[1] By the late 1930s he had become a businessman,[1] spending his nights as an unpaid assistant at a drama troupe that frequently performed at Prinsen Park (now Lokasari); while working with this troupe Tan met The Teng Chun, who brought him to work at The's Java Industrial Film (JIF).
These included Srigala Item (Black Wolf), an adaptation of The Mark of Zorro;[9] Matula, a film of love and magic;[10] Singa Laoet (Sea Lion), following a band of pirates;[11] and Tengkorak Hidoep (Living Skull),[12] which has been credited as the first horror film produced in what is now Indonesia.
[14] After the Japanese occupation, which led to nearly all studios in the country being closed, Tan focused on journalism;[2] however, he later told the Indonesian film historian Misbach Yusa Biran that he had completed Njoo Cheong Seng's Air Mata Iboe during the occupation.
[15] Throughout this turbulent period that saw Indonesia achieve its independence, Tan wrote on sports and, later, retrospectives of life in the Indies.
[5] Tan was involved in the production of twelve films in a period of ten years, nine as a director.