From Character to
Connection
In session with
Justin Spitzer
Meet your Guide
Key Learnings
Storytelling Is a Collective Act.
Great stories are never written alone. Representation requires collaboration, especially when telling immigrant stories that aren’t your own. Involving cultural consultants and people with lived experience ensures authenticity and respect at every stage.
Allyship Means Accountability.
Being an ally in entertainment means using your creative power responsibly—asking whose story is being told, who’s telling it, and who’s missing from the room. Representation done right starts with awareness, humility, and shared credit.
Authenticity Builds Trust and Lasting Impact.
Audiences can tell when a story comes from a place of care and truth. Consulting with lived-experience experts strengthens character development and shapes cultural understanding on a national scale.
The Power of Now
Key Learnings
Media Reflects and Builds Culture.
Every story told on screen teaches audiences who belongs and who doesn’t. Whether intentional or not, writers and producers have the power to shape empathy, identity, and public perception in profound ways.
Visibility Is Power and Erasure Is Harm.
When communities are left out or flattened into stereotypes, it sends a message that they don’t matter. This is symbolic annihilation. Inclusion isn’t just about diversity; it’s about cultural survival.
Definition:
Symbolic annihilation is the erasure of marginalized groups from media and cultural narratives through their absence, trivialization, or condemnation, which can limit public consciousness and reinforce harmful stereotypes
Stories Can Heal or Harm, Choose Intentionally.
Through parasocial contact theory, audiences form emotional bonds with characters that can reduce prejudice and humanize the unfamiliar. That’s why creative responsibility matters: what we write today can either deepen division or expand understanding.
Explore: Telling Authentic Immigrant Stories: A Media Reference Guide
Research shows that when viewers feel a sense of friendship or familiarity with an immigrant character, they become more likely to view immigrants positively, believing they contribute to society and that diversity strengthens communities.
Played by the incredible Filipino-American actor Nico Santos, Mateo’s storyline has been a watershed moment for undocumented representation on television
Our Moment
Key Learnings
Pitch the Story Only You Can Tell.
When pitching a show, lead with what makes your story personal, specific, and human. Executives respond to clarity of vision and authenticity of voice. The more rooted your idea is in truth—especially untold or underrepresented experiences—the more universal it becomes.
Portray Immigrant Characters as Whole, Not Symbolic.
Move beyond the binary of “criminal or victim.” Immigrant stories deserve complexity, joy, humor, ambition, and contradiction. Write multidimensional characters that reflect the real diversity of immigrant life.
Build Inclusion Into the Process, Not Just the Cast.
Representation starts long before a story hits the screen. Hire immigrants and first-generation creatives in writers’ rooms, on set, and in leadership roles. Inclusion behind the scenes leads to richer, more truthful storytelling.
About
Expert Insights
The Power of Being Yourself
As a comedian, actress, and writer, Atsuko Okatsuka shares how she's built a one-of-a-kind voice in entertainment, blending sharp humor, vulnerability, and social commentary to explore identity, belonging, and resilience.
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Beyond the Single Story
In this clip, Gina Yashere highlights the need for richer, more expansive portrayals of Black immigrants on screen.
Rewriting the Rules
The
Immigrant
Representation Scale
Score: 0
Start with these actions:
- Bring more authenticity to your project by hiring immigrant writers and speaking to members of the community you are working to portray (especially when telling stories about communities outside your own).
- Engage consultants and organizations who work in culture and narrative change, such as Define American.
- Hire writers, cast, and crew members who are reflective of the material to bring more diverse perspectives to your project.
- Connect with individuals who have personal lived experience or subject-matter expertise on immigrants and immigration. Define American can connect you to our network of storytellers, which includes artists, immigration advocates, organizations, and more.
- Integrate more immigrant stories and characters into projects. They can be the heroes of their own stories, too. To take it a step further, include immigrants in the creative production process to develop new, untold, and ground-breaking stories about immigrant communities.
- Consider the emotions that your story may evoke in your audience. Storylines that center empathy can motivate a measurable attitude shift in an audience that is open to learning new perspectives and ideas.
- Get additional perspectives that may help enrich your story even further.
- Even if you come from an immigrant family yourself or have immigrant writers on staff, engaging with narrative change organizations can still be beneficial to your project. Additionally, when navigating complex topics such as immigration policy, DACA, ICE, asylum, detention centers, deportation, or other specific aspects of the law, Define American can help fine-tune these evolving sectors. We can even connect you with an immigration lawyer.
Consider whether your character has dialogue that shows interests, aspirations, hobbies, love interests, or experiences beyond immigration status, citizenship, or law enforcement.
Is the character defined solely by their immigration status?
While status matters, it’s not the whole story—immigrants are diverse, and their lives should reflect that.
While status matters, it’s not the whole story—immigrants are diverse, and their lives should reflect that.
Does the character engage in criminal activity or associate with crime?
Roughly 40% of immigrant characters on television between 2020 and 2022 were associated with some sort of crime—an all-time high since we began our research in 2017. In reality, immigrants are far less likely than the native-born population to commit crimes and be incarcerated.
Roughly 40% of immigrant characters on television between 2020 and 2022 were associated with some sort of crime—an all-time high since we began our research in 2017. In reality, immigrants are far less likely than the native-born population to commit crimes and be incarcerated.
Does the character reflect the true diversity of immigrants living in U.S. communities?
According to the findings of our 2022 report, immigrant character representation on TV shows major gaps:
- Asian American immigrant representation on television has grown, but Pacific Islander immigrants remain overlooked in real life.
- Only 3 undocumented Black immigrant characters appeared on TV, compared to 600,000 undocumented Black immigrants living in the U.S.
Representation is more than numbers; it's about whose humanity is recognized, and which stories are told.
According to the findings of our 2022 report, immigrant character representation on TV shows major gaps:
- Asian American immigrant representation on television has grown, but Pacific Islander immigrants remain overlooked in real life.
- Only 3 undocumented Black immigrant characters appeared on TV, compared to 600,000 undocumented Black immigrants living in the U.S.
Representation is more than numbers; it's about whose humanity is recognized, and which stories are told.
Does this character perpetuate the "Good Immigrant Narrative”?
Shows often prolong the myth that suggests only "good" immigrants who are "exceptional," "hard-working," and able to "boost the economy" deserve dignity or citizenship in the U.S. Reducing characters to their economic value denies them the right to be flawed and complex in media. Their humanity alone should be enough, just as it is in real life.
Shows often prolong the myth that suggests only "good" immigrants who are "exceptional," "hard-working," and able to "boost the economy" deserve dignity or citizenship in the U.S. Reducing characters to their economic value denies them the right to be flawed and complex in media. Their humanity alone should be enough, just as it is in real life.
Does the character have agency?
Too often, television and film portray immigrants as helpless—stripped of agency and waiting to be “saved,” usually by white characters. Our research shows that one in four immigrant characters on TV from 2020–2022 were “rescued” by non-immigrants. The truth is that immigrants are resilient, resourceful, and capable of championing their own lives.
Too often, television and film portray immigrants as helpless—stripped of agency and waiting to be “saved,” usually by white characters. Our research shows that one in four immigrant characters on TV from 2020–2022 were “rescued” by non-immigrants. The truth is that immigrants are resilient, resourceful, and capable of championing their own lives.
Is the character only defined by fear—either living in it or provoking it?
Too often, TV and film rely on “fear-based” narratives, portraying immigrants as terrified of deportation, detention, law enforcement, or as figures who incite fear in others. It’s time to move beyond stories that exploit trauma by centering immigrant portrayals in moments of joy, resilience, and everyday humanity.
Too often, TV and film rely on “fear-based” narratives, portraying immigrants as terrified of deportation, detention, law enforcement, or as figures who incite fear in others. It’s time to move beyond stories that exploit trauma by centering immigrant portrayals in moments of joy, resilience, and everyday humanity.
Would removing the character significantly alter the story?
Too often, immigrant characters are written as background figures—present, but without depth or real impact. Our latest research found that one-third of immigrant characters on TV could be cut without altering the plot. Immigrant stories deserve to be central, not ornamental.
Too often, immigrant characters are written as background figures—present, but without depth or real impact. Our latest research found that one-third of immigrant characters on TV could be cut without altering the plot. Immigrant stories deserve to be central, not ornamental.
Does this story and/or character reflect your lived experience?
Lived experience, or expertise that comes from personal experience with the issue, is a powerful storytelling tool. Drawing on it can deepen accuracy and understanding, helping writers shape meaningful, respectful, and authentic storylines.
Lived experience, or expertise that comes from personal experience with the issue, is a powerful storytelling tool. Drawing on it can deepen accuracy and understanding, helping writers shape meaningful, respectful, and authentic storylines
Does your project depict an underrepresented immigration experience?
Immigrants are not a monolith—their lives and experiences span every state and circumstance. While Define American’s research found that nearly half of TV episodes featuring immigrant characters were set in New York or California, immigrants live in all 50 states. Consider highlighting stories that reflect this diversity—such as mixed-status families, asylum seekers, refugees, people displaced by climate crises, and DACA recipients.
Immigrants are not a monolith—their lives and experiences span every state and circumstance. While Define American’s research found that nearly half of TV episodes featuring immigrant characters were set in New York or California, immigrants live in all 50 states. Consider highlighting stories that reflect this diversity—such as mixed-status families, asylum seekers, refugees, people displaced by climate crises, and DACA recipients.
Resources
