The Los Angeles-based commercial and creative director uses his cultural connections to China and the United States to help international brands find common ground with American audiences. 

From BMW to Riot Games, award-winning director Dante Jiayu Liu directs commercials that resonate worldwide. His work connects culture and visual storytelling to advertising, helping international audiences connect with products. 

A good product doesn’t necessarily automatically appeal to people in other countries. Liu utilizes his background straddling two cultures, Chinese and American, to explain a product’s value to consumers. 

“I have had a profound understanding of how to convey differences into similarity and use that as my advantage, helping businesses to thrive in different cultures,” Liu says. 

The LA-based commercial and creative director specializes in bringing global brands, mostly consumer electronics and technology companies, to Western audiences. Liu understands how to craft a product message that resonates culturally and emotionally with consumer audiences. 

Growing Up Between Two Cultures Shaped His Perspective

Liu was born and raised in China before his family moved to the United States when he was in high school. Bilingual in both languages, he completed his education in the US. Growing up with the youth of China and America, he was immersed in the culture and pop culture of both. 

During his education, Liu observed people from different cultural backgrounds and learned how they communicate, consume media, and interpret ideas. 

His early exposure to multiculturalism helped form his professional philosophy. Liu believes successful advertising is more than translating language; it requires understanding and respecting the audience’s culture.

“Cultural differences can sometimes become very sensitive in terms of how we convince other people or how we go about the way we live our lives. Such cultural differences are very challenging because I have to understand what the Chinese business is trying to say in their branding and convey the message in a way that American people understand,” Liu explains. 

When a brand enters a new market, it can’t use the same advertising approach. The message needs to adapt to the country’s language and cultural references. 

Understanding the Audience

Based in LA, Liu’s work focuses heavily on global technology and consumer electronics companies entering Western markets. Because the original branding was created to appeal to another cultural environment, these products sometimes struggle to reach American consumers. Liu does more than direct a commercial. He helps translate what the company wants to say to fit the target audience.

Liu is also committed to creating opportunities for Los Angeles-area film production workers. He produces his work domestically and collaborates with local talent, creating jobs in LA film production. 

“We need to understand and respect the culture, make the commercial on their domestic soil, in their own language, and really become friends with the culture,” Liu adds. 

Throughout his career, Liu has won numerous awards and has been an official selection for the Academy Awards, the British Academy Film Awards, and the Qualified LA Shorts International Film Festival “San Gabriel Valley.”

Liu plans to continue his work as a commercial director, but has his eye on a wider audience in the future. 

“Eventually, I want to be able to use what I learned in doing commercials for cross-cultural projects in filmmaking. I want to make narratives that can be enjoyed and shared between cultures.”