Write On: 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Showrunner and Executive Producer Albert Kim

“I would encourage anyone to lean into the specificity of their
personal experience [when it comes to writing]. I mean, we're at
a time now, fortunately, where everyone is more open to those
kinds of stories… Look at something like Beef. The specificity of
that storytelling is what makes it special. It's not like they
come out with a logline, saying, ‘This is a story about Asian
families.’ It's a story about two people who get involved in the
road rage incident, but all of that is set in the context of a
very specific community. That's what makes it really special,”
says Albert Kim, Showrunner and Executive Producer of Avatar: The
Last Airbender. 

Currently the most popular show on Netflix, Avatar: The Last
Airbender is based on the animated Nickelodeon show that
premiered back in 2005. There are many challenges going from a
beloved animated show to live-action, but Albert Kim helms the
show with integrity and his own personal cultural
specificity. 

“One of the first notes I gave to the crew and our props and set
department was: food is really important. We’ve got to get the
food right. Asian families are often, a little reticent about
expressing emotions. It's very uncommon, at least in my
experience, for parents to tell their kids they love them.
Instead, they express it other ways – for example, through food.
Whenever an Asian parent comes and asks, ‘Have you eaten? Are you
eating enough?’ It's their way of saying, ‘I love you.’ So, food
has a lot of meaning in Asian communities,” says Albert.

Albert also talks about his unusual journey to become a TV writer
and the surprising way he thinks Avatar: The Last Airbender can
bring hope and joy to today’s world. To go deeper into the show,
listen to the podcast.