Diamondin the rough

Davy Liu, one of the key creative forces behind beloved movies like “The Lion King”, “Aladdin” and “Mulan”, and the chief executive of his own company, Kendu Films, was born in Taiwan and moved to US when he was 13.
Since then he has accomplished so much and achieved many of his dreams, but he was once a child that everyone, even his own parents, considered a black sheep.
“I was not good at studying or getting good grades when I was a student in Taiwan," Liu says “even though I tried very hard to be like those top-ranking students that my parents wanted me to be. “I was considered a bad child at school because I was assigned to a class with other students who were also not good at studying.” Liu adds that his mother even asked him to take piano classes for around eight years – something that he had completely no interest in.
“To me, those straight-A students are like bees and those children who can play the piano are like crickets. I considered myself a firefly, because no matter how hard I tried, I could never become a bee or a cricket,” he laughs.
After moving to the United States, Liu’s hidden talent for drawing was discovered by a teacher. The moment changed Liu’s life forever, as well as how he saw himself.
“Ever since I was a student in Taiwan I have liked to draw and doodle on the graphics on my textbooks. Therefore, when I first moved to the States and was faced with the language barrier, my best friends were my pen and paper.
“I combined the Chinese culture that I was born in with the modern Western buildings around me to create a drawing of a dragon that caught the attention of my art teacher, who entered the picture in a national competition.”
Liu’s drawing was rewarded and ranked among the top 20, which made him realises for the first time both his dream and his talent.
“I was like a firefly that had finally discovered its own shining spot and realised that I did not have to compete with other types of creatures because I knew that I was one of a kind,” he says.
“My parents always wanted me to be like other people’s children who did good at school; they did not understand that what makes me different is actually what makes me special.”
With the art teacher’s encouragement, Liu worked hard to improve his drawing skills and also to prepare himself for the potential of a financially unstable future.
“I told myself that the worst that could happen was I would have to work at a fast-food restaurant, but I was fine with it because I knew that I would be doing what I am passionate about when I was at home.
“When I almost died in an accident at the age of 19 I realised that God created me for a reason and that I must fulfil my dream.”
It was around then that Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures offered eight internship opportunities for college students from across the United States.
“After being rejected three times, I finally entered Disney (with the internship) and stayed there for 10 years.
“It was such an amazing feeling to see my own creations become alive in motion pictures.”
Liu left Disney for George Lucas’s Industrial Light & Magic and was part of the team behind “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace” and “Frankenstein”.
“After working in Hollywood for a decade I started to consider taking my dreams about drawing to the next level, which was to put my own thoughts instead of other people’s ideas into my creations.
“I was born in the Chinese culture, which is full of creative and significant inventions like paper, gunpowder and the compass, so I have never doubted my ability to think and create independently.
“My company, Kendu Films, is all about the phrase ‘can do,’ which represents my beliefs in the idea of always trusting yourself, no matter what you’re doing.
“I have another goal in life right now, and that is to promote Chinese history and culture through Chinese creativity so that everyone in the world can see it,” he says.
Liu, who was once looked at by everyone as a glass bead but who is actually a diamond waiting to be discovered, knows that his new mission now is to become that special someone who allows the entire world to see the glow of Chinese culture, history and creativity.