[1] The son of a rich ethnic Chinese family, he was well-educated for the time, graduating from a senior high school with a focus on economics.

When attending a theatrical performance at Taman Hiburan Orion in Pekalongan, owned by his parents, Tio fell in love with the troupe's star, Miss Riboet.

[3] With a keen eye for marketing, caused in part by his earlier ventures at journalism,[2] in 1927 Tio asked one of his employees, Nelson Wong, to make a film starring Riboet.

[5] Though Tio and his Orion challenged the traditionally popular forms of theatre with their Europeanized aspects, including plays featuring everyday issues, they were not the only active troupe.

[1] Biran, in his memoirs, recalls that Tio was greatly distraught by the low quality of films in the 1970s, as well as the increasingly poor state of the national theatre.