Presented by the Underrepresented

Hello and welcome to Producing While Asian!

I, Don Mike Mendoza, am your writer and host. If you are a holdover from Producing the District, then it’s great to see you again! If you are a new follower, reader, viewer, then it’s nice to virtually meet you.

In the last year, I went through a major transition where I relocated from Washington, DC to my hometown of Pittsburgh, PA and the conundrums I happened upon were: “What do I do with my blog since I no longer reside in the district? And since I’ve grown to produce in multiple cities, how do I rename and restructure my brand to encompass all of it?” Thus, this newly named, newly built, website was born.

Producing While Asian’s mission is to be a public and accessible resource where production topics are presented by the underrepresented; yours truly. The vision for this website is to provide a launch pad for anyone looking to get into producing and production work, looking for support, and needing examples of stories about people like them who are producers, work in production, or are part of past, current, and upcoming productions across the United States, and perhaps internationally.

As one of very few Asian American producers - specifically Filipino American for me - in the field of the arts and entertainment, I found it imperative to continue to tell my story from my point of view as not to be token-ized in the media for my work. Producing While Asian gives you the same inside look that the former website did on not just my projects, but also articles about people, companies, and productions that relate to the subject matter of representation and being a person of color (POC) in this industry, and now I am adding a video component where you can watch interviews with people I worked/am working with starting in August 2020. I want to get into all things representation in regards to producing and want you to follow the journey alongside me!

Currently, I’ve included a few posts from Producing the District for you to get a taste of what I’ve covered in the past if you’re new, or as a nostalgia factor for those who are loyal followers from that time. I’m excited to share new and exciting stories about what it’s like for me as a Filipino American producer - and soon recorded conversations with colleagues and collaborators - with you. In the meantime, please take a moment to sign up for the newsletter, subscribe to the YouTube channel, then like the Facebook page and follow the Instagram and Twitter accounts, so you don’t miss a thing!

Here’s to new beginnings...