Marlene Shigekawa's Japanese American heritage informs her work as a filmmaker. She was born in a Japanese American concentration camp, located on a Native American reservation in Arizona, during the incarceration of 120,000 US citizens of Japanese descent. Her birthplace has Ied to a journey of questioning inequities and confronting injustices based on race.

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She specializes in creating projects that give voice to marginalized communities and characters, particularly Asian Americans, and creates work that defies stereotypes. With Asian female and male character Ieads in her work, it is her goal and mission to bring more diversity to the screen. Prior work involving the exploration of cross cultural differences enables her to bring authentic cultural voices to her projects.