Giddens Ko

Giddens Ko (traditional Chinese: 柯景騰; simplified Chinese: 柯景腾; pinyin: Kē Jǐngténg; born 25 August 1978) is a Taiwanese novelist and filmmaker. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Management from National Chiao Tung University[2] and Master of Social Science from Tunghai University. He has published more than 60 books, many of which have been adapted as films.[2] He writes under the pseudonym of "Nine Knives" (九把刀; Jiǔ bǎ dāo).[3]

Giddens Ko
Ko Ching-teng (柯景騰)
Ko in 2008.
Born	25 August 1978 Changhua County, Taiwan
Citizenship	Taiwanese
Education	Bachelor of Management Studies, Master of Social Science
Alma mater	National Chiao Tung University Tunghai University
Occupation	Novelist, film director, screenwriter, film producer
Spouse(s)	Chou Ting-yu ​ (m. 2017)​ [1]
Children	1
Writing career
Pen name	Nine Knives (九把刀)
Language	Mandarin
Genres	Horror, science fiction, romance
Notable works	You Are the Apple of My Eye Café. Waiting. Love The Tenants Downstairs
Years active	1999–present
Website	www.giddens.tw/blog

Early life

Born on 25 August 1978 in Changhua County, Taiwan,[4] Ko grew up as the second of three sons in Changhua, where his parents own a pharmacy.[5] Ko discovered his love of writing when he penned a story as part of his university application.[2][6]

Career

Early period: establishing reputation as a novelist

He started writing fiction in 1999, and posted most of his first works on the Internet.[5] Ko struggled through the first five years of his writing career, before branching out into multiple genres, namely horror, science fiction, and romance.[7] He writes 5000 words daily, and at his peak writing pace published one book per month for 14 consecutive months.[6] This set of work helped Ko's popularity rise in Taiwan.[7] Ko has compared himself favorably to Louis Cha, Gu Long, and Ni Kuang.[5]

Pen name

"Jiubadao" was originally a song written by Ko as a senior high school student.[5][7] The song's title stuck as a nickname when a tutor spotted students passing notes signed by Jiubadao and asked who he was. Classmates revealed Jiubadao to be Ko and he used the nickname as a pseudonym after graduating college.[8]

Directing films

In 2008, Ko directed the film L-O-V-E, along with Vincent Fang, Chen Yi-xian and Huang Zijiao.[2][5] In 2010, Ko directed the film You Are the Apple of My Eye,[7] based on his book The Girl We Chased Together in Those Years.[5][9] In 2011, Ko adapted his "Killer" series[10] into the film The Killer Who Never Kills.[6][11] He produced a documentary focusing on Taiwan's animal shelters in 2012, titled Twelve Nights.[12][13] In 2014, another of Ko's books was adapted into the film Café. Waiting. Love.[14][15] The film adaptation of another of Ko's books, Kung Fu, was originally set to be released in 2014,[16][17] but its release date was pushed back to 2015.[18] In September 2015, Ko announced another book–to–film adaption, The Tenants Downstairs, was to be released in 2016.[19][20]

In 2012, Ko notified Apple Inc. that some approved applications on the company's iOS platform were accessing pirated versions of his books. Apple initially refused to pull the apps, as the company was unsure about Ko's publisher having proper authorization to contact them.[21] Ko traveled to Hong Kong to file a complaint in person before the matter was resolved with the removal of the apps.[22] On 9 October 2012, Ko was chosen as one of "Ten Outstanding Young People of Taiwan" by the Junior Chamber International Taiwan.[23]

In 2017, Ko directed the high school horror-comedy film Mon Mon Mon Monsters. Ko originally intended for the film to be a mockumentary shot entirely on iPhone.[24] This idea, however, was eventually disregarded as the project evolved into a more personal work inspired in part by the negative publicity the director was receiving at the time for his affair with Chou.[24]

Personal life

Family

In October 2014, Ko admitted to cheating on his girlfriend of nine years, Hsiao-nei,[25] with television reporter Chou Ting-yu.[26][27] In early May 2015, Ko confirmed that his relationship with Hsiao-nei had ended.[28] Ko and Chou began dating in March 2016;[29] they married in late 2017.[30] On 4 April 2020, Ko announced the birth of their first child, a girl.[31]

Political views

In October 2014 it was reported that Beijing had ordered works by Ko removed from shelves in China.[32][33] A few weeks previously, Ko had shaved his head to show solidarity for Occupy Central with Love and Peace, the organization that started the 2014 Hong Kong protests.[32][34]

Filmography

Year	English title	Original title	Role	Notes
2007	Full Count	愛情兩好三壞	Writer	Television series
2009	L-O-V-E	愛到底	Director, writer, actor	Segment "San sheng you xing"
2011	The Killer Who Never Kills	殺手歐陽盆栽	Original story
2011	You Are the Apple of My Eye	那些年，我們一起追的女孩	Director, writer, actor
2013	Machi Action	變身	Co-writer
2013	Twelve Nights	十二夜	Producer	Documentary
2013	Kiss Me Mom!	媽，親一下！	Original story	Television series
2014	Café. Waiting. Love	等一個人咖啡	Producer, writer
2015	Kung Fu	功夫	Director, writer, original story
2016	The Tenants Downstairs	樓下的房客	Writer
2017	Mon Mon Mon Monsters	報告老師! 怪怪怪怪物！	Director, writer, producer
2020	A Choo	打噴嚏	Writer, producer

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
2011	48th Golden Horse Awards	Best New Director	You Are the Apple of My Eye	Nominated
		Best Original Film Song	You Are the Apple of My Eye - "Those Years" (lyrics)	Nominated
2012	31st Hong Kong Film Awards	Best Film from Mainland and Taiwan	You Are the Apple of My Eye	Won
	12th Chinese Film Media Awards	Best New Director		Won
2017	21st Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival	Audience Award	Mon Mon Mon Monsters	Won

References

1. "小三修成正果！九把刀、周亭羽登記結婚". 蘋果日報 (in Chinese). Retrieved 6 December 2017.
2. Chung, Vanessa (9 October 2011). "Apple of his eye". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
3. Fang, Joy (22 November 2011). "Success a miracle, says director Ko". AsiaOne. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
4. 九把刀到底有哪些經典作品呢？ (in Chinese). SET News. 1 October 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
5. Han Qian; Phill Newell (January 2012). "Giddens Ko: This Ain't No Foolin' Around". Taiwan Panorama. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
6. "Hollywood studio buys the rights to Giddens Ko story". Taipei Times. 13 February 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
7. Napolitano, Dean (28 August 2011). "The Talents of Giddens Ko". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
8. 九把刀《那些年》献给初恋女友 自曝现任女友吃醋 (in Chinese). Yanzhao Metropolis Daily. 1 January 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
9. Zhang Chan (13 December 2011). "Taiwanese author shocks critics with successful film". ecns.cn. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
10. Chen, Christie (25 August 2014). "Giddens Ko's new film to hit theaters in Malaysia, Singapore". Central News Agency. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
11. Napolitano, Dean (14 November 2011). "Giddens Ko 'Speechless' When It Comes to 'Apple'". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
12. Hsu, Jenny W. (13 December 2013). "Film Triggers Debate on Plight of Taiwan's Homeless Dogs". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
13. Chen, Wei-tsung; Chou, Nien-chu; Pan, Jason (22 December 2013). "Documentary gives viewers wrong impression, animal shelter staff say". Taipei Times. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
14. Chan, Boon (5 September 2014). "Cafe.Waiting.Love is a brew of appealing fresh faces and a fantastical story". The Straits Times. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
15. Chen, Christie (23 August 2014). "Giddens Ko's new film soars at box office". Central News Agency. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
16. Shakleton, Liz (10 April 2013). "FIP to produce Giddens Ko's Kung Fu". Screen International. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
17. Tsui, Clarence (10 April 2013). "Fox International Productions Backs Taiwanese Film 'Kung Fu'". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
18. Hsia, Heidi (23 July 2014). "Giddens Ko's upcoming movie halts production". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
19. Chan, Boon (30 September 2015). "Popular Taiwanese writer Giddens Ko's thriller to be made into a film by mm2 Entertainment". The Straits Times. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. Frater, Patrick (2 October 2015). "Busan: Adaptation of Giddens Ko's 'Tenants' to Star Simon Yam, Lee Kang-sheng". Variety. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. Muncaster, Phil (15 November 2012). "Apple staff call Taiwanese filmmaker an 'idiot'". The Register. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
22. "Jiubadao denies pursuing lawsuit over Apple apps". Taipei Times. 15 November 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
23. "Giddens Ko is selected as one of "Ten Outstanding Young People of Taiwan"". Asia Pacific Arts. 11 October 2012.
24. "Interview: Giddens Ko talks Mon Mon Mon Monsters". FilmDoo. 10 May 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
25. "Director Giddens Ko admits cheating on girlfriend with TV reporter, refuses to apologise to public". The Straits Times. 23 October 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
26. Lee, Hsin-Yin (22 October 2014). "Bestselling writer admits cheating on girlfriend". Central News Agency. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2014. Alt URL
27. "Giddens Ko admits to cheating on girlfriend". Channel News Asia. 23 October 2014. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
28. Hsia, Heidi (6 May 2015). "Giddens Ko breaks up with girlfriend of nine years". Yahoo! News Singapore. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
29. "Giddens Ko reconciles with "third party"". Asianpopnews.com. 23 June 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
30. "曾經的「真愛」破滅！九把刀耽誤小內10年被噓爆". 蘋果日報 (in Chinese). Retrieved 6 December 2017.
31. hermesauto (6 April 2020). "Apple of his eye: Taiwanese director Giddens Ko announces birth of daughter". The Straits Times. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
32. Frater, Patrick (13 October 2014). "Giddens Ko Among Authors Banned by China in Hong Kong Political Reaction". Variety. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
33. Wang, Ching-yi; Chen, Christie (12 October 2014). "Books by Taiwanese writer allegedly banned by China". Central News Agency. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
34. Tai, Ya-chen; Chen, Christie; Wu, Lilian (14 October 2014). "Culture minister refrains from comment on China's ban on writers". Central News Agency. Retrieved 14 October 2014.

External links

• Giddens Ko at IMDb