The Hollywood depicted in the NBC comedy “30 Rock” and HBO’s “Entourage” is filled with monarchical bosses and their ambitious, fast-talking and ethnically diverse assistants.

On “Entourage,” Asian-American actor Rex Lee plays the assistant and foil to his boss, an agent played by Jeremy Piven, and on “30 Rock,” actor Maulik Pancholy, who is of south-Asian descent, is an assistant to a slightly off-kilter TV executive played by Alec Baldwin.

According to some executives, these semi-satirical shows reflect real strides made in the entertainment industry when it comes to diversity, especially in entry-level positions.

“Looking across our workforce you can see the result of a lot of diversity initiatives that have been in place for a few years. We are looking at the audience demographic shift to more diversity and it makes sense for us to have a workforce that is reflective of the audience we serve,” said Paula Madison, who was appointed executive vice president of diversity at NBC Universal in May.

Ron Taylor, vice president of diversity development at Fox Entertainment, offered a similar assessment: “Historically there have been various barriers to diverse employees in our industry. That has changed and we are now seeing a more diverse workforce emerge.”

But other Hollywood executives say that despite the diversity initiatives, media companies still have much progress to make in fielding a workforce that truly reflects the diversity present in American society, let alone a multiethnic metropolis like Los Angeles.

“My observation from being in the entertainment industry for 20 years is that the improvement has only been incremental,” said one Hollywood diversity consultant, who asked not to be named for fear of offending her clients.

When the topic turns to diversity in the entertainment industry, or lack thereof, assistant positions are often overlooked. Advocates seeking to increase the representation of minorities in Hollywood have tended to focus on more high-level positions.

But as opposed to some industries where career assistants are the norm, in Hollywood most assistant jobs serve as de facto executive training programs. Greater diversity among the assistant ranks suggests that there will be greater diversity among executives, agents and other senior level positions in future years. Many of the assistant jobs are essentially apprentice positions, some executives said.

Career development

“You have a working relationship with a seasoned professional who might offer you the opportunity to read a script, sit in on a table read or a variety of other opportunities that allow you to develop your career,” said Madison.

David Saunders, executive vice president at the talent agency APA, said “virtually all our assistants become agents or go on to development jobs in television or features.”

And because assistant positions are prime perches to begin a career in Hollywood, they have traditionally gone to young people with connections to the industry, a population that historically has not been very diverse.

Diversity departments at networks and other media companies have attempted to address this and other obstacles with programs aimed at educating minorities about opportunities in the entertainment industry as well as initiatives that ensure minorities candidates are considered for job openings.

In addition to Fox and NBC, several other major media companies also have diversity initiatives of some sort including Time Warner, the Walt Disney Co. and CBS.

“Many diverse communities were never really aware of the production mechanism of the entertainment business behind the camera,” Taylor said. “And part of the mission of diversity departments is to make our communities aware of how programming is created and developed and who does the work.”

Numbers on the extent to which minority workers are filling these jobs are hard to come by.

Madison, Taylor and other executives based their conclusions about recent increases in diversity on their own anecdotal observations, and were unwilling to provide exact numbers.

Saunders did talk numbers. He said of his agency’s 50 Los Angeles-based assistants 18 were minority workers, an improvement over past years.

“I have been in the industry 23 years and I am seeing an increase in diversity among assistants and executives,” he said. “I think you have more minorities emboldened to try to get into the entertainment industry than at any time in history.”

Saunders said an increase in the pool of diverse candidates, rather than specific diversity programs, has been the primary reason for the shift at his agency.

Christopher Chou, an assistant at Renegade 83 Entertainment, said, “I have worked in the mailroom at a talent agency and at a couple of companies where I was the only minority, but now there are quite a few more Asian-Americans, African-Americans and other minorities working in the industry. There is a network of us out there now, which makes the experience less isolating.”

Some said while companies are becoming more diverse, especially leading talent agencies such as William Morris and Creative Artists Agency, they are still largely homogeneous.

George Huang wrote and directed “Swimming with Sharks,” the seminal movie about being a Hollywood assistant. It was based on his experiences as an assistant at several media companies including Columbia Pictures.

But in an attempt to make the movie more marketable to potential backers and moviegoers, the character based on Huang was not portrayed by an Asian-American actor.

“Independent film is a balancing act between art and commerce and we had to cast a person who was not only right for the part but made raising money easier,” Huang said.

Even filling in background scenes with minority actors was a challenge, Huang said.

“Despite my specific instructions, no diverse faces were sent my way. I had to cast some of my friends,” he said.

Huang predicted that if the movie were made today, casting diverse actors would not be such a challenge because, as shows like “Entourage” demonstrate, Hollywood and audiences are more accepting of portrayals of ambitious, young minorities in the entertainment industry.

Huang believes that such depictions are reflective of present-day reality.

“When I started, I was one of two Asian faces in the entire studio,” he said. “Now when I go to see my agent, I see nearly half a dozen minority faces.”