“THIS IS WHAT INVISIBILITY LOOKS LIKE”

A Statement from Rising Waves on ESEA Representation in UK Television

In response to the Diamond Report (The Seven Point Five Cut)

June 2025

British East and South East Asian (ESEA) communities are missing from UK television, and now we have the data to prove it.

The Creative Diversity Network’s Diamond Report, The Seven Point Five Cut, paints a stark picture. For the first time, East and South East Asian creatives have been counted as distinct groups.

For the first time, East and South East Asian creatives have been counted as distinct groups. The results reveal more than underrepresentation. They show systemic exclusion.

Key Findings:

East Asians make up just 1.5% on-screen, 0.8% off-screen, and 0.5% in senior roles, despite being around 1.2% of the UK population.
South East Asians remain almost entirely absent, not just from roles but from the data itself. While the Diamond report now allows contributors to self-identify as East Asian or South East Asian, national data sources such as the Annual Population Survey (APS) do not disaggregate these groups. Instead, they report on a single “Asian” category that includes Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese and other heritage groups.

This mismatch makes it nearly impossible to benchmark representation accurately. It contributes to the ongoing erasure of East and South East Asian identities within industry reporting and public policy.

And while the Diamond report includes figures for East Asian contributors, there is no consistent reporting for South East Asian creatives. Their presence across all areas of the industry remains effectively invisible. We cannot fix what we refuse to measure.

While the Diamond report shows minor year-on-year shifts, the overall trend for British East and South East Asian representation is one of stagnation, volatility and systemic failure.

Off-screen contributions remain at 0.8%, the same as in 2019/20. Despite a dip to 0.6% in 2022/23, we have made no meaningful gains in five years.
Non-senior roles have increased by only 0.1% since 2019/20.
Senior leadership roles, where power and resources are held, fell from 0.7% in 2019/20 to 0.5% in the latest reporting period. This is a net decline.
On-screen visibility for East Asians peaked at 1.6% in 2023/24, then dropped to 1.5% in the most recent period. It remains well below national population estimates.

These are not signs of sustained progress. They are signs of a system that cannot or will not retain the very people it claims to include.

And while statistical percentages may appear to inch upward in some categories, the lived reality for ESEA creatives tells a different story: instability, burnout and exit. Visibility without support is not inclusion. A brief uptick followed by regression is not progress. The system is not broken. It is working exactly as it was designed to.

This is not a pipeline problem. It is not a talent gap. It is about who gets seen, who gets supported, who gets the jobs, and who receives investment. The system is functioning as it was built to, and it is shutting us out.

Other marginalised communities are beginning to see change, supported by long-term, targeted industry efforts. But ESEA creatives continue to be overlooked. There is no national strategy, no dedicated funding stream, and no meaningful commissioning focus for our communities.

This is unacceptable. It must change.

Audiences are already demonstrating the value of our stories; the viewing figures, awards and box office reports prove this. The global success of series like Beef, Pachinko, and Shogun, and films like Past Lives and Everything Everywhere All at Once, shows there is strong demand for complex, culturally specific, Asian-led narratives. These are not niche titles. They are award-winning, widely watched, and emotionally resonant. NONE of which are British made. If the UK fails to act, it risks falling even further behind. As well as failing to serve and capture a huge market, that US counterparts are already recognising and investing in.

At Rising Waves, we are not waiting.

We run one of the few mentorship programmes in the UK focused on British East and South East Asian creatives. We support early-career talent and, launching soon, mid-career professionals who are trying to stay in an industry that too often pushes them out, let alone develop into future leaders.

But we cannot fix a systemic problem alone.

Good intentions are not enough. Not for us, and not for any marginalised community. We need action that is focused, long-term, and accountable. If you say you care about change, this is your chance to prove it.

We want to work with you. But we need more than good intentions. We need:

Targeted investment in ESEA talent development and progression
Ringfenced funding and commissioning for ESEA-led work
Representation at senior and decision-making levels
Partnerships that place power and resources in the hands of our communities

The talent is here. The audiences are ready. The stories already exist. The UK industry must now make space for us- not only on screen, but behind the scenes, in writers’ rooms, in commissioning conversations, and in leadership.

Diversity cannot be selective. Inclusion cannot be partial. Change cannot wait.

Rising Waves