Industry Insider: An Economic Review Of Asians And Pacific Islanders In Media
From Top Left to Right: Michelle Yeoh (Everything everywhere all at once), Hudson Yang (Fresh off the boat), steven yeun (Minari), Ram Charan & N. T. Rama Rao Jr. (RRR), Constance Wu (crazy rich asians), and Jung Ho-yeon (Squid game)
McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm, recently published a report “From margins to mainstream: Asian and Pacific Islanders in media,” revealing how representation and authenticity of Asians and Pacific Islanders (API) could “unlock billions of dollars for the film and television industry.” This twenty-one page analysis details the evolution of API representation in media, their subsequent impact in film and television, the multi-billion dollar opportunity for the industry and ideas for API representation.
Within the variety of Asian and Pacific Islander representation in the industry, the McKinsey & Company article specifically addresses actors on-screen and media executives that have reached mainstream success. For example, the API influence has seen significant achievements in recent years: Everything Everywhere All at Once took various accolades during the 2023 awards season, Hong Chau was nominated for an Academy Award, Chloa Zhao and Taika Waititi both won Oscars as well as seen major success in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and television series and films such as Parasite and RRR and TV series Squid Game have all been triumphs in the streaming and box office markets. Despite this prevailing success, “more than two-thirds of API consumers are dissatisfied with the authenticity of their representation.” And while the industry has seen a prominent rise in success from API individuals, there is still a significant gap between non-API peers on all metrics.
While the statistics make it clear that API representation is lackluster in its performance, the question arises: Is it important for entertainment executives to focus on the greater API representation in the media industry? Is there a source of opportunity? Simply put, yes: “Asian American consumers on average earn 30 percent more than White consumers, but they spend 35 percent less than the average non-Asian American consumer on media. [A McKinsey & Company] analysis pegged the current gap in spending $2 billion to $4 billion per year, a figure set to double to approximately $4 billion to $8 billion annually by 2060 if the Asian American population continues to grow.” Furthermore, there is a major gap in the market that industry executives can take advantage of through embracing the demands for API representation.
The majority of the 20th century saw API characters in harmful and offensive stereotypes. Many Asian characters were played by White actors such as Mickey Rooney as the Japanese landlord in Breakfast at Tiffany’s or Marlon Brando as the Okinawan translator in The Teahouse of the August Moon. API stars succumbed to type casting, only playing roles of action stars or “hyper stylized and exoticized” characters” a trend that continues in the 21st century. While there were many films that continued to perpetuate Hollywood’s view on Asian characters, there were films and television shows that counterbalanced them: the Joy Luck Club, an all-Asian cast film that grossed $71 million, and All American Girl, the first prime-time sitcom focusing on an Asian American family. Continuing on this trend, recent API roles” Life of Pi, Crazy Rich Asian, Parasite, Minari, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Past Lives, Fresh Off the Boat” have been applauded by both audiences and critics alike.
In recent years, API representation has also increased due to content from outside of the United States. From 2018 to 2022, API representation consisted of 14 to 20 percent of leads in U.S. distributed films” marking an interesting contrast from the U.S. API population of 6.1 percent. The increase in representation can be attributed to the Asia” Pacific region, which accounts for 70 to 90 percent of the U.S. distributed films with API lead actors. While the international film market will help introduce more Asian representation in the United States, the discrepancy within U.S. distributed films still exists. This notable difference is important in garnering more profit: “films with API leads produced internationally made up 2 percent of total US box office receipts, whereas those produced in the United States accounted for nearly 8 percent.”
Although API representation can greatly contribute to API consumers’ satisfaction and sentiment of authenticity, films and series with API leads can still leave a negative impression on Asian consumers. McKinsey & Company defines two types of films: race-agnostic films, stories that have API leads but doesn’t revolve around Asian experiences, and API-specific films, stories specific to API experiences. Of the 280 films with at least one API lead that have been released since 2018, more than half were API race-agnostic, ultimately causing more than 80 percent of respondents to the McKinsey survey believing that API experiences are not widely present in the U.S. film industry.
Asian representation presents a massive opportunity for the entertainment industry” a multibillion-dollar opportunity. Like previously stated, Asian Americans consumers spend less of their income on film and television than their Black and White counterparts. The dissatisfaction with representation can be directly linked to consumer behavior. A survey conducted by McKinsey revealed that API respondents would spend more money in film and television if they were more accurately represented. This sentiment was stronger between individuals aged 18 to 44. Industry executives agree with the survey, revealing that “[they] spent years understanding what our consumers wanted, and they wanted authentic and nuanced stories about their community and other communities.”
McKinsey projected that if there were more authentic representation, similar to the spending of the average White consumer, that there could be an additional $4 billion revenue annually. This is further supported by a Nielsen study that found that streaming, including YouTube, has more API representation than film and television, and subsequently, Asian Americans spend 27 percent more time watching streaming. It is clear that there is a direct correlation between representation and viewership. Finally, it is likely that the value of API will continue to increase as the population of Asian Americans has increased from 10.8 million in 2000 to 19.5 million in 2019. In 2060, it will nearly double into 37.9 million. As the market continues to grow, media executives have a large opportunity to gain profit while actively contributing to more authentic shows for the Asian community.
To wrap up the report, Mckinsey & Company provided five potential ideas to help the industry unlock this multibillion-dollar opportunity.
First: Studios and investors could consider increasing the likelihood that API projects will be distributed. The lack of API studio executives and industry leaders leaves a lack of “professional key decision-making” that allows series and films to be greenlit.
Second: Tncreasing financial support for API projects and creators will likely lead to quality content, creating a reason for Asian Americans to spend more money on films. In addition to better funding, securing marketing funds will allow to promote successful projects.
Third: McKinsey & Company found that there is a lack of organizations that help increase the specialized skill set of API talent for off-screen creative roles. Expanding internships and apprenticeships is a way to increase mid-career and specialized industry jobs for API individuals.
Fourth: The criteria for evaluating projects can be rethinked to help increase engagement. While international Asian films are making their way into the United States, why can’t Asian American films make their way into the international scene?
The final reason to help the industry unlock this multi-beneficial opportunity is to truly understand the state of API representation. To make progress, the entertainment industry must continue to track data and identify trends for the API consumer behavior over a long period of time. Identifying what works and what doesn’t work will also help create authentic stories that Asian Americans are seeking.
Ultimately, the McKinsey & Company research demonstrates the film and television industry has various reasons to champion API representation in both behind-the-scenes and on-screen roles. To be able to harness this large, underrepresented group would require studio executives to make an active effort to shift how funding is allocated and the type of content greenlit. While progress may take time, it is clear that the industry is making the small steps necessary in order to take advantage of this opportunity.
