as the untold stories of immigrants in Canada.  Her own family first arrived in Canada from southern China in the 1860's. In addition to making films and videos, she is a working mother, community activist and curator. 

SHAN TAM (PRODUCER) is originally from Hong Kong where she received an honour diploma with distinction in Communication at the Hong Kong Baptist College. She has worked at Radio Television Hong Kong and the Hong Kong film industry for six years in the capacity of assistant program officer, first assistant director and production manager before moving to Canada. Since residing in Vancouver in 1989, she has line-produced a number of Asian film productions including Jackie Chan's blockbuster movie "Rumble in the Bronx" and Andy Lau's "Saviour of the Souls II". In 1993, Ms Tam produced the first Canada-Hong Kong co-production "Young Offenders". She has recently produced the feature film, "Lunch With Charles", the second Canada-HK Co-production. Besides feature films, Ms. Tam has line produced 20 one-hour episodes of dramatic television dramas that was broadcast throughout China. In 1997, she directed  "Worried Immigrants", a one-hour documentary for Japan's NHK. Additional television experience includes broadcast news as both anchor and journalist, and program producer. She had been a guest host for various radio programs and a freelance writer for magazines and newspapers both in Hong Kong and Canada. In 1998, Ms. Tam won a CTV fellowship to attend the Banff Television Festival. In 2000, she received grants from both Telefilm Canada and BC Film to attend the International Film Financing Conference (IFFCON 2000) in San Francisco. Ms. Tam is currently a member of the China-Canada Advisory Committee for Telefilm Canada.  Over the years, Ms Tam has been  promoting film cultures across the Pacific. She is the founding member of Ocean Bridge Presentations Society which co-organized two national tours of Chinese Film Festival in 1990 and 1991. She serves as a committee member for the Chinese Cultural Centre organizing three Chinese film festivals from 1997 to 1999. In, 1999, Ms Tam also organized a Canadian Film Showcase at the Shanghai International Film Festival.  Ms. Tam's other community work includes producing a fund-raising concert and a walkathon "Walk With Dragon" for SUCCESS, the largest Chinese community service organization in B.C.. In addition, she has coordinated five Vancouver launches of the Lunar New Year Coins and the Millennium Commemorative Coin for the Royal Canadian Mint.  

Holiday Pictures Ltd. 367-1027 Davie Street, Vancouver, B.C. Canada V6E 4L2 Tel(604) 879-6613 Fax: (604) 873-6632

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Web site designed by Felan Parker in 2000