Derek Tsang, director of the 2019 Chinese drama Better Days, has announced that he has signed with Anonymous Content, the studio behind Swan Song (2021), and Dickinson (2019) on Apple TV+, among other familiar names. Tsang boasts a colorful history as a director and filmmaker, including his current role as co-executive producer and director for The Three-Body Problem on Netflix.
Derek Tsag’s best-known movie, Better Days, is a 2019 Chinese drama starring Zhou Dongyu (Soul Mate) as Chen Nian, a shy, bullied teenage girl who attempts to save street thug Lui Beishan, aka “Xiao Bei” (Jackson Yee), from getting mugged. Chen and Xiao Bei eventually form a close friendship as he helps her deal with the ever-growing threat posed by a pack of teenage bullies headed by popular girl Wei Lai (Zhou Ye). However, when horrible truths come to light about Wei Lai’s former victim Hu Xiaodie (Zhang Yifan) and then Wei Lai herself is found dead, Chen Nian and Xiao Bei’s deepening relationship is put to the test.
A Closer Look at Director Derek Tsang and Anonymous Content
Derek Tsang would go on to win three awards for Better Days, including Best Director at the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award, and Best Hong Kong/Taiwan Director at the China Film Director’s Guild Awards. According to Deadline, prior to Better Days, Tsang also won Best Hong Kong/Taiwan Director for his work on the 2016 romantic drama Soul Mate, starring Zhou Dongyu, Sandra Ma, and Toby Lee.
Anonymous Content has its own history of successful films and TV series, including the sitcom Schitt’s Creek (2015), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, and The Revenant (2016), the film that finally won Leonardo DiCaprio an Oscar. The production company’s latest project is Foe, an upcoming film directed by Garth Davis and starring Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones), Aaron Pierre (Krypton), and Paul Mescal (The Lost Daughter).
Further details on director Derek Tsang’s agreement with Anonymous Content, including details on what content audiences could hope to see come from this deal, have not been released.