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= David Thian = David Thian Thor Wei (Chinese: 程道伟 ; pinyin: Cheng Dao Wei, born September 14, 1977) is a Malaysian film director, producer, photographer and graphic designer. He has directed The Returning (2017) and Shun Pong O (2018).

Early Life
Thian was born on September 14, 1977 in Parit Buntar, a small town in Perak, Malaysia. He is the second child in the family, with an elder sister and a younger brother. His parents owned and managed a coffee shop in their hometown opposite a cinema in the 80s. Watching films in the cinema had never been easier for him. He spent most of his childhood drawing comics and starships as he was especially fond of sci-fi films like Star Wars and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. As a child, Thian dreamed of becoming a comic artist. After graduating from SMJK Krian, Thian attended ATEC Academy, a design school in Penang, majoring in graphic design. Although he loved films, he did not think of filmmaking as a career as there were not any film schools around. As a young adult, he was determined to be a designer instead. His father would give him RM240 per month for his tuition fees which did not include the materials needed for class as his father was not keen in letting him take up the course. In order to sustain himself, Thian who was 19 at that time, worked part-time as an art teacher tutoring four secondary school students back at his hometown. In six months’ time, his art class grew from 4 students to 160 students, with a 36-year-old man being the eldest student in class. His monthly income was RM4000, allowing him to support himself for three years until graduation.

1998 - 2006
At 21, Thian set up a studio for graphic design and photography in his uncle’s house in Parit Buntar. He invested RM35,000 but lost it all later as he did not have any business experience. In one year’s time, he switched between 8 jobs and went to at least 10 companies for job interviews. Later on, his cousin set up an online education centre in Penang where he was invited to work as a creative director. It was closed down after one year. Having debts to pay, he left home to work in a 4As Agency in Kuala Lumpur. He loved his job as a designer even though he had to work overtime.

At 23, Thian was offered a job in Singapore by a friend. He was asked to set up a digital lab for his friend’s boss. He agreed to go over as he still had debts to pay. He worked as a digital image artist in that company.

Three years later, Thian came back to Malaysia as he did not like his day-to-day routine in Singapore. At the same time, one of his good friends was getting married. He offered to help him with his wedding photos. Ideal Wedding, a bridal company in Penang, spotted his work and sent three pairs of models to him for a wedding sample shoot. He was also offered to be the creative consultant for Ideal Wedding. It was only later on that he realised one of the female models was Amber Chia. He stumbled upon her as the winner of Guess Watches Timeless Beauty International Model Search 2004 through the inflight magazine on his trip to Hong Kong for a vacation.

Another friend of Thian whose sister was in secondary school, requested Thian to help her with her senior year portraits. Thian did it for her just for the fun of it but he soon had more and more students coming to him for photo shoots. He held the photo shoots above his brother’s printing shop which was empty. He took about 670 senior year portraits within six months. Thian eventually felt that making a career in photography was much better than designing.

In 2006, Thian decided to rent a new place as his studio. He founded davidthian.com, primarily for photography which is still operating today. He has been a full-time photographer since 2006.

2010 - present
In 2010, Thian co-founded Luvotion, a platform for short films and videos with his cousin Geoffrey Leow. His girlfriend, now wife, was the makeup artist while Leow was the web designer and online social media planner. He directed a short film called Uniquely Penang Island which was uploaded on Facebook and Vimeo. Luvotion was running for five years. It was a stepping stone to Thian’s career in filmmaking.

Meanwhile, Thian had ideas ready in preparation for The Returning (2017). However, due to insufficient funds, he struggled to finance his debut film. The project was then postponed.

In 2016, Thian co-founded DAA Production with Adrian Loh and Alvin Mah, mainly for film productions. At the same time, he founded Utopia Entertainment Sdn Bhd for film investments. One year later, there was a change of shareholder for Utopia Entertainment Sdn Bhd. He established another company called Monster Island Sdn Bhd to take over the former company completely.

Not long after, Thian started going into film production by directing and producing. He directed his debut film The Returning (2017) which is a horror film inspired by a true event about the tragedy of a sunken ship in 1972 in a small town in Parit Buntar. It was presented by Utopia Entertainment Sdn Bhd and produced by DAA Production Sdn Bhd. The production time for this film took seven years from ideas up to screening. It was filmed in April 2016 and released nationwide on 21st September 2017.

Thian directed his second film Shun Pong O (2018) which is a romantic comedy about a Malaysian girl and her obsession with Kpop culture and oppa. This film was presented by Monster Island Sdn Bhd, produced by DAA Production Sdn Bhd in collaboration with Film Line Pictures LTD (Korea) as well as supported by Seoul Film Commission (SFC). It was the first Malaysian Chinese film to have received incentives and support from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). It was shot in Penang, Perak and Korea in March 2017 and released nationwide on 10th May 2018. It has also been distributed abroad to other Asian countries.  

Besides directing and producing, Thian has also invested in Goodbye Mr. Loser (2017), a Malaysian remake of the China hit as well as The White Girl (2017) under Utopia Entertainment Sdn Bhd.