A new study from McKinsey & Co. and non-profit organization Gold House found that while Asian and Pacific Islander representation in the entertainment industry has made significant gains over the past several decades, most API consumers do not perceive API representation in film and television as authentic or reflecting their own stories.
The report states that accurate API representation in media could potentially lead to an additional $2 to $4.4 billion increase in industry revenues, as half of API consumers would be willing to spend more money and time on films and television shows that more authentically represent their experiences.
Despite the abundance of content from the U.S. and abroad featuring API characters and storylines, more than two-thirds of API consumers are dissatisfied with the authenticity of their representation on screen; less than 30% feel properly represented in film and television. Additionally, projects focused on API characters and storylines are less likely to get the promotional resources needed to reach a broader audience, according to the report.
In a survey with API industry leaders, more than 80% of respondents didn’t believe API experiences are widely represented in U.S.-produced media. The study suggests that off-screen talent – including directors, writers, producers and showrunners – and on-screen representation are mutually reinforcing, as individuals in key off-screen roles have influence on who gets cast in on-screen roles, and lead actors often request to work with specific people.
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“If you have an API person at the top, you are far more likely to see API folks in other roles,” an industry association leader said in the report. “The traditional executives and buyers are not from our community, and it will be hard to make changes until we see more of them greenlighting shows and heading departments.”
The report points to films like “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Crazy Rich Asians,” “Life of Pi” and shows like “Beef” and “Fresh Off the Boat” as markers of the increase of API representation. Yet despite this progress, API actors remain underrepresented in U.S.-produced content. In film, API representation increased from 3% in 2002 to almost 20% in 2022. But, 17% is from films produced outside the U.S., while just 3% is from U.S.-produced films, half of the 6% of the API community’s share of the total U.S. population.
According to the study, almost two-thirds of major films with API leads do not tell API race-specific stories — which does not necessarily mean the entire show centers solely around these characters’ API identities. The report points to “Beef,” which “reflected the experiences of its characters’ ethnicities without feeling ‘the need to contextualize or overexplain itself for viewers outside the Asian American community.'”
The study concluded by suggesting ideas that could potentially enable the film and television industry to tap into more authentic API representation: increasing the odds of greenlighting and distributing API projects, increasing financial support for API projects and creators, investing in API off-screen talent, expanding the criteria for evaluating projects and continuing to understand the state of API representation.
“There is no silver bullet available to the industry,” researchers wrote. “Instead, it requires real change in how the production ecosystem operates—from decision making to pipeline development to how potential API projects are evaluated.”
