Viewing Da Young Lisa Park’s work, it becomes clear that filmmaking is more than capturing a moment, it is the process of building a world through layers of storytelling, emotion, and visual language. As a filmmaker, writer, and actor, she uses different creative mediums to explore identity, culture, and personal experiences, creating work that feels both intimate and intentional.

The short film OG Korean Strains sets the tone for her larger body of work: stories that use humor to face our pain and pain to make the humor mean something. Her perspective and approach is to blend personal expression into visual storytelling. The film is drawn from her family life, and reflects her ability to use filmmaking as a way to explore cultural identity and harrowing lived experiences while creating a distinct visual atmosphere. Rather than simply presenting a story, it invites audiences into a perspective shaped by memory, emotion, and the complexities of understanding where we come from.

Behind the film is a process built around the many elements that’s essential to showcase. From developing the script, finding her key team, raising funds for the film, to wearing a myriad of hats such as producing, casting, location scouting, etc, to then shot listing and storyboarding with her cinematographer to consider pacing, composition, and emotion. Each layer plays an important role in creating the final experience. The beauty of filmmaking comes from how these individual choices work together, allowing a collection of images, sounds, colors, lighting, camera movement, and performances to become something that feels personal and meaningful.

What makes her work compelling is her ability to create a connection between the personal and the universal. Through the short film, she demonstrates how storytelling can raise experiences while allowing audiences to find their own interpretations within the work. The film becomes more than a creative project, it becomes a reflection of identity, perspective, and the importance of sharing stories that may otherwise go unheard.

Her work highlights the importance of intentional storytelling that lies at the intersection of drama, comedy, chaos, and grief. Every detail contributes to the emotional impact of the final piece, showing that great stories are not created through one single moment, but through the combination of countless decisions made throughout the process. Her work serves as a reminder that storytelling acts as a mirror to get a glimpse of our truest self, to make meaning from our experiences, and to connect with others. Her mission is to use the power of narrative to foster healing, hope, and belonging so others may feel less lonely in the world.