### UNVEILING EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROINE: NETFLIX'S NEXT MOVE WITH "AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER"

Animated fantasy Avatar: The Last Airbender has been a priority for Netflix’s efforts, as it attempts one animated tale after another, and Toph Beifong is one of the characters live-action Netflix will soon introduce to fans. The series’ strength, and its indelible impact on popular culture, stems from the fact that the original creators wove Toph’s narrative with bravery and strength that signal a radical reimagining of the concept of heroism. Toph Beifong changes everything. Beifong is the first character in the new Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action series.

#### NETFLIX'S BIG REVEAL: CASTING THE UNBREAKABLE TOPH

And in a reveal hotly anticipated at this year’s fan-focused virtual event Geeked Week, Netflix cast Miya Cech in the live-action series. A breakout star for her role as Emily Hong in Beef (2023) and for her featured role in American Girl: Corinne Tan (2021), Cech will bring Toph the earthbending blind prodigy and bender par excellence, who embodies the fierce spirit of ingenuity, to live-action. Energetically, the character displays a can-do spirit with an I-will-show-you way of winning over others.

#### THE EXECUTIVE VISION BEHIND TOPH'S ARRIVAL

The return of Toph is not an easy decision. Executive producer Jabbar Raisani calls her a ‘gamechanger. [He] wants to not only advance the story, but also add more layers and nuance to the dynamic of Team Avatar. The executive’s focus on Toph foreshadows a major turning point in Netflix’s adaptation, the very balance of fidelity and originality that the television world endlessly strives to strike.

##### HOW TOPH RESHAPES TEAM AVATAR

When Toph arrives, she’s going to challenge everything that Team Avatar does. Just watch how this tiny, earthbending, blind girl delivers both strength and versatility to the team. Executives at Netflix know that this has to be a core part of the team, their secret to defeating the Fire Nation. Part of the show’s motivation for developing Toph’s technique to see through the ground is that the writers know that they already have a character who’s perfectly interesting and accessible. Going through the challenges of developing these skills makes her richer, and makes the story richer.

#### THE EXECUTIVE CHALLENGE: ADAPTING AN ICONIC TALE

Making Avatar: The Last Airbender is no simple task. Netflix’s executive producers face the enormous challenge of re-envisioning a world that fans have thoughtfully followed over 20 years. For instance, in considering who should play Toph, it won’t be easy to decide whether to cast the role with an actress who is smaller in stature but can effectively play the character’s role, or to cast a plus-size actress who ticks more of the Toph boxes.

##### THE STRATEGIC ROLE OF EXECUTIVES IN STORYTELLING

Storytelling requires the involvement of executives, certainly for something as big as an adaptation of a wildly popular series, and in establishing the creative goals of the original content still in the expansive subconscious of the creators. These creators are influencing where things go – adding Toph’s character is following an express goal of the series – and need the creative comfort of an executive to sell them on this idea. They also need the executive to fight for that decision over the course of casting, characterisation and finally getting the series into a shape that new viewers can enjoy while still pleasing the long-term fans.

#### LOOKING FORWARD: THE IMPACT OF TOPH ON NETFLIX'S AVATAR

With Toph’s arrival, the series on Netflix reaches a new beginning. As in real-time, the series is preparing to come to an end: the final season has not yet been announced, but the anticipation is that it will be a wrap with season three. But that finale will be all the more fascinating, all the more gripping to the audience thanks to Nickelodeon’s foresight in building Toph’s magical sight into the series, and into the story leading up to the climax of the series.

##### EXECUTIVE INSIGHTS: CRAFTING TOPH FOR A NEW ERA

Thirdly, the executive’s vision for letting Toph move from the animated world to the live-action world signals a commitment to deep truth and ingenuity: ‘[We] capture Toph’s spirit through Miya [Cech], so it’ll feel like it’s the same Toph they know and love, but also feel like something that’s completely new – and something that’s for today.’ What I hear in this comment by the executive – and indeed in much of his careful speech regarding the show – is a consistent and intelligent dedication to a careful adaptation, to striking the balance between new talents and perspectives that honour and enrich the legacy of the beloved Avatar world.

### UNDERSTANDING THE EXECUTIVE ROLE

Often found in film and television production, the word ‘executive’ usually refers to leaders at the level with the power to decide the creative and commercial direction of a project. Executive producers and their peers function at the centre of a project – occasionally from the very beginning. Their titles and jobs bring with them the expectation of a major entanglement in almost every aspect of the project, from the hunt for talent to the financial planning, from publicising the project to shepherding it through production. Executives oversee casting, budgeting, marketing and project management, among other things, in the hope of creating a product whose journeys from inception to completion is as smooth as possible.

This role of the executive is emphasised as Avatar: The Last Airbender is handed off to Netflix. This next generation of showrunners and production teams start with the foundation that Harmon and action-director-turned-showrunner Lauren Montgomery established with The Legend of Korra, and go on to explore new directions for the franchise, with the mission of continuing to foster a fanbase that can be passed down from generation to generation.