STATUS: in development

OVERVIEW

 

The goal of the docu-series is to explore the heritages of multicultural Americans, their dual identities, and bring to light any subconscious biases monoculture Americans have towards their multicultural counterparts.

 

As of 2013, 40 million Americans were first generation, and most of our families can tell you exactly who immigrated here and from where.

 

However, there is still a stigma and lack of acceptance that many Americans face, especially if they have accents or are not white. Many of them are faced with the question of "Where are you from?" and when they answer Charleston, SC or Boise, ID they are then asked "I mean, where are you from originally?".

 

I find, however, that many Americans are proud to have upheld cultural traditions from their country of origin. I have also found that some people don't really care to maintain traditions from a culture in which they no longer live. Sometimes being from two different heritages is an identity struggle that is only made worse by the invisible biases that other American people, those who don't have family or have themselves recently immigrated to the United States, maintain about dual citizens or multi-cultural Americans.

 

FORMAT

 

The plan to explore these people's lives is to focus on one country an episode (for example, the entire hour long episode would be about Nigerian-Americans or Portuguese-Americans). We would ideally have multiple subjects and also travel with them to their country of origin to explore the pros and cons of living there and possibly why the person/family immigrated to the US in the first place. We would then explore the difficulties maintaining multiple identities, stereotypes and where they come from, or other prominent "ironies" that exist within the subject.

 

The format is a little fluid, and we are still nailing it down, which is where it is so important that we have as many multicultural Americans fill out the survey as possible: if there is something that community wants to say and see reflected about themselves on television, we need to know what that is so we don't miss the mark. At the end of the day, this show is about bringing Americans together by dissolving invisible biases that exist because we don't know enough about one another.

 

From a flow point of view, it would look something like Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat / Down to Earth / Home Game combined. I am be hosting the show because I think it is important that we have an American millennial face exposing the amount of fear and suspicion that exists in the American society/culture. Plus, during the travel parts, I think it is important that we show the world not all American tourists don't care about local traditions/customs! (I LOVE new things/experiences!)

 

 

BUSINESS, ACADEMICS & STORYTELLERS MEET

 

I plan to team up with local businesses, airlines, celebrities, etc. to assist in the creation and execution of the actual filmmaking processes. And international advertising never hurt anyone! It would also be good to speak to people from colleges in each country or government officials about their respective diasporas, about sociological differences that people face having grown up in that country and then moving, and how those Something-Americans are creating positive change in the world because of their multicultural heritage.

 

At the end of the day, my goal is to show that our differences and our heritages make us stronger, not weaker. They make us stronger as a country, as a community, as a family, and as an individual.

 

 

WHY ME? WHY THIS STORY?

I'm Filipino, Italian, German and Irish in blood heritage, but only identify as American. I've always felt a little left out that I didn't have a stronger connection to my Filipino roots, seeing as my grandmother immigrated here from the Philippines and speaks Tagalog as well as English. So my own experience in learning about my heritage makes me fascinated by people who are American... but are also something else.

 

In addition, my fiance Vladislav is Belarusian. He was born and raised there, immigrating to the US when he was 7. That impacted his life, and while he could only tell me how things affected him, I never understood some aspects of him until I went to Belarus in 2018. It was... an eye-opening experience. I felt that because I had seen this place in person that I understood what he was talking about and how the experiences he had shaped him as a person. Simply put, our bond grew deeper because I saw what he saw with my own eyes.

 

I'm passionate about this topic. I love traveling, and I believe that the greatest adventure in life is exploring another person's heart. And that's exactly what I want to show to audiences: multicultural Americans' hearts. Perhaps if single-culture Americans saw what they saw, there would be more acceptance of one another.

 

 

LOGISTICS

 

Currently I am in the development stage. I am conducting research and I am hoping by the winter I will have a deck and concept to pitch to production companies with good ties to popular streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu. If I am successful in pitching, we could be filming as early as next summer depending on circumstances with the pandemic. My intention with release would be as soon as possible.