{"id":154448,"date":"2021-08-03T16:17:24","date_gmt":"2021-08-03T20:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/?p=154448"},"modified":"2021-08-03T16:17:26","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T20:17:26","slug":"i-am-not-a-fetish-or-model-minority-redefining-what-it-means-to-be-api-in-the-entertainment-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/i-am-not-a-fetish-or-model-minority-redefining-what-it-means-to-be-api-in-the-entertainment-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"I Am Not a Fetish or Model Minority: Redefining What it Means to Be API in the Entertainment Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, in partnership with the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE) and Gold House, released a groundbreaking study entitled,\u00a0<\/em>I Am Not a Fetish or Model Minority: Redefining What it Means to Be API in the Entertainment Industry<\/a>.<\/em>\u00a0With the rise of anti-Asian sentiment and hate crimes fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to consider how the film industry contributes to negative attitudes about Asian communities and whether Asian and Pacific Islanders in the industry feel represented. This is the first study of its kind to combine content analyses of mainstream films with a survey of the personal experiences and perceptions of representation of API people working within the entertainment industry. The study also includes a content analysis of two datasets: 100 films (the top 10 domestic grossing films from 2010-2019) to assess API inclusion, and all films from 2017-2020 featuring API actors in the main title cast to measure the quality of API representation.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Bentonville Film Festival (BFF) co-hosted a robust panel discussion earlier today featuring leading content creators and thought leaders, including panel moderator Craig Robinson | EVP and Chief Diversity Officer, NBCUniversal. Esteemed panelists included Margaret Cho | Comedian, Actor, Musician, Advocate and Entrepreneur, Christopher Kahunahana\u00a0| Filmmaker and Award-Winning Artist, Christina M. Kim\u00a0| Executive Producer & Co-Showrunner,\u00a0Kung Fu,\u00a0<\/em>Jane Lee\u00a0| Manager of Original Animated Series, Netflix\u00a0and Fawzia Mirza | Writer\/Creator\/Director. Opening remarks were provided by Geena Davis | Founder and Chair, Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, Michelle Sugihara | Executive Director, CAPE and Bing Chen | President and Co-Founder, Gold House.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geena Davis<\/strong>, Academy Award-winning actor, founder and chair of the Institute, and BFF Festival Chair, said:\u00a0\u201cOur study provides unique insights into the lived experiences of APIs working in Hollywood and the negative stereotypes that have existed onscreen for decades. There is an enormous gap between how the APIs surveyed and those in the broader Hollywood community perceive the meaning of the word representation. Having the data and these critical insights from the API community will allow us to drive systemic change in entertainment and media.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I Am Not a Fetish or Model Minority: Redefining What it Means to Be API in the Entertainment Industry<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Survey findings:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n