Jason Chao

My Story (as of August 2019) I grew up in an Athiest, Buddhist, Taoist household in Houston, Texas to a Taiwanese father and a Singaporean mother. And if that seems like a lot to you, it did to me as well. So early on, I decided vehemently to be an atheist. So much so that I was the annoying atheist who always challenged and debated, even when unasked. But God was good and through the power of calculus and the realization of my own depravity, I came to believe the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in my senior year of high school. Which was important because I now had a decision to make. To follow my former pursuit of money and go to the best school I could get into, even if I didn't want to. Or to look at my life and see what passions God had made me with. In high school, the one thing I loved doing more than anything was writing and directing my own student plays. I had remembered once hearing about film school and thinking "wow, that sounds fun. That's the only thing I'd want to do more than getting rich." So I applied for USC's film school thinking I would never have a chance of getting in. I had never even touched a video camera before. God loves to surprise. So when I got a letter inviting me to explore USC's film school my first thought was "wait...did I get in?" A week later my acceptance package came. God (and apparently college bureaucracy) sometimes does things out of order. Which is how I felt when I graduated as well. After film school, I kept landing jobs where I thought I would love it only to discover that I didn't. I interned for a great Hollywood producer because I thought I wanted to be a producer. But at the end of it, I said, "I really like you, but I don't want to be you". I loved working on set, but hated the lifestyle. I worked in post production and realized that I didn't like being enclaved behind a computer screen every day. Then I was about to join an agent training program when on the final day before we started, the head of the agency walked us through the company and gave us one last chance to back out. In my prayers I told God, "even if I excelled at this, I don't want that to be my life either." Around the same time, my church, All Nations Church in LA, was looking for someone to fill in for a youth pastor position. Since becoming a Christian I had loved serving, especially junior high and high school students. Some church leaders approached me and asked if I thought I might have a calling to be a pastor. I said "that's a terrible idea. Who would want to do that? If I'm going to be broke, I'm going to be broke making movies." But then I prayed. And God really pressed on my heart a calling to serve my community as a pastor. So I agreed thinking I'd only do it for a year or two. It ended up being a joyous 10 years. In that time, I got married, had two beautiful daughters, and made countless friends, disciples, and mentors. During that 10 years, I also worked on the side trying to establish a company called Rising Story. It started as a content distributor for writers. Then morphed into an attempt at film financing for Christian filmmakers. When it dissolved in early 2018, I was left with a lot of connections but nothing to do. I prayed and complained to God, "how come right now there are so many opportunities and resources, but I can't find projects that I love? What's stopping people from making these things?" God responded, "what's stopping you?" So in 2018, I decided to confront my Asian-American pragmatism and self-deprecation and began to explore becoming a filmmaker again. Then in the spring of 2019, my church decided to make some substantial structural changes to our now much grown youth ministry. These changes I fully supported. But when it was decided, my church leadership saw that who I was then was not who I had been 10 years ago. And that this new structure of ministry was not the right fit for me, nor I for it. They transitioned me out of my role and I was so appreciative because it gave me the courage (and necessity) to pray and embrace going back into filmmaking full time. Thus began a process of exploring what that means. If you're reading this, I hope you'll come along side me in this adventure. I want to tell stories that inspire the world and challenge the church. I want tell stories that resonate with the Asian-American, millenial-genZ, Christian, southern-californian, experiences that I have had, and yet grasp at deeper truths. Looking back, I can't say I would have ever predicted the life I have had so far, so in faith and courage, I look forward to the surprises to come.