In July last year, a prank video highlighting the absence of any laws in Macau against indecent assault went viral on Facebook, generating more than 150,000 views. It was also picked up by some Hong Kong media. The video brought local video producer Kenny Leong into the spotlight.
“I am a type of person that if I see wrong, I don’t want to close my eyes. I want to do something immediately. So I told people that I was going to do a video on the issue and they told me that I should go for it,” says Kenny.
The video depicts Kenny indecently touching a female (his friend) in front of a police officer after confirming with him that there is no such offence in Macau.
Before this big hit, Kenny was already known in the community through the videos he had created since coming back from Canada three years ago.
His journey to becoming a professional film maker began at high school. At that time he started making videos and after several attempts, he finally created his first “baby”: a music video that he was really proud of. The video earned him praise from his teachers and he believes that the encouragement he received at that time was truly important for him to continue making videos.
“That music video really opened up my creativity to continue to want to do more,” he says.
After high school, Kenny enrolled at Ryerson University in Toronto, studying fine arts and new media. It was then that he realized that his passion lay in filmmaking. This was despite the fact that his family did not really support his choice.
“My mother always wanted me to work in radio because she thinks I have a good voice. But I was never good at talking.”
It was only after a long period and some arguments that he finally won their approval for his career choice.
“I think the most important thing for every young artist, and in fact young people as well, is to believe in their passion and to receive encouragement from other people,” he says.
Since returning to Macau from Toronto, Kenny has already participated in several filmmaking competitions and some of his creations, both pranking and music videos, have been shown on buses and on his own Youtube channel.
Aside from making videos, last year Kenny also joined the Macau Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel Conceptual Exterior Design Competition. He explains that when applying for university, he initially applied for interior design, so when he heard about the competition, he decided to give it a try.
His design concept involved installing a smoke screen on the façade of the hotel, with images representing the golden era of Hollywood projected on to the screen. The judges praised the concept and gave him the Best Design Award. Kenny says that he only joined the competition “for fun” but was happy that his design concept was recognized by people.
Recently Kenny has produced several music videos for local singers, and he is also planning to make Youtube videos that focus solely on issues relating to Macau. Having recently opened his production house Shoot and Chop with his partner Iwin Kuok, he is now truly living out his dream of becoming a filmmaking professional.
While he admits that video production is not a career for achieving financial success, he believes that it is more important to be happy.
“Money is not everything. Just being really happy with your work and gaining satisfaction from it, that is the ultimate happiness for me.”
