Greetings, good people of the internet. Here are we are with another Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is Michael Tow.
Who are you?
I'm a Professional Actor, Producer, Director and the Tow in Tow Arboleda Films. Along with Teja Arboleda, we make films and videos that have a social justice message shown through the lens of two Asian Americans.
What are you?
I'm a 5th Generation Chinese American.
Where are you?
Currently flying back home after speaking at a conference in LA about Asians in media and our need to fight back.
Where are you from?
I live in Boston, I'm repped out of New York and I play in LA.
What do you do?
We've produced films like the Telly Award winning "A-Woke Mannequin Challenge," BBC parody "That's not the Nanny," "Hawaii 5-Below," "UnUnited" and the most recent "Irony Fist" that have been seen by millions of people around the world.
What are you all about?
We are passionate and dedicated to making change in Hollywood. As much as media in the past has been a tool used to silence, stereotype and oppress us, it's that same medium that can be now used to reverse it. Teja is an Emmy Award winning director/editor and together with our skill sets we feel that we can use media to help stand up to the injustices against Asian Americans.
We have a seat at the Hollywood table and now its time to use that responsibility to make change.
What makes you angry?
A lot of things make us angry and when we're angry we get our cast and crew together and we make films. Here are a few examples:
When Dr. David Dao was forcibly removed from a United flight and was then blamed by United CEO, Oscar Munoz we had to respond. Within 3 days we shot and released "UnUnited."
Caucasian actor, Zach McGowan portraying a WWII Native Hawaiian hero. The casting was horrible but it went over the top when his brother Matt argued that there was not a problem in the past when Zach portrayed other ethnicities. Our angry response was through our parody, "#Zachwashed."
Iron Fist the Netflix series was not whitewashed but the original comic was. Not only did Netflix not take the opportunity to right the past and finally give us a lead Asian American superhero but they cast a David Carradine reincarnated actor who couldn't fight, couldn't act yet was supposed to be the best martial artist in the world. We filmed the parody, "Irony Fist, The Best Defender" to show who we think the real superhero is.
When it was revealed that Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park left Hawaii Five-0 because they were underpaid compared to their caucasian co-stars, it highlighted the issue of pay inequality not just for Asian Americans but for woman and other minorities as well. We had to thank Daniel and Grace for standing up against it and that's why we made our tribute film, "Hawaii Five-Below."
Thanks Angry Asian Man, and check out our Tow Arboleda Films Facebook page to see our next film projects releasing soon!
