About Joy Sauce

My name is Jonathan Ng Sposato and I’m the founder of Joy Sauce, a new entertainment platform for American Asians showcasing newly developed dramatic shows, reality TV, great written editorial, podcasts, and curated third party content. I’m half-Chinese, half-Korean, and yes, confusingly have an Italian last name (more on that later).  

Growing up in this country, whenever I flipped on the TV, I never saw anyone who looked like me who wasn’t the servant, the enemy, the bad guy, or the butt of the joke. So I wanted to help change that. Other Asian Americans are doing this in their respective ways, and together we are stronger. I also believe there is much joy in our community, and Joy Sauce’s approach is to create a space where our joy and power are radically celebrated. I believe that strong and powerful AAPI imagery has the potential to reframe the status quo. 

Thus, we have created a parallel universe where by default portrayals of the Asian diaspora are positive and flattering and beautiful and funny and strong and cool and nuanced. All day and everyday. And we ask ‘what if?’ What if for once, someone Asian could be the lead without necessarily knowing martial arts or seeming ineffably exotic? What if we offered the first reality TV series centered on a young Asian female race car driver? What if we had the first all-Asian late-night talk show with an Asian host and Asian guests, where conversation isn’t afraid to veer from the comedic to deep dives into the biggest issues confronting Asians today? What if we debuted the first candid show centered on mixed race couples the way you never see in mainstream media? What if, instead of leaning into all the old tropes that work for Hollywood, we could just be… real American Asians doing extraordinary things?

Over the course of the next weeks and months, you will see us debut a lot of different things—I encourage you to check back often, and send us your feedback. We will always endeavor to be “fun forward,” while sneaking up on you with just a little serious. At Joy Sauce we recognize there is no ONE right way of being Asian, everyone is welcome here. Nor should there be ONE set of words allowed to describe ourselves or our allies. I believe we are far less separated by descent and much more unified by the country we call home. And we are all the more interesting because we exist in our beautiful plurality. 

And yes, we also believe inclusion of our allies here is important.  I want to share something about myself that explains why this means a lot to me. I was born to a single mother in London who couldn’t marry her lover. At that time the two families (one Chinese, one Korean) disallowed such a union. When my single mother couldn’t afford to take care of me, I was sent to live with my maternal grandparents in Hong Kong. A bug was turned into a feature as I relished the richness and diversity of that culture. Years later my mother would marry a kind Italian American man who legally adopted me when I returned to the U.S. I was probably the only Asian kid around who had an Italian grandmother and Irish Italian cousins who accepted me as their own. I understood that I was part of a greater “American” fabric. 

So I want to also make space here for all non-Asian family members, friends, and allies. You are welcome here at Joy Sauce. Let’s continue to evolve, love, and learn together.