Paola Mardo is a producer, writer, director, AND host based in Los Angeles.
Paola Mardo is Senior Vice President at Ryan Coogler’s Proximity Media. She is head of the Audio division and the host, director, and producer of their flagship podcast In Proximity, featuring interviews with Coogler and Michael B. Jordan and special episodes about Sinners. Paola is also the producer of Wakanda Forever: The Official Black Panther Podcast, written and hosted by Ta-Nehisi Coates, and winner of the 2024 NAACP Image Award and Webby Award.
Paola is the producer of Veterano, a neo-noir short film written, directed, and produced by Patrick Epino. Set in 1981 San Francisco, the film is rooted in the real history of FIlipino World War II veterans. The project is part of the 2025-2026 Producers Guild of America Create Lab.
Born in Los Angeles’ Historic Filipinotown and raised in Manila, Kuala Lumpur, and the San Francisco Bay Area, Paola adapted her experiences as a teenage immigrant into Long Distance, a narrative podcast and short documentary series about stories in the Filipino diaspora. The series was selected for the inaugural Google Podcasts Creator Program.
Paola is a 2025-2026 PGA Create Lab Fellow and 2025 Unlock Her Potential Film and TV Talent mentee. She writes the substack newsletter Subtitles.
Select work below.
VETERANO
A Filipino World War II veteran with nothing left to lose dusts off his past and his pistol for one last mission in 1981 San Francisco.
In Proximity
A podcast about craft, career, and creativity from Proximity Media. A 2024 and 2025 Webby Honoree, Paola created and developed the show and produced its first two seasons. In September 2025, the show returned as a weekly video and audio podcast with Paola as host, director, and producer.
Wakanda Forever: The Official Black Panther Podcast
A limited series about the making of BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER. Hosted and written by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Produced by Paola Mardo. Winner of the 2024 NAACP Image Award and Webby Award.
Subtitles
A substack newsletter about navigating a creative career. A raw, real-time look at creativity, business, and learning on the job.
How a bag of drugs and DVDs changed the course of my career
Thoughts on “Hollywood’s Great Malaise”
The problem with moving on up
Am I even good at this?
What matters most
stick to your vision
Long Distance
A narrative podcast about stories in the Filipino diaspora hosted, written, created, and produced by Paola Mardo. The companion documentary series Long Distance TV is directed by Paola Mardo and Patrick Epino. Selected for the inaugural PRX Google Podcasts creator program. Featured in Vanity Fair’s 10 Essential Podcasts from AAPI Creators, IndieWire’s Best Podcasts of 2020, and The New York Times Podcast Club’s 2019 Picks.
“The history of the United States cannot be properly told without including the stories of Filipino and Filipino American people. Paola Mardo’s podcast presents a vital resource in telling that story.”
— The Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance Project
“Not only has Mardo done the impressive work of excavating these untold or obscured stories, but she’s polished them, through thoughtful storytelling and excellent production, so they can truly shine.”
“Top 5 podcast. Shout out to Ryan, Zinzi, Sev, and Paola. Much needed...”
“The podcast I’ve been waiting for all my life.”
