Fei Hu Films research and production files

In 1999, Fei Hu Films, a documentary film production company headed by Frank Boring and Academy Award nominated filmmaker Frank Christopher, released Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. The 60-minute documentary initially aired on PBS and a 90-minute director's cut was released on VHS home video. The film tells the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG), commonly known as the "Flying Tigers," a volunteer air force of 300 men and women led by Claire Chennault that instructed the Chinese Air Force and fought against the Japanese in Burma and China during the Second Sino-Japanese War, prior to the United States' entry into World War II. The film features original interviews with members of the AVG as well historical film footage and photographs documenting this period in American aviation history.

As a follow-up project, Fei Hu Films used momentum from the success of the Flying Tigers film to document the history of the Civil Air Transport (CAT). The project under development was conceived as a 5-part television documentary series which was to include original oral history interviews, historical film footage and photographs. The Civil Air Transport was a private airline created by Claire Chennault and Whiting Willauer after WWII using surplus aircraft, AVG pilots and mechanics. CAT airlifted food and supplies into war-ravaged China. By 1950 CAT faced deep financial difficulties, and the United States CIA formed a private subsidiary to purchase nominal shares in the company and overtake its management. In 1959 CAT was reorganized as Air America, and continued to maintain a civilian appearance by flying scheduled passenger flights, while simultaneously used other aircraft to fly covert missions through the Vietnam War. It remained in operation until 1976.

Frank Boring is an American playwright, film producer, and educator who was born in Taipei, Taiwan. His father, Jim Boring, worked with Chennault for Civil Air Transport in China and Taiwan from 1949 to 1973. In addition to his career as an independent filmmaker, Boring has taught film production and communications at the University of Texas, Dallas and at Grand Valley State University.

Frank Christopher is an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker who has produced Emmy winning documentaries for the Public Broadcasting Service. Christopher's film credits as producer or director include such titles as In the Name of the People (documentary, 1985), Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property (documentary, 2003), Remaking American Medicine (TV series documentary, 2006), and Water Blues: Green Solutions (TV movie documentary, 2014).

Mei-ling Hsu, who served as co-producer of Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, performed all of the Chinese-language interviews, helped with fundraising, and coordinated film production in Taiwan.