See Corporation, a Hong Kong-basedcontent company backed by local tycoon Lawrence Yu, plans to invest $3.8m-5.2m(HK$30-40m) in a slate of high definition (HD) films, in an attempt to boost Hong Kong's flagging production industry.

The company has lined up severalhigh-profile filmmakers to work on the digital slate including Fruit Chan andGordon Chan who will each produce a project from a new director.

Other films in developmentinclude a mini-series of action movies to be directed by Poon Man-kit, whosecredits include the Tsui Hark-produced thriller Shanghai Grand. Actionveteran Gordon Liu is set to star in the films which are scheduled to startshooting near Beijing in November.

Budgets for all of SeeCorp's digital films will range from $250,000 to $1.3m (HK$2-10m).

"Our aim is to train newdirectors and crew by using the low-cost medium of HD movies," See Corp CEOCarl Chang told Screendaily. "We're starting small because the risks aresmaller. China has almost 200 digital screens but Hong Kong has none, so we'll wait until there's a critical mass of screens beforewe produce bigger budget movies."

In the meantime, Chang saidthe company's HD features could be blown up to 35mm if deemed commercialenough. Otherwise they are being aimed at China's digital circuit, the growing number of Chinesemovie channels in the Asia Pacific region and new distribution platforms suchas the internet and 3G.

This low-cost strategy hasalso been adopted by Andy Lau's Focus Films which launched the Focus: FirstCuts initiative earlier this year. It aims to boost production numbers and keepthe industry working at a time when Hong Kong producersare focusing on a smaller number of bigger-budget films.

Previously called RuiliHoldings, See Corp recently changed its name to reflect its new focus onmedia-related businesses. Before its name change, the listed company wasprincipally involved in the trading and manufacture of electronic goods.

The company also recentlyfinalised the acquisition of a 49% stake in pay-TV platform SuperSun, which isalso part-owned by terrestrial broadcaster TVB.

Chang, who was formerly CEOof Hong Kong's Tom.com and Emperor Multimedia Group, recently produced WilsonYip's action thriller SPL.