Meet Don Michael Mendoza | Executive Artistic Director and Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Don Michael Mendoza and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Don Michael, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
The idea of “representation matters” is a main pillar to why I started my own business. I identify as a Filipino American and there are very few Asians at the producer’s table, let alone people who share an affinity with me. When I started as an actor, I was not getting cast the way that I envisioned and it was not only due to the subjective nature of the entertainment industry, but also because the opportunities were few and far between for individuals who looked like me, so I decided to get in the driver’s seat, so to speak. Becoming a producer was a career that I fell into, but leaning into it allowed me to realize that starting LA TI DO and DMH Mendoza Productions was the dream that I needed to pursue to make representation matter in the arts.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m proud of producing hundreds of cabarets, concerts, theatrical shows, and special events in just a short 10 years of my career so far. I got to where I am today because of so many people who believed in me, my brand, and were willing to support any ideas that I brought to the table no matter how unconventional.

At first, it was not easy because being a first-generation son of immigrants with very few connections trying to make my mark in an industry that is all about who you know. However, over the last decade weathering the bad experiences and appreciating the good, I was able to arrive to my current professional status. As for challenges, some were harder to pass than others, but the through line that kept me going was that every challenge is a learning experience and that no feeling is final, no matter how bad it felt.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned along the way is to keep going and to always ask for what you want. The worst answer you can get is no and the worst thing you might have to do is walk away from someone who’s unreasonable. Although, I will always be open to feedback and making strategic and conscious changes to my company, which is a philosophy I want the world to know that my brand always carries wherever we produce anything.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The best place to visit is Union Coffee because it’s where you can catch the newest addition to the LA TI DO Productions family: our cabaret in LA TI DO Dallas/Ft. Worth.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to give a huge shoutout to Regie Cabico, my Co-Founder for LA TI DO and someone who’s become a mentor and a best friend over the years. Without his guidance and encouragement, I would not be the producer I am today because he always pushed me to be bold, live loudly, love hard, and to ask for what you want.

Website: www.dmhmproductions.com

Instagram: @donmikemendoza

Twitter: @latidoprods

Facebook: Facebook.com/Latidoprods

Youtube: www.youtube.com/latidodc

Image Credits
Photos by: – Sasha Sinclair of Studio 3440 – Alex Grubbs of the Filipino American Association of Pittsburgh