Profile: Hwang Jang-lee

Date of birth: December 21, 1944 (Aomori, Honshu, Japan)

Other names: Huang Cheng Li, Hwang Jing Lee, Hwang Jung Lee, Hwang Tae Su, Wang Tang Lee, Wong Cheng Li, Wong Jing Lei

Occupation: Actor, director, producer, action director, instructor,

Style: Taekwondo, Tang Soo Do

Biography: Hwang Jang-lee is one of kung fu cinema’s most popular villains, known for his extraordinary kicking abilities. Hwang was born in Japan to Korean parents on the island of Honshu during the Second World War, where his father ran a shipping company. His family relocated to South Korea after the war when Hwang was a baby. He began studying …

Profile: Luc Besson

Date of birth: March 18, 1959 (Paris, France)

Occupation: Director, producer, scriptwriter

Biography: Luc Besson is France’s most commercially successful filmmaker. He is often dismissed in his homeland for making mass-market films. In his capacity as the chairman and majority shareholder of EuropaCorp, he has launched the Taken, Taxi and Transporter franchises – helping to turn the aging thespian Liam Neeson and former London-based diver Jason Statham into huge action stars – as well as launching Jet Li in the west with the actor’s best English-language films to date.

Besson was born in Paris but spent much of his childhood on the resorts …