Conference Presentation, Panel
From Asian Excellence to Creative Excellence | Milken Institute Global Conference 2023
- The outlook anticipates sustaining the current momentum of Asian American content beyond "Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month" to transform the current moment into a lasting movement, requiring continued financial support from investors and consumers to move ideas from concept to reality.
- Significant progress is noted with projects like "Everything Everywhere All at Once" and Netflix's $2.5 billion investment in Korean content, yet the industry faces high attrition rates, financing barriers even for established talent, and a need to shift from financing repetitive narratives to supporting diverse, original storytelling across 33 ethnicities and over 100 languages.
- The panel predicts the industry will change drastically in the near future due to AI technology, which will challenge the ability to distinguish truth from fakes and generate new copyright issues, while governments and regulations are expected to lag behind this rapid growth.
- Commercial data indicates that diversity sells and Asian Americans possess outsized spending power, yet there is a gap where executives remain hesitant to invest, prompting calls for the audience to actively support content through consumption and advocacy rather than charity.
- Specific release expectations include the immediate launch of "Taste the Nation" Season 2, which commits to featuring indigenous and Asian communities, upcoming projects for Daniel Dae Kim in "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and a bilingual spy series for Amazon in September, and new music and acting roles for Eric Nam.
- Emerging artists and young creatives are expected to bypass traditional gatekeepers and access the industry through social media platforms like TikTok, although music is anticipated to lag behind visual media in visibility and commercial success.
- The panel foresees a future where Asian Americans are no longer subject to a "burden of representation" limited to specific archetypes, but instead play the full spectrum of human characters, including heroes, villains, and flawed figures, to dismantle stereotypes and the "model minority myth."
- There is an expectation that organizations like Gold House and the Asian American Foundation will drive narrative change and grassroots support, aiming to establish long-term infrastructure such as studios and channels run by, for, and about Asian communities.
- Data cited indicates that 43% of Americans could not name a prominent Asian American, with less than 4% identifying Vice President Kamala Harris, highlighting a critical need for increased visibility and education to ensure the current creative surge translates into broader cultural recognition.