LOS ANGELES—PBS SoCal Plus will premiere a half hour documentary, titled “Tumo: Change Starts within Armenia,” on May 4 at 6 pm Pacific Standard Time. The documentary focuses on how Yerevan’s Tumo Center for Creative Technologies was established in Armenia to introduce alternative career paths to teenagers in order to help change the socioeconomic situation and ultimately leapfrog the country from the consequences of its succession from the Soviet Union. Given a technology savvy platform and the right tools, a new generation of Armenians use creativity to map their future with hopes to compete in the global marketplace from within a landlocked country.
Due to the technology-based educational development content and high quality production, the program has received a prime time broadcasting slot on PBS SoCal Plus which is widely available over the air on channel 50.2 in Los Angeles, Orange County, Valley areas and Santa Barbara. Cable or Satellite television subscribers can find PBS SoCal Plus on channels through Charter Communications 314, Cox Communications 810, Time Warner 235, and Verizon Fios 470.
Made as a Zealpix production, director Vahe Babaian and producer Bérj Beramian traveled to Yerevan, Armenia, to film the documentary, and through their journey captured the opulence and the challenges of a place called Tumo Center for Creative Technologies. Tumo attracts students from all over Yerevan from a variety of social, socioeconomic and experience level backgrounds. It is the only center of its kind in the region provided as a free after school program and one that utilizes a technology-based, virtual learning environment known as Tumo World and workshops to introduce kids to animation, video game development, digital media and web development, including other multi-disciplinary platforms such as cross collaboration, distance learning, leadership training and other skills that are necessary for individuals to compete in a global marketplace. The documentary is in English and Armenian with subtitled versions in English, Armenian, French and Spanish. Zealpix is currently working on distribution of the documentary in various regions of North and South America, Europe, Armenia and Russia.
Zealpix is anticipating a large viewership during the broadcast of “Tumo: Change Starts within Armenia” on PBS SoCal Plus. A community audience in the Southern California region would help ratings during the show and hopefully establish some demand for similar programs. Zealpix is an experienced developer of feature films and documentaries as a production company with an established track record in film production.