We’ve come a long way since I first wrote a New York Times editorial about the lack of opportunity for AAPIs in Hollywood. In the ensuing eight years since that was published, AAPI-led films and shows have swept the Oscars and the Emmys, anchored both the DC and Marvel Cinematic Universes, and broken box office records.
But a new report from McKinsey & Company, in collaboration with Gold House, suggests that despite this increase in AAPI representation, there is the potential to unlock up to $2-4.4 billion annually in industry revenues if that representation was more authentic.
Released this morning, the report titled “From Margins to Mainstream: Asians and Pacific Islanders in Hollywood,” is a continuation of McKinsey’s research on Latinos in Hollywood and Black Representation in Film and TV. Like those earlier reports, the research on AAPI representation was built on a number of data sources, including the Luminate Film & TV database and McKinsey’s surveys and focus groups of AAPI consumers and entertainment industry leaders.
Some key takeaways from their research include:
- Despite the abundance of content from the US and abroad featuring AAPI characters and storylines, more than two-thirds of AAPI consumers are dissatisfied with the authenticity of their representation in film and television.
- Overall AAPI representation has increased in the past two decades, but AAPI actors remain underrepresented in US-produced content. In film, AAPI representation increased from 3% in 2002 to almost 20% in 2022, but 17% are from films produced outside the US, while 3% is from US-produced films (for context, AAPIs represent 6% of the total US population); the trends are similar in television.
- Half of AAPI consumers surveyed would be willing to spend more money and time on film and TV if their experiences were more authentically represented. Yet, almost 2/3 of major films with AAPI leads do not tell AAPI race-specific stories.
These conclusions highlight many of the points we have been making for years at The Nerds of Color. While it is important, and necessary, to have diverse faces in front of the camera, it’s arguably more important that diversity is reflected behind the scenes, writing, producing, and directing those stories.
Click here for even more fascinating findings embedded in the research conducted by Kabir Ahuja, Michael Chui, Elaine Dang, Joe Takai, Esther Lee, and Jackie Wong, with contributions by Aria Ashrafzadeh, Ximena Bobadilla, Brandon Cartagena, Alice Ding-Nelson, Jenny Gao, Maria Gutierrez, Ridhima Mishra, Ravali Thimmapuram, and Isabelle Yang.