A Conversation with The Creators of The Paper Tigers Bao Tran, Mike Velasquez, and Yuji Okumoto

Welcome to Season 3, Episode 10! The Paper Tigers is one of our favorite Asian American movies. It’s full of action, comedy, and a good dose of drama and deeper messaging. It’s an award winning film that should be talked about more. In this episode’s conversation, we get a chance to talk to Bao Tran, the writer and director of The Paper Tigers along with producers Mike Velasquez, of E3 Productions, and Yuji Okumoto, a veteran actor with over 100 credits to his name. Bao is also a successful editor, working on Cho Lon and Jackpot. Mike has worked as a writer, director, producer, and in visual effects. Yuji may be known for his role of Chozen Toguchi in Karate Kid II and Cobra Kai, but we loved him in Awesome Asian Bad Guys and True Believer. Bonus reason to like him. He owns the successful Seattle-based restaurant Kona Kitchen with his wife Angela. The chemistry, rapport, and respect Bao, Mike, and Yuji have for each other was apparent throughout the conversation. If you haven’t seen The Paper Tigers, we highly recommend adding it to your watchlist. The significance of such an original film with a diverse, predominantly Asian American cast should be celebrated more. For previous episodes and information, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or social media links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.