Founder Letter: Why I am betting on others
After Dirty Laundry and Breath, a final act to close out the trilogy coming 2027.
“Better is the end of a thing than its beginning.” — Ecclesiastes 7:8 KJV
July 2026
A Love Parables trilogy was not exactly what I set out imagining when I wrote the first draft of Dirty Laundry in our living room in Washington DC in 2019, while pregnant with my firstborn. Neither did I in 2021, still in the middle of a global pandemic, wrote our second parable short Breath while pregnant with my secondborn in San Francisco.
Then I fell… stuck. And it led me to the path through the dark night of the soul. My world went dark with a mysterious illness in 2022. I remember waking up from the surgery in 2023 with a clear sense of entering into life’s second half, and a profound sense of living towards a graceful descend. This was not an overnight revelation or acceptance.
It came together slowly piece by piece.
There has been a third modern parable short film I had been sitting on since 2022 — in part with the dark night emerging, it was like a jig-saw piece that I struggled to place it right — like an awkward tension I simply had to let it sit and simmer. Any development work is simply an extension of these 4 years of deep journeying.
I recently read Ronald Rolheiser’s Insane For The Light, which is the final book of his Spiritual trilogy following The Holy Longing and Sacred Fire. Around the same time, I learned of a similar film trilogy framing (Growing Up) by Cannes-winning director, Anthony Chen, whom I went to theater school with back in my childhood in Singapore. It clicked.
That’s it. A modern love parable trilogy.
Ancient parables were already on it. (Cues: lost coin, lost sheep, lost son.)
Artists see art as vehicles or extensions of revelation over the course of life. Art shapes us as artists where much of it is “unplanned”. For Rolheiser, it was a 26-year trilogy journey from his first to the finale. For Anthony, it was a 14-year one. They are both still writing, even as their trilogies conclude. It is far from their only works. But a defining one.
Once the reckoning of a Love Parables trilogy settled into my spirit, it is ‘Go’ time. Once again. 7 years since Dirty Laundry. 5 years since Breath. With Dirty Laundry, the story came as I was on bedrest in August with a first tri bleed out carrying Maise. By November, we had a script, locations, and actors all lined up to head into production.
(Pretty wild for our first MVP product!)
The through-thread in our modern love parables trilogy is exploring modern love and relationships. In Dirty Laundry, was modern marriage, infidelity, nuances and complexities of reconciling. In Breath, was modern parent-child relationship, fostering and irreparable sacrifices. In the finale, lastly, it will examine modern covenantal friendship.
Drawing inspiration from a story of male friendships, brothers-by-covenant, etcetera, we begin pre-production in the coming month or so. This is my first attempt at unpacking why I am betting on friendships and partnerships being quintessential in this AI age. It departs from a current aspirational sentiment to just bet on yourself as the way forward.
In vision and mission, Eight Parables was always built on betting on others.
It’s about not losing sight of real human connections (as frustrating or messy as they can be) and co-creating first and utmost with Him. Even if, especially if, it is less efficient or not by the speed and standards of the world. Like resistance or antidote per second part of Ecclesiastes 7:8 wherein cultivating patience juxtaposes pride or self-sufficiency.
We are about art as spiritual formation that takes time and has no short cuts.
If you have been part of our crew and cast alumni through ‘Dirty Laundry’ or ‘Breath’, we will send out details if you’d like to gather for our trilogy’s finale production! Like a celebration of a completion, it’s bittersweet, but it is good. 2027 is Year 9. Tying up our trilogy and transition to incubating partnerships fully: Fourthly by Eight Parables.
Meanwhile, check out what’s incubating: our slate of summer series that has officially kicked off this month! These are our “MVP partnerships” forged over the past year: Gamified (event series), The Shrink (digital series), Refuse (narrative short) and Dead Center (short documentary). The production of Art in Ashes is also planned for summer.
I met Uncommon Voices Collective at the Lab I presented for Renaissance Conference in SF this year. Eight Parables teamed up as presenting partner of their short film “Refuse”, distributing its Bay Area premiere at Bravemakers Film Festival on July 10, where co-directors Kenneth and David won the Jury Award for best directing!
This is a primer of a broader partnership we’ve been discussing with this LA-based Christian storytellers collective. And we look forward to continuing to champion innovative opportunities for all our partners. If you are working on a short film and navigating funding, production, distribution or awards, reach out and I’d be happy to take a look.
Until then, touch grass while sun’s out.
