First, apologies. I know I should have written earlier but you guys were so nice after reading my little articles and you said such nice things about me and how you enjoyed the articles, I suddenly wondered how I could better that. It gives me a feeling that when I sit down to write again it's as if I'm going through a test. How will people react to this new one? Will I get the same kind of response? Frankly, I was beginning to feel a little pressure. That's not to blame you - I really feel very happy that you guys enjoy it. Sometimes I don't write because there's really a lot of work here in the office, especially with two new films being released.

Movies are a very "interesting" business. When you talk about business, whether you start big or small, if you invest a certain sum of money the worst that can come of it is that you will lose all of the money you invest. But that's not the case in movies, at least not in Southeast Asia or Hong Kong. Apart from the cost of production, once you decide to release a film in Hong Kong or Southeast Asia, you have to invest extra costs for prints, but mostly it's the cost of publicity that can amount to a lot. Sometimes, like with Jackie's recent film The Myth, publicity and promotion cost, I dare say, one third of the cost of the entire production, especially now because of the piracy problem. We have to release the films simultaneously in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia - in fact, the whole region - and the poor actors and actresses, the main leads of the movie, really have to travel almost nonstop and in a non-logical way. You don't travel according to the globe, you go where it demands you. So one day Jackie could find himself in Beijing, the next day he rushes to Toronto for the opening of the festival, and then maybe flies back to Shanghai and then back down east to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. It does not make any sense at all! You go where the immediate demand is - where the film will be next released.

As for producers, we have other kinds of problems. As I said, we have recently released two movies, both near the "golden weekend" in China (October 1st being National Day) - everybody fights for this supposedly best play date of the year. So we released The Myth together at the same time with Everlasting Regret. These two movies are as different as they can be. One's an epic action and the other one's a drama. As the producer, you feel like you're the father - you're about to give birth to two babies. You never know how good a film is until it is released. Oh sure, when you invite people to see a preview in advance, before it is released in theaters, the general reaction is "Ah, it's not bad." I guess it's really about being polite. Nobody criticizes the film and all this is okay, but the box office is the real test. Until the film is released, you never know. I'll be frank. With these two babies one did very well - Jackie's The Myth. In China itself it broke all box office records this year. It crossed RMB$100 million which is fantastic and the best so far. In Singapore, for instance, it's the 20th consecutive Jackie Chan film that broke the S$2 million in 18 years. But unfortunately, for Everlasting Regret - perhaps because it's a drama, it's not a comedy - it didn't do well at the box office at all. But when they started production on this film, we didn't really expect it to be a commercial project. It is more for the art seekers of Europe, perhaps. That's why it was selected as an official entry for the Venice film festival and ever since it has been traveling the festival circuit, although to date we have not won any awards yet.

As you people may know, I haven't been traveling with Jackie as much as I used to. Firstly, perhaps, because of my health. If you remember from my last article, I gave up Toronto because it was so rushed and I sent Solon in my place instead. This last weekend, we went to Singapore together with Jackie only for a day. But it was nice because it reminded me of times when I used to travel constantly with Jackie. Actually, he hasn't changed. When we got on the plane, he fell asleep right away! But the first reaction when he saw Solon and I together on the plane was "Why are the two of you here?!" I said, "Why? Because the Singapore California Fitness Jackie Chan Sport is opening and I think our American partners expect us to be there. They flew all the way from America and I think it would be bad if we don't go when Hong Kong is so much nearer!" But that's the trouble with Jackie. Jackie is all work, work, work. For him, when you travel it's work. That's how he sees it. It's a pity because I personally think that work can be mixed with pleasure. Every time you go to a new place - like Cologne, or Frankfurt when we last went, yeah sure, it's a promotion trip; there are interviews - boring interviews - maybe because he's done the same thing 10 times or more, answering the same questions over and over again. But when you have spare time, you need to enjoy the beauty of Europe, the old castles, the old towns. But Jackie really hasn't come to that point yet. For him it's just work. If there are a few hours then it's rest time. He just doesn't feel that work and pleasure can go together. It's hard to travel to any place for just one day, stay overnight, and come back the next day, but to Solon and perhaps even to myself, after so many years, a trip like that is a perk. You go out together and you come back and you're all energized again. It adds something to the routine.

Friends wonder, staff wonders, and I'm sure you fans wonder (and sometimes I wonder!) how two guys can work together for over 30 years. Surely there must be differences; we must argue. How can you be compatible always? Seriously, I have my doubts sometimes. But on this trip, there was something that Jackie did that was quite beyond my words. We were at dinner in Singapore with a group of friends when we got the unfortunate news that Endon Mahmood, the wife of the Malaysian Prime Minister, had died in Los Angeles from cancer. Now some of you will remember that Jackie went to Malaysia recently to take part in the Walk With Pride Charity event and we had the privilege and the honor to meet the royal family there. We met the Prime Minister but we didn't meet his wife, who was unfortunately not present at the ball; she was under treatment for cancer in Los Angeles. We met his son, Kamal, (who has since become a very good friend) and his daughter-in-law Azrene, who was the chairlady of the Walk With Pride Charity event. It was just so sad to hear that Endon had passed away. Our Singaporean friends told us that she was a wonderful lady, she'd done a lot for Malaysia, and she was very brave when she fought cancer for a long time. Well, while she was in the hospital in L.A. receiving her cancer treatment, Endon's twin sister passed away and she felt as if now that her twin sister was gone, half of her was gone and she almost gave up hope. Jackie immediately stood up and said so spontaneously, "Willie, then you mustn't die because if you die half of me will be gone and I will have no urge to live." It was so touching, there among this group of friends. It was so natural and I was so touched, I felt that no matter what differences we may have, if I will be able to live another 30 years and work another 20 years, I would still love to do it with Jackie until the day I die. It's moments like these that make it all worth it.

Warmest Aloha,

Willie