Producer Terence Chang has packaged romantic comedy Dirt Rich In Shanghai with Hong Kong’s Mei Ah Entertainment, Sil-Metropol Organization and Taiwan’s Tosoa Entertainment for an April start date.

Taipei-based filmmaker Peter Lee (The Candidate) will direct the $2m film, which tells about a nouveau riche man determined to transform his down-to-earth image to a gentleman of taste, in order to pursue a famous actress.

Sun Honglei (Forever Enthralled, Seven Swords) will portray the businessman, Hung Hsiao-ling the actress and Kelly Lin a publicity executive who helps the businessman change his image. Both Lin and Hung are acting clients of Stellar Entertainment, a talent management company set up by Terence Chang, Michelle Yeoh and Taipei-based David Tang.

Mei Ah Entertainment will handle international sales as well as distribution in Chinese-language territories, according to Chang. Shooting will start in April in Xiamen City of Southeast China and Shanghai.

Chang will also work as a producer for Taiwanese filmmaker Wei Te-sheng’s project Seediq Bale, which is intended to be an epic film about the legendary Taiwanese aboriginal warriors fighting against the Japanese troops. The film is selected as one of the 27 projects in the Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF). Wei’s 2008 film Cape No. 7 was the highest-grossing Taiwanese film in Taiwanese film history.