Two major Asian American entertainment advocacy nonprofits are partnering to help Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander creative executives advance in the industry.
With support from The Asian American Foundation, CAPE surveyed current and former creative execs, ranging from assistant level to the C-suite, on their experiences working in the business. What they found in “Red Light, Green Light: Overcoming Roadblocks to Asian American Creative Executive Success in the Entertainment Industry” was that CEs of Asian descent often dealt with expectations of meeting Western norms or, alternatively, knowing a lot about Asian culture. They also faced feelings of being tokenized and seen as diversity hires.
More than half (52 percent) of respondents across all levels said they lacked mentorship, and nearly one in five were considering leaving their jobs.
“Creative executives are critical in getting our stories greenlit and told with care,” CAPE executive director Michelle Sugihara said in a statement. “We must protect and support their upward trajectory into the upper echelons of power within the industry. We must especially push for the hiring and promotion of more Pacific Islander creative executives whose numbers are currently extremely low, particularly in this time of upheaval and challenge for executives of color.”
The report complements CAPE’s Leaders Fellowship, launched in 2017, which is the industry’s only development program dedicated to the AANHPI creative executive pipeline. Meanwhile, TAAF is launching Lights, Camera, AANHPI, a creative development directory that currently features more than 200 fellowships, residencies and other diversity programs in front of and behind the camera.
“We must ensure the pathways from entry-level positions to creative executive roles are supported and fortified through mentorship, leadership development and access to opportunity,” TAAF CEO Norman Chen said in a statement. “To truly feel like we belong, we must see ourselves and our stories on screen. To do that, we must ensure that AANHPIs have the support to not only tell authentic narratives but also reach executive roles to greenlight those stories.”
CAPE and TAAF unveiled their study Tuesday night at their first-ever Culture Change Salon: Greenlighting AANHPI Stories, a convening of AAPI creative executives at Manuela in downtown Los Angeles.