The United Photoplay Service Company was one of the three dominant production companies based in Shanghai, China during the 1930s, the other two being the Mingxing Film Company and the Tianyi Film Company, the forerunner of the Hong Kong-based Shaw Brothers Studio.
Key people of United Photoplay Service (left to right): Lai Man-Wai, Lo Ming Yau, Lim Cho Cho, Mei Lanfang, Ruan Lingyu, Sun Yu, and Jeffrey Y.C. Huang (黃漪磋).
One of Lianhua's most famous films, The Goddess (1934)
Tianyi Film Company, also called Unique Film Productions, was one of the "big three" film production companies in pre-Second World War Republic of China. Founded in Shanghai in 1925 by the Shaw (Shao) brothers led by Runje Shaw, the company also established operations in Malaya and Hong Kong. Although the company's Shanghai studio was destroyed in 1937 during the Japanese invasion, its offshoot in Hong Kong, later called Shaw Brothers Studio, blossomed into a media empire under the leadership of the youngest brother, Sir Run Run Shaw.
Tianyi Film Company
Runje Shaw (Shao Zuiweng), the oldest Shaw brother and founder of Tianyi
1926 Tianyi film Lady Meng Jiang, starring Hu Die
Sir Run Run Shaw (Shao Yifu), the youngest Shaw brother who expanded the business in Singapore and Hong Kong