Hong Kong-based production house October Films has established a Beijing-based company, Ming Yue Tang Film and TV Cultural Ltd, to develop Chinese-language co-productions between China, Hong Kong and Korea.

Daniel Yu, former COO of Andy Lau's Focus Films, will be in charge of developing the company's first four projects.

Yu and his wife Lorna Tee, former marketing and distribution chief, left Focus Films at the beginning of this year but the duo said they would continue working with Focus on the Focus: First Cuts series.

Daniel Yu is the founder and partner of October Films, which established eight years ago and runs production houses in Hong Kong, Beijing and Seoul.

Yu said the new company would focus on developing and financing Chinese-language projects while October focuses on production of Ming Yue Tang projects.

In its first year, Ming Yue Tang is planning four mid-sized films with budgets under $1.94m (RMB15m). 'We are looking for a new breed of Chinese commercial films that are using Hong Kong [film-making] methods but are close to contemporary Chinese culture and daily life,' Yu said. He will be hoping to re-create the success of his Focus production The Crazy Stone, which was a hit at the mainland box office.

The first four projects in development include a project by Lim Wah-chuen (Runaway Pistol) and two films to be directed by Yu himself and a film by Beijing-based filmmaker Tang Xiru.

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