Lai Pak-hoi

Lai Pak-hoi or Li Beihai (1889–1950) was a Chinese actor and producer based in Hong Kong, and an early pioneer of the Hong Kong film industry.

Biography Lai began his career as an actor, and was involved in one of the first films made in China, Stealing a Roast Duck, a silent short directed by Liang Shaobo in 1909. The film was financed by the Asia Film Company, owned an American cinematographer and producer, Benjamin Brodsky, allegedly predating Zhuangzi Tests His Wife, although this has been disputed, since no records of the film remain. Lai was involved in the making of Zhuangzi Tests His Wife, the first confirmed Hong Kong-produced film, acting as owner of the company that financed the film, the China-America Company. The China-America Company, or Hua Mei, was founded by Lai with his former colleague Brodsky and Lai's brother, Lai Man-Wai. He also started the China Sound and Silent Movies Company, which released the first Cantonese talkie, Conscience, in Hong Kong in 1933. Conscience was only a partial sound film however, a full sound film, An Idiot Disturbs the House, was released the same year.