After earning a degree in film in Berkley, California, Peter Ho-Sun Chan or Peter Chan has become a producer, a director and a scriptwriter, making more than 30 films in the past 20 years. His film Comrades: Almost a Love Story or Tian Mi Mi (1988) has been acclaimed as one of the finest Hong Kong films made in recent years and is a decent combination of artistic and commercial elements. The trilingual director worked with a Hollywood studio to produce Love Letter (1999) and also made Jan Dara (2001), The Eye (2002) and Three Extreme (2004). His latest film, Perhaps Love, was a six-time winner at the Hong Kong Film Awards. The Eye is currently now being remade in Hollywood.

It’s always a balance between package and content. When I’m working on a script that seems somewhat more artistic, I try to put movie stars or something in it to make it a more complete package. On the other hand, when the content is commercial, I try to use a simple approach.

The most important thing about working on a film set is that the crew must be selfless. Hong Kong and Thai crews are good, fast, professional and very strong artistically, but they have no ego. It’s easy to work with them.

Chicago and Moulin Rouge didn’t inspire me to make Perhaps Love. I’m not a big fan of musicals. The reason that Perhaps Loves reminds some people of those movies is because they are the only two musicals people have seen recently.

One reason that I wanted to be a producer was that it gave me more freedom to work on a project as a director. I have to work for two to three years on a script before jumping on board to direct. If I’m not a producer, it’s too long a process for me professionally and financially to do that.

When I worked with the director John Woo, I learned from everyone on the production. At that time, I was an interpreter. The film was made in Thailand and I was the only one who could communicate with everybody because I spoke Thai, Chinese and English. I learned everything I had to know about a film set.

My father Chan Tung Man, who was also a filmmaker, was my greatest inspiration. I admired my father. I wanted to do what he did. I wanted to be him.

I’m not as talented as my father, but I’m cautious and hardworking. There’s one good thing about not being talented: Talented people tend to be overconfident.

My whole life I have been making one single movie. It’s always a love story with an intimate human relationship and emotion. Perhaps Love isn’t a musical movie and The Eye isn’t a ghost story. My style has never changed. I’m a very consistent director.

I don’t drink and I’m not the bar type. In 1993, when I worked on the movie Twenty Something, about people in their 20s who had one-night-stands, I asked my friend who was a director to do research with me at bars and nightclubs. After three-months of research, I still didn’t understand why they had one-night stands. So, I turned to my friend and asked him to direct the movie instead.

I care about everyone’s comment, not only those from film critics. It’s tiring because you can’t please everyone. There will be people who like you and people who don’t like you. I try to not care, but I still do.

It’s hard to say whether or not I’ve been successful. It’s all very subjective. For some people, I might be, but to others, I’m not. But I’m happy and content. That’s all I can say.