Richard Cooper discovered his love for Asian cinema in exactly the same way as the majority of us - watching Jackie Chan movies! However, his passion for Chan's films drove him to start up the very first official UK Jackie Chan fan club which was instigated with the blessings of Jackie himself.  As time progressed though, the standard format of fan clubs began to fade away so Richard evolved the club into 'Screen Power', a publication dedicated entirely to Jackie Chan.  With the success of Screen Power, Richard opted to branch out by introducing sister publication 'Jade Screen', organising fan events, writing various books and opening an online store.  In fact, considering all the projects he is juggling, its amazing he found time to have a quick chat with us on his life, his loves and what's currently sitting in his DVD player.

DDUK: Hi Richard. For those that aren't already aware, you are the brains behind Screen Power magazine which is a publication dedicated entirely to Jackie Chan. Tell us a little about how the magazine came about.

Richard Cooper: That's a very long story! (Laughing) I was a big fan of Jackie Chan after watching 'Drunken Master' and from then on I tried to find as many other Jackie Chan films as I could in the video stores in my area. I was about 10 years old when I first saw 'Drunken Master', something like that. I can also remember finding out about Combat magazine and back then they were really the only source around that featured Jackie.

Then I think it was around 1989 that I read in Combat that a UK Jackie Chan Fan Club was formed and was really excited about that news and quickly asked my parents to give me the membership money! (Laughing). At the time I assumed it was an official Fan Club but it wasn't and after a year or two the guys who ran the Club decided to turn the newsletter into something covering all Hong Kong movies instead.

Then in early 1994 I had an idea to set up something Jackie Chan related myself and hopefully get Jackie's blessing in the process. Because I was somewhat disappointed with the Unofficial UK Jackie Chan Fan Club I had joined a few years earlier, I decided to try and establish an Official one. I knew Jackie already had an Official International Fan Club based and run in Hong Kong together with an Official Club Branch in Japan and I wanted to hopefully establish an Official Branch serving all the UK and European fans.

I worked on a detailed business plan for the venture and after saving up for months I finally had enough money to pay for a return flight to Hong Kong in December 1994. I was also very fortunate at this time as my parents next door neighbours, a lovely Irish couple called Ray and Renee, had moved to Hong Kong with Ray's job two years earlier and we had kept in touch with them a great deal and they had always invited me over to stay with them while they were in Hong Kong (which ended up being from 1992 to 1997 before they moved back next to my parents) and so I called them up in Hong Kong and asked them if I could come and visit and luckily for me they were delighted and I ended up staying with them for almost 3 weeks.

And, it was a wonderful experience over there and Hong Kong was just as amazing as I had imagined it would be. Because of Ray's position in the MOD he had this beautiful apartment which overlooked Repulse Bay and I can remember eating my breakfast out on the balcony each morning and looking at this breathtaking view. And, during my time in Hong Kong I got to do all the touristy things courtesy of Ray and Renee and their two boys Simon and Chris, and when everyone was at work and school I would spend my free time visiting the places I had always wanted to see in person - the Golden Harvest Studios, Shaw Brothers, Jackie Chan's office.

Then I think it was about a week into my trip that I knew I had to show Jackie Chan, or at least the important people at his office, my idea for an Official UK/European Fan Club. So one morning I called his office and was put through to Solon So, who was then Jackie's General Manager. I told Solon that I had arrived from the UK with the sole aim of talking to them about my idea and Solon very graciously invited me to come into the office the following day and talk with him. The next day we met and talked for a while and Solon asked me if I could leave all the details and paperwork I had with him as he would need to show it to Willie Chan who was (and still is) the President & CEO of The Jackie Chan Group.

Then after another week or so I didn't hear anything back so I called Solon and asked him if they had made any sort of decision or had any comments and he again invited me into the office. I was told that they liked the idea but were concerned that the UK was so far away from Hong Kong that they couldn't help as much as they probably would like to but they would consider the idea more and would get back to me at a later date.

The following week I flew back to the UK and that was it, I continued with my day to day job and then 8 months later in August 2005 I received a call from Jackie Chan's office asking if I was still interested in starting a UK branch of their International Fan Club and I said I was and then it was a question of several faxes and telephone calls ironing out a deal and how we would work together. When everything was agreed I was then invited to attend the 1995 Macau Grand Prix by Jackie and Willie Chan and then The UK Fan Club officially opened in January 1996.

It was then in the summer of 1997 that I conceived the idea of producing a magazine focusing 100% on Jackie and this would be my own pet project away from the Club. The most difficult aspect of the whole idea was coming up with a suitable name. I thought long and hard and came up with names like JC Monthly, Jackie Monthly and stuff like that but what was needed was a title that sounded not only professional but also commercial, so that any future distributors we would approach to sell the magazine would agree that the publication would be suitable for them to take on.

Later on I decided that the future magazine title should represent Jackie Chan and what he does but without actually mentioning Jackie's name in the title. Finally I came up with the name of Screen Power because to me this was what Jackie was and had. And although we don't actually mention Jackie's name in the title it is there but in Chinese.

Screen Power initially launched with the UK Fan Club as a separate entity in 1997 and each issue was published on a quarterly basis and marketed and distributed worldwide. Then in May 2003 Jackie's manager Willie Chan sent me an e-mail giving me a heads up saying that they were intending to stop their International Fan Club and start a website for Jackie instead because it would be easier for them to do but it wouldn't interfere with our working relationship etc. Willie asked for my feedback and so I said he should go with the whole website idea and although I was welcome to continue with the UK Fan Club I decided to close it and instead amalgamate the Club into Screen Power. So instead of having an army of UK and European Jackie Chan Fan Club members we then had an army of worldwide Screen Power Subscribers.

DDUK: You then went on to produce Jade Screen which is centred around Hong Kong films in general. What made you decide to branch out?

RC: We started receiving hundreds of letters and emails about other Hong Kong Stars and other films away from Jackie's and when we would meet with some of our readers at one of our events or talk with them over the phone we would end up talking about other people as well as Jackie. So in the end I decided that we should start a sister magazine to Screen Power and this new publication that I titled Jade Screen would cover everything in Hong Kong Cinema. The first ever premiere issue launched in 2001.

DDUK: So looking at the magazines several years later, how would you say Screen Power and Jade Screen have evolved?

RC: In September 2006 I came up with the idea of combining both magazines into one bigger format and we now have the whole publication perfect bound so it looks and feels more like a book than a magazine. I am much happier this way because not only has it doubled our sales but I truly feel that our publication does not have a shelf life like other periodicals do. By that I mean each issue of Screen Power & Jade Screen can last a lifetime, one can read it time and time again, their highly collectible and now being perfect bound each issue can sit on your book shelf forever, whereas other magazines you read & after a while you'll probably throw them away. 

DDUK: As you mentioned before, the magazines are quarterly publications but do you conceive a time when they might be monthly?

RC: No, they'll always be quarterly. We did get to a stage back in 2002 where we were publishing a new issue every other month but it just took over everything we did and left little or no time at all to do anything else. One of things I do like about our current situation is that we have time to not only publish Screen Power & Jade Screen but also work on other projects such as publishing our books, organising UK and overseas Events and Tours and running the online store at: www.hongkong-store.com.

DDUK: And now that you are the editor and publisher of the magazines, do you miss the chance to write extensive articles without the time restrictions of your job?

RC:  Yes, I do. Back in the very beginning I enjoyed writing articles for the magazines and also writing for other publications too but there is no time for me to do this right now. It's a shame and hopefully one day I will get the time to write more.

DDUK: You've been lucky enough to meet with quite a few legendary actors/actresses, which interview would you say has been your favourite?

RC: I would have to say all the Jackie Chan London hotel interviews. Jackie is so much fun and easy going and it ends up being just one big informal chat instead of a formal interview. Plus what's great with Jackie is that he always allows me to interview him in his hotel room instead of the press rooms so it's wonderful just to have him relaxed in his own environment for an hour.

DDUK:  And are there any stars you would like to interview but have been unable to so far?

RC: That's a tough question! There are a few really, off the top of my head I guess I would have to say Jet Li and Yuen Biao but there are many others.

DDUK: Have you ever been particularly disappointed with anyone you have met during an interview, or just in a meeting?

RC: (Laughing) Yes! I have but it doesn't happen much, only twice I think, but I wouldn't want to name any names.

DDUK: Have you ever been star-struck doing an interview?

RC: Oh yeah, many times, especially back in the early days when I was first starting out. The first few times I would see Jackie Chan in the mid 1990s would be quite bizarre. Hanging out with Sammo Hung in Ireland on the set of 'The Medallion' was quite an experience and I can also remember interviewing Donnie Yen at his hotel in Prague, drinking with Anthony Wong in Bangkok, trying to interview Maggie Cheung in a Hong Kong Nightclub... Yes, there are lots of memorable occasions.

DDUK: A lot of people wonder whether these actors are actually able to fight like they do on screen, is there anyone you have met who stands out as a real life fighter?

RC: Richard Norton, without a doubt! He's the real deal. I love hearing Richard's stories about his bodyguard days with The Rolling Stones and Abba.

DDUK:  Have you personally ever trained or currently train in any martial art?

RC: Most of my teen years were full of Martial Arts. I was really into my Kung-fu back then and started training in Choy Li-fut when I was 14 until 19. These days, sadly, I don't have enough time to train.

DDUK: Can you tell us some of the highlights or proudest moments during your career so far?

RC: The main highlight was meeting the love of my life, Rebecca in 2002. She's my better half! She's also my business partner too and she's really the one who is in charge of everything that goes on here (Laughing).

Other highlights have been organizing some events with Jackie Chan in London. I organized three such events at London's Planet Hollywood for the Fan Club members to meet and chat with Jackie and get a photo etc. The first event was in the summer of 1996 for the UK cinema release of 'Rumble in the Bronx', the other was in the winter of 1998 for the UK cinema release of 'Rush Hour' and the other was in the summer of 2000 for the UK release of 'Shanghai Noon'.

I have also organized several overseas tours for our magazine readers to meet various Hong Kong stars and we now organize a tour every year, they are known as the Jade Screen Tours. In 2005 our tour took us to Hollywood to meet Richard Norton and Cynthia Rothrock, and in May last year we organized a tour to Hong Kong in conjunction with Screen Power to meet Jackie Chan. During our September 2006 Jade Screen Tour to Hong Kong our group got to meet Shaw Brothers stars Gordon Liu and Johnny Wang Lung-wei, Director/Stuntman Ridley Tsui and Jackie Chan's 'Twin Dragons' co-star Teddy Robin Kwan who's also a respected actor, composer and producer. (You can check out a complete run down of the celebrity events organized at http://screen-power.com/events.htm)

Proudest moments have been seeing my magazines and books in various stores around the world and my very first book in 2001 titled 'The Best of Jackie Chan's Screen Power' (which Jackie kindly wrote the Foreword for) was bought up by Titan Books for the mass market and this year the rights were bought up by a company in Beijing who have now released the book in Chinese language.

DDUK: Just to name drop a little, who was the last celebrity you spoke with on the phone?

RC: Richard Norton.

DDUK: And who was the last celebrity to email you?

RC: Willie Chan! (Laughing) Being Jackie Chan's Manager - Willie's definitely a celebrity!

DDUK: If you had to pinpoint one thing, what would you say you love the most about your work?

RC: I love the fact that we produce a publication that is so well received by people all over the world. I still get excited when I hear someone say, "I enjoyed the last issue!" or if I read an e-mail from someone thousands of miles away from the UK asking when the next issue is released because they are "really looking forward to it!".

You know, first and foremost I am a fan myself and that's why I started this all up back in 1995. And, even if it wasn't my job or my career, I'd still be doing something like this as a hobby.

DDUK: Talking of hobbies, what do you do away from work?

RC: I don't really have any hobbies, I don't really get that much free time. I work pretty much Monday-Saturday full time but one thing I do enjoy is watching films. So most Sundays you'll find me just watching films at home.

DDUK: So what film would you say first got you interested in Hong Kong cinema?

RC: 'Drunken Master'. My older Brother was given a copy on video by one of his friends back in the mid-80s and one day, with very little to do, I put the cassette in, pressed play and have never looked back since.

DDUK: What was the last Hong Kong film you watched at the cinema and on DVD?

RC: 'Rob-B-Hood' at the cinema and 'Exiled' on DVD. 

DDUK: Are there any specific Hong Kong films that you think should get better recognition in the West?

RC: I love the Shaw Brothers films and think they deserve a lot more recognition.

DDUK: What about Hollywood films, are there any recent action orientated affairs that you would happily recommend?

RC: I just watched 'Crank' starring Jason Statham. It's the best Hollywood action-movie I have seen yet, it would make for a great Hong Kong film too! See it when you have a chance.

DDUK: And do you think there are any actors in the West who have the talent to make it big in terms of action cinema?

RC: Scott Adkins. Scott is a real talent and a real gentleman.

DDUK: So what do you have planned for 2007? Is it a busy year ahead?

RC: Yes, very much so! Apart from the new-format quarterly Screen Power & Jade Screen, we shall also be staging two London events with guest stars from Hong Kong cinema, two book releases and our next annual Jade Screen Readers Hong Kong Tour takes place in September 2007.

DDUK: And finally, what's the best way for our readers to keep up-to-date with all your star-studded events, news, projects and activities?

RC: The only way is to stay tuned to: www.screen-power.com

Dragon's Den UK would like to say a big thank you to Richard Cooper for taking the time to speak with us