I love starting a new year by reporting a positive piece of news about someone from among our ranks of British Chinese who has achieved a breakthrough in their career, especially if their field is highly competitive. In these depressing times, it’s great to have success to celebrate. Please welcome 31-year-old screenwriter and director, Jo Ho, who is the creator and lead writer for a major new BBC Children’s Drama, “Bo and the Spirit World”.

In my writing, I have come across a growing number of British-born or based Chinese who are giving us a visible presence in mainstream society through their work or craft. I highlight these people as role models to show what can be possible. And I will continue to do so because I believe we’re slowly breaking down barriers, and we should celebrate victories, both big and small.

The Media & British Chinese

Like many people, my escapism is watching good television. I get hooked by the storylines and characters in a great show. Now my viewing habits include watching children’s TV with my 5-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter. I’m surprised at how well done the shows are with fun stories, songs and visuals (particularly for the younger ones).

As we’re presented with good productions, we forget how much work goes into giving us good entertainment, from the writing to the final product. As we become fans, we forget for every success for the people involved, there are many more people who failed.

Numbers of British Chinese who have a presence in the British media are small compared to East Asian Americans in the United States and directors and stars of Asian countries who have been able to put many cracks in their respective industries’ glass ceilings. We’re still looking for our own Ang Lee, Zhang Yimou and Stephen Chow.

For me, it’s exciting to see Jo Ho, a British-born Chinese woman, make strides in such a competitive environment. It’s a huge ambition to be a filmmaker that not many of us, including her parents, can get our heads around it. Jo is no stranger to fighting for and making the films and TV shows about subjects she cares about.

She admits being young, female and Chinese her greatest challenge in getting recognized in her field is to be taken seriously. She recalls as a member of BAFTA how she’ll never forget the first time she walked into a famous studio building for a screening along with several other members, who were all Caucasian and older, and being stopped by the security staff who assumed she was a cleaner.

She speaks honestly about how her industry has been resistant to projects based on Chinese subject matters. I wondered whether audiences are now ready to hear British Chinese voices due to an increasing multi-cultural society and awareness, such as the publicity generated for all things Chinese by the Beijing Olympics. Ho responds, “I think audiences are much more welcoming and open-minded than the people who control what they can watch believe they are. Audiences will watch whatever has a good story and is made well, and what audiences don’t like is being patronised. Unfortunately, audiences aren’t the people greenlighting projects!”

She emphasises what a massive step it is for a British broadcaster to actually make a programme like “Bo and the Spirit World”. Ho says, “This series doesn’t just have Chinese people as leads, it’s about Chinese culture. It’s about a Chinese family and what they believe in, and it will be broadcast on a main terrestrial channel at a peak time.”

Bo and the Spirit World

Talking to Jo Ho about the hurdles she went through in getting her series commissioned by the BBC – a process she describes as “a sort of X Factor for writers” – you get the sense of how significant is her achievement. It started with a script of hers being read by CBBC and being asked if she had an interest in writing for children (6-12s). She always wanted to work in that medium.

The idea she came up with was, in her words, “a sort of young “Buffy” (the Vampire Slayer) meets “Spirited Away”. The show is a fantasy based on Chinese myths and legends, and stars a Chinese sister and brother who, along with their friends, enter into a mythical “Spirit World” to save the planet from the grips of an evil warlord.

She wrote a one-page treatment and applied via the BBC’s E-Commissioning process where her show with an unlikely theme and unlikely stars was up against established writers, producers and production companies competing for a handful of slots.

SC: What’s the schedule for “Bo and the Spirit World”? How much influence do you have with the final show?

JH: “I’m writing right now, as are the other writers. We need all the scripts ready as soon as possible as we go into pre-production early 2009. We’ll be filming in April; mostly in a studio as the “Spirit World” is all set builds. We need to deliver the show in October. As yet, I haven’t been told when it will air – I suspect it will be shortly after. As creator of the series and lead writer, I have influence, though mostly to do with the creative aspects. I’m hoping with the quality of the writing and stories to draw in a wider audience. I want it to be enjoyed by as many as possible.”

SC: What does this series mean for the British Chinese community?

JH: “Once we start seeing more Chinese faces on the screen, I hope it will go some way to inspire the community and yes, while there is kung fu action – it’s a kids’ show – there won’t be any of the other stereotypes that we normally see. What I go into is our family customs, our sense of duty, but also our superstitions, spiritual beliefs and even the sense of family shame and losing face. Although, I’m hoping to raise awareness of our presence and culture with this show, the storylines are universal and will appeal to all races. At the end of the day, it’s a story about five children with superpowers in a race to save the world and their families, and who doesn’t like that?”

SC: How do you respond to negative comments from within our community which criticize the theme of your series as stereotypical, wanting to see instead roles created for Chinese without Chinese storylines, especially the kung fu aspects?

JH: “I wish that in the UK we were in the same cultural stages as the US, where they now create minority roles without minority storylines attached, but we mustn’t forget how long it has taken the US to actually get to this stage. East Asians have a much larger presence and voice (in the US), yet it has still taken them this long to get to the point they are currently at. It doesn’t mean it won’t change (in the UK), but these things take time and they take baby steps.

I created my TV series first and foremost as entertainment. The television world is a business, just like any other. If I fail at creating an exciting and successful show, then I fail in my job. And what sells for kids? Action, excitement, fantasy and quests. On top of this, I have many issues I’d like to address; most importantly, the lack of East Asian culture and faces in British television. So I’ve fought hard and created a series based loosely on Chinese beliefs and culture, and created some Chinese leads in the hope that I can raise our profile and start the ball rolling for the Chinese community, while at the same time providing young audiences with a show filled with heart, excitement and the “spirit” of being Chinese.

With regards to kung fu, I grew up watching the stuff! My favourite films and Chinese shows are kung fu fantasies, such as “A Chinese Ghost Story” and “Kung Fu Hustle”. Of all the things to write about, why wouldn’t I have kung fu in it when it’s an action-packed fantasy for kids? To be clear, my series is much more about the spiritual and cultural side of being Chinese; the kung fu is just the fun, action part of it. At the end of the day, none of the people I’m working with are politicians; we’re entertainers. Ultimately, I may get some things right and I may get some things wrong, but at least I’m trying!

We’ve had a very big turnout of applications for the lead roles of Bo and Timothy (much more than expected), so it seems there are many more Chinese out there who want to be involved than there are otherwise.”

From Humble Beginnings

Jo Ho’s efforts to get to where she is now will serve as an inspiration to other British Chinese who want to make a go of it in the media. She comes from humble beginnings in Dagenham, Essex, where she was raised in a council house by a single mother (her parents divorced when she was 14), who came to the UK from Hong Kong without an education and family support.

Growing up, money was always an issue and Jo put herself through college and university by working weekends in retail and, like many, is still paying off her student loans.

She studied Mixed Media Art at the University of Westminster. At this point, she thought film was too far reaching for her and art would be a safer bet. But her dreams never left her and, after university, she applied for production work by cold calling her way through the phone book for film companies.

After securing her first job, the next five years were spent working in production in various roles. She has no illusions about these roles; they required an18-hour day and six days a week commitment and not even for minimum pay. When she couldn’t find any film jobs, she temped as a secretary.

With five years of experience under her belt, Jo decided to try her hand at screenwriting. She learnt to write by watching every episode of season one of the hit show “The West Wing” eight times and getting hold of the scripts, and reading each of them eight times! She wanted to be Aaron Sorkin, the shows creator, so bowled over was she by the quality of writing, acting and direction of the show.

Through Adversity and Risk comes Success

Jo is no stranger to heartbreak and taking big risks as part of her chosen career. At 25, her first TV series commission by C4 (an adult Chinese based series) was cancelled in the middle of her writing the pilot. This was the start of the worse few years of her life. She had a full-time job she hated and desperate to return to writing full-time, but with a mortgage, this just didn’t seem feasible. The more time spent away from her writing, the more depressed she got.

Finally, three years ago, she decided that if she didn’t push herself, the situation she was in could be it for the rest of her life, and that was the spur she needed. Along with her writing, Jo wanted to direct, but never had enough confidence. She finally decided to take the plunge and raise the money to direct her first short film, “Isolation 9”. She took five days off from her work to shoot the film.

Two months after she finished her film, she won £ 9k from the UK Film Council and Film London to shoot her second short film, “Monkey Nut Tales”. Using up her 23 days of allocated holiday to shoot two films and complete a development course was shattering, but Jo believes everything that has happened since has been because of that frantic push.

She then took an even bigger risk by selling her flat and quitting her day job to focus on writing full-time. Loosing her security was an enormous gamble, but she believes that great things come from taking great risks.

Jo is understandably proud of her two short films. The first time she saw “Isolation 9” shown in a cinema to an audience was the first time she felt validated as a director. After her mother, who up to that point was desperate for her to get a sensible job, saw her short films, she finally allowed herself to see her daughter as a filmmaker.

You can watch “Isolation 9” online at the BBC Film Network website, and “Monkey Nut Tales” will be online, too at some point. Stills of both films can be seen on www.missjoho.com or www.myspace.com/missjoho.

Future Projects

And what of the future for Miss Jo Ho? Along with a few other TV series she is trying to get off the ground, she is writing a supernatural thriller set in the UK. For the last two years, Jo has had meetings in Los Angeles and waiting to see how they pan out, but her main goal is to be established in the UK first and foremost as she believes a British Chinese presence needs to be counted and heard.

SC: And finally, what advice would you give to other British Chinese who are considering a career in the media?

JH: “Just do it. We all worry that we will fail, but you won’t know whether you will or not until you try. And keep trying! If you feel passionately about working in the media, but not sure if you could commit, especially if it’s against your family’s wishes, just remember: “a genius is one who shoots for something no one else can see, and hits it”. Just don’t forget to put the hard work in.”

A Final Word from Me

It seems appropriate the Year of Ox stands for prosperity through fortitude and hard work, which is certainly fitting for a woman who has spent 6 years writing non-stop; something like 7 feature films, 10 TV series treatments, 4 short films and numerous other projects that have yet to be started, all while holding down full-time jobs. As a fellow British Chinese, I applaud her success and eagerly await the next chapter of Jo Ho’s career. I want to show her my support by saying, loudly, “You Go Girl!”

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SUSAN S. CHEUNG