Melbourne-founded Facebook group Subtle Asian Traits to become US television series

When eight Melbourne high schoolers formed a Facebook group one afternoon, they had no idea it would soon become one of Australia’s most influential on social media.

Students Eugene Soo, 20, Kathleen Xiao, 21, Tony Xie, 20, and Lydia Jiang who are founding members of the Subtle Asian Traits Facebook group. Picture: Aaron Francis

When eight Melbourne high school students formed a Facebook group one Saturday afternoon in Chinese school, they had no idea it would soon become one of the largest, most influential social media groups in the country.

Within months they had reached one million members, many of whom were drawn to memes, videos and photos taking the mickey out of their upbringings, which seemed almost lost in translation in broader society.

Almost three years, 1.9 million global members and several trips to Facebook HQ later, Subtle Asian Traits has grown beyond a place to discuss bubble tea, strict parents and the nuances of growing up Asian in Australia and may soon become a television series.

Last week the group announced that a college-set series will be brought to life by US-based production studio Jumpcut and producer John Zhang, who secured the intellectual property rights to the group’s name. Penning the narrative are writers Ivan Tsang and Justin R. Ching.

If successful, it’s a huge step up for the volunteer-run group whose founders, Tony Xie and his twin sister Anny, Kerry Kang and his older sister Angela, Eugene Soo, Anne Gu, Kathleen Xiao and Lydia Jiang, are now in university.

There’s hope the new series will unite those who felt isolated and alone in their upbringings just as the group had, said co-founder Tony Xie, who’s helping Jumpcut.

Memes depicting “tiger” mums, who begin planning their children’s careers at age five, often fare well in the group, as do those of the “overachieving” Asian diaspora with impeccable careers, such as Jonathan Yong Kim, a 37-year-old Asian American physician, Navy SEAL and NASA class of 2017 astronaut candidate, who graduated from Harvard Medical School.

Others, more simply, poke fun at everyday habits, such as slapping watermelons and rice bags in supermarkets, the reason for which still baffles many members.

The script for the pilot episode is almost complete and it won the tick of approval from SAT’s US-based admin Zoe Imansjah, who is also assisting with the show.

“I really liked the concept that they pitched because it’s taking a lot of overarching themes in the group that were a shared experience by many people of different backgrounds,” she said. “SAT essentially went viral because it had people like me and Tony who’ve never met, we live across an ocean, and we still went through some very similar experiences.”

While many are excited over the new project, it hasn’t been met with unwavering support; some group members have had to have concerns allayed over their personal stories being harvested.

“We thought, ‘wouldn’t it be funny if we nod to certain memes’, but of course any personal stories from our members could not be used word for word,” Ms Imansjah said.

Buyers aren’t particularly interested in individual stories, rather they’re after a storyline, Mr Xie said.

“It’s going to be an original story that is based in a college kind of setting with original characters but the themes are going to be similar to what we’ve all experienced in the group; that feeling like you don’t belong and then finding this new kind of Asian community where you get to have these quirks that you might relate to and having fun with it for the first time,” he said.

Mr Xie said SAT is conscious of the group’s Australian roots being lost in a US production but is confident in Mr Zhang who first contacted the group with the idea for a series in early 2019.

“It’s been a really long process and John has been at this for a really long time and that’s part of the reason why we have a degree of trust in him as we know he is not in this for a quick buck or anything,” he said.

Jumpcut head of production Winnie Kemp, 41, echoed her confidence in Mr Zhang, Mr Tsang and Mr Ching. “I’ve known Justin for quite a while and one day he called me and said, ‘Hey, I’m working on a script and I was wondering whether you could take a look at it’,” she said. “After I read it I immediately texted him and said what time can you talk?”

While the group is well known in the Asian diaspora, many Australians will be learning of SAT for the first time, Mr Xie said.

“(For some viewers) it will kind of be like discovering all these different cultures that are part of the umbrella that we call Asian and it’s kind of hard to know when you’re not really in that kind of community,” he said.

“But really it’s about kind of sharing a different perspective and a different life and experience that Asians have all kind of collectively experienced growing up.”