Making things happen in artistic melting pot (hktdc.com)


	Rigo Jesu outside the world’s first 4D Extreme Cinema, now open at Hong Kong International Airport's new Terminal 2

A desire to get back to his roots drew Rigo Jesu, a Shanghai-born US citizen, to Hong Kong in the 1970s. He intended to stay for two years but having found his niche in the entertainment industry, is still here 40 years later. As Managing Director of Hong Kong's Intercontinental Group, he has just overseen the opening of the world's first 4D Extreme Screen cinema, and looks forward to more exciting breakthroughs in Asia's entertainment hub.

"After university I was drafted into the US Army and sent to Vietnam, which I wasn't too happy about. So when my service was up, I came straight back to Hong Kong to see what was going on in the city where I'd spent my early years. Things developed, and I ended up having my own business.

In those days, Hong Kong was a city town – a big city already, but town-like in that you got to know a lot of people very quickly. It's still like that today: when new people come here, they will find Hong Kong has the well developed infrastructure of New York or Los Angeles, but you can still get to know the people that matter very quickly and easily. It's the classic Hong Kong networking.

When I came back, I had almost no special skills. I'd graduated as a history major and then spent two years in the army, so I had no work experience. I found Hong Kong was the kind of place where if you work hard, have some common sense and an eye for opportunity, you can make things happen. Through some old contacts of my father's – there's the networking again - I got a job at Capital Artists Ltd, a division of TVB International (a local TV station) which was just beginning to do live shows. I started as a gopher and moved up to General Manager, and when I'd gone as far as I could in that company, I decided to start my own company, Jesu International Entertainment Limited.

No down time

Through my company I'd bring international artists including Eric Clapton, Elton John, Stevie Wonder and David Bowie to Hong Kong, and put on live shows in an old Chinese opera house. During the down time I'd screen films booked through Terry Lai, who was to become my wife and partner, and slowly we found new ways of unique marketing. I became a partner in Terry's firm, and she became a partner in mine.

Apart from running my own business, I also assisted Intercontinental Film Distributors Ltd (IFDL) with the sourcing of overseas films for Hong Kong. By 1985, I had ceased my live entertainment business to become Managing Director of IFDL's parent company, Intercontinental Group Holdings Ltd. Recently, a majority share of the company was sold to Japanese media giant Kadokawa Group.

Their intention is to use Hong Kong as the base for their Asian expansion. Unlike so many overseas firms who only have eyes for China, Kadokawa Group is also eyeing the whole South East Asia region. They realise that Hong Kong is the unspoken hub of the region, which is why so many companies have their regional headquarters here. Hong Kong is the perfect city for a total South East Asian strategy, because its infrastructure is probably the best in Asia, and it's also the most cosmopolitan. Japan is good on technical detail, but it has its own culture which makes it difficult to deal with the outside. By having their international base in Hong Kong, it's easier for Kadokawa to operate.

More in store

Hong Kong has always been the entertainment mecca of Asia, and is a melting pot for music, film and even writing. A lot of emphasis is currently being put on revitalising the industry, so I think many exciting initiatives are in store.

Among them is 4D Extreme Screen, our newly opened cinema at Hong Kong International Airport, which incidentally is just doing gangbusters. We held a special promotion over Easter and sold 12,000 tickets – and these were to local families, not travellers passing through. It shows that Hong Kong really is a trend-leading city, where anything new works well.

Through Cepa (the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement) we have just opened our first cinema in the Chinese mainland. Other cinema operators had to set up as a joint venture with a mainland partner, but thanks to Cepa, we were the first to set up a wholly-owned operation. We have identified a site for our second mainland cinema, which should open in 2008.

Many (in the film business) come to Hong Kong to use the city's management, marketing and creative development to enhance their business. Because of its unique infrastructure and cosmopolitan atmosphere, I feel countries that border the Pacific Ocean really can utilise Hong Kong as a very reliable way to move into the rest of Asia. It just makes sense to do that.”