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Los Angeles Daily News, CA
March 23 2008
Telenovelas' drama tells true story of globalization
Armenian community hot for Colombian soap operas
By Naush Boghossian, Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 03/22/2008 09:17:57 PM PDT
Natalia Gharibians watches a wildly popular
telenovela, which... (David Crane/Staff Photographer)«1»Natalia
Gharibians doesn't speak English - much less Spanish - but every
evening, the 77-year-old settles in to watch "El Cuerpo del Deseo"
and its handsome actor Mario Cimarro.
"Everyone at my day-care watches Salvador, wanting to see what
Salvador is doing and what's happening to Salvador," Gharibians said
of the lead character played by Cimarro.
"My family asked me to go to dinner, and I had to say no because I
wanted to watch it."
In the latest example of globalization, the grandmother of seven is
among thousands of Armenians now hooked on the telenovela - produced
in Colombia, purchased by Armenia, dubbed into Armenian, and sent
back to the United States to air on Armenian-language television for
large Armenian populations in Glendale and Burbank.
"It's interesting to me because it's in Armenian," said Gharibians,
who invested months watching the recently ended series and is now
eagerly waiting for a new series to start March31. "We haven't seen
anything like this."
The crossover to Armenian culture is the latest move for telenovelas,
limited-run TV serial melodramas made famous in Latin America and now
a multibillion-dollar industry.
While American soap operas run indefinitely, "novelas" have a
pre-determined end and average about 150 episodes.
And for more than eight months, "Salvador" - which is how Armenian
fans have come to refer to the officially titled "Second Chances" -
has captivated Armenians in Glendale and Burbank on Charter
Communications cable Channel31.
Gharibians' fascination with Salvador is so great that she has been
enticed to watch Spanish-language telenovelas on Telemundo to catch a
glimpse of Cimarro - even though she doesn't understand what's going
on.
"He's a good actor. He's a good person, and you can feel for him,"
she said.
That universal appeal is increasingly crossing language barriers,
with an estimated 2billion people in more than 100 countries now
watching telenovelas. With dubbing and subtitles, telenovelas have
grown in popularity everywhere from Russia, France and Italy to the
Philippines, Israel and South Korea.
Armenian-Russian Television Network, or ARTN, began running the
telenovela about a year ago, supplied by a partner in Armenia that
buys the rights and dubs it into Armenian.
The network also streams its programming live on its Web site at
www.artn.tv.
Although Charter Communications officials said there's no way to know
exactly who's watching and how often, they estimate as many as
30percent of their customers in Glendale and Burbank are
Armenian-speaking.
Robert Oglakhchyan, ARTN Corp. CEO and president, said the company
gauges demand for a show from advertising - and advertisers are lined
up to buy spots during the telenovela.
"It doesn't matter that it's in Spanish, Russian or American - it's
about family, it's about normal life, the same as the lives of
Armenians," he said. "People watch `All My Children' and `Days of Our
Lives' even if they don't understand English well, so how
entertaining is it to watch a soap opera in Armenian?
"It's an escape from your worries. You disconnect from your life and
forget your problems when you tune in to the novela."
Lida Zadouri's husband has grumbled frequently about when the series
will finally end because when the show is on, his wife is totally
absorbed.
"It's about life, and since the story wraps up in a couple of months,
it's perfect for impatient people," she said.
"My mom would watch the show and would tell me to call later, then my
mom's sister and now I'm telling others to call me later."
Like Gharibians, she's even taken to watching Spanish-language
telenovelas because she just wants to see the actors.
"I watch it every day because I see beautiful men," the 53-year-old
said.
"And the one at 8 p.m. is in Spanish, and I don't know what they're
talking about and I'm watching it."
Stepan Partamian, a popular and controversial host of a
current-events talk show on an Armenian-language station, joked that
the telenovelas appeal to Armenians' love of gossip.
"Armenians are suckers for gossip - this person left that person for
another person - and they just want to know in Armenian what's
happening," Partamian said.
But telenovelas also are serving to connect two minority cultures,
said Jose Luis Benavides, director of the center for ethnic and
alternative media at California State University, Northridge.
"A lot of these cultural products really allow people to learn a
little bit about other groups they otherwise wouldn't be exposed to,"
Benavides said.
"To learn something that is much more complex about Latin-American
culture in general through a soap opera is just fantastic."
And as worldwide demand booms, it has become a boon for the dubbing
and subtitle industry, said Deeny Kaplan, executive vice president of
The Kitchen, a language-customization company with offices in Studio
City, Miami and Caracas, Venezuela.
"We see more sellers of telenovela products and more buyers from
other countries," said Kaplan, who notes that the industry exceeds
$100 billion annually.
"Every day we're dealing with countries like Vietnam, Japan, Korea,
Israel, South Africa and Russia, around the clock, that want to do a
telenovela in another language."
Her company has produced as many as four telenovelas a month, dubbing
about 80 episodes into multiple languages.
"The fact that we're doing French dubbing in Miami of Latin soap
operas that are going to air in South Africa is crazy," Kaplan said.
"What it says is there is an interest in learning the cultures of the
different countries and grabbing parts of those cultures and making
them your own."
Still, for some, it's considered a guilty pleasure.
Gharibians' grandson, Eric Sahakian, said his friends hate to admit
that their own moms, aunts and grandmothers are hooked on the show.
"It's funny how it's a phenomenon. It's like the MySpace of older
women," said Sahakian, 16.
"It's cool that they can take something in Spanish and make it
something that's enjoyable to Armenians."
Do Sahakian and his friends watch the show?
"I'd like to say it's stupid, but you keep wanting to watch it five
minutes more," he said sheepishly.
"People my age don't say they watch, but I think some of them watch
it secretly, undercover."
March 23 2008
Telenovelas' drama tells true story of globalization
Armenian community hot for Colombian soap operas
By Naush Boghossian, Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 03/22/2008 09:17:57 PM PDT
Natalia Gharibians watches a wildly popular
telenovela, which... (David Crane/Staff Photographer)«1»Natalia
Gharibians doesn't speak English - much less Spanish - but every
evening, the 77-year-old settles in to watch "El Cuerpo del Deseo"
and its handsome actor Mario Cimarro.
"Everyone at my day-care watches Salvador, wanting to see what
Salvador is doing and what's happening to Salvador," Gharibians said
of the lead character played by Cimarro.
"My family asked me to go to dinner, and I had to say no because I
wanted to watch it."
In the latest example of globalization, the grandmother of seven is
among thousands of Armenians now hooked on the telenovela - produced
in Colombia, purchased by Armenia, dubbed into Armenian, and sent
back to the United States to air on Armenian-language television for
large Armenian populations in Glendale and Burbank.
"It's interesting to me because it's in Armenian," said Gharibians,
who invested months watching the recently ended series and is now
eagerly waiting for a new series to start March31. "We haven't seen
anything like this."
The crossover to Armenian culture is the latest move for telenovelas,
limited-run TV serial melodramas made famous in Latin America and now
a multibillion-dollar industry.
While American soap operas run indefinitely, "novelas" have a
pre-determined end and average about 150 episodes.
And for more than eight months, "Salvador" - which is how Armenian
fans have come to refer to the officially titled "Second Chances" -
has captivated Armenians in Glendale and Burbank on Charter
Communications cable Channel31.
Gharibians' fascination with Salvador is so great that she has been
enticed to watch Spanish-language telenovelas on Telemundo to catch a
glimpse of Cimarro - even though she doesn't understand what's going
on.
"He's a good actor. He's a good person, and you can feel for him,"
she said.
That universal appeal is increasingly crossing language barriers,
with an estimated 2billion people in more than 100 countries now
watching telenovelas. With dubbing and subtitles, telenovelas have
grown in popularity everywhere from Russia, France and Italy to the
Philippines, Israel and South Korea.
Armenian-Russian Television Network, or ARTN, began running the
telenovela about a year ago, supplied by a partner in Armenia that
buys the rights and dubs it into Armenian.
The network also streams its programming live on its Web site at
www.artn.tv.
Although Charter Communications officials said there's no way to know
exactly who's watching and how often, they estimate as many as
30percent of their customers in Glendale and Burbank are
Armenian-speaking.
Robert Oglakhchyan, ARTN Corp. CEO and president, said the company
gauges demand for a show from advertising - and advertisers are lined
up to buy spots during the telenovela.
"It doesn't matter that it's in Spanish, Russian or American - it's
about family, it's about normal life, the same as the lives of
Armenians," he said. "People watch `All My Children' and `Days of Our
Lives' even if they don't understand English well, so how
entertaining is it to watch a soap opera in Armenian?
"It's an escape from your worries. You disconnect from your life and
forget your problems when you tune in to the novela."
Lida Zadouri's husband has grumbled frequently about when the series
will finally end because when the show is on, his wife is totally
absorbed.
"It's about life, and since the story wraps up in a couple of months,
it's perfect for impatient people," she said.
"My mom would watch the show and would tell me to call later, then my
mom's sister and now I'm telling others to call me later."
Like Gharibians, she's even taken to watching Spanish-language
telenovelas because she just wants to see the actors.
"I watch it every day because I see beautiful men," the 53-year-old
said.
"And the one at 8 p.m. is in Spanish, and I don't know what they're
talking about and I'm watching it."
Stepan Partamian, a popular and controversial host of a
current-events talk show on an Armenian-language station, joked that
the telenovelas appeal to Armenians' love of gossip.
"Armenians are suckers for gossip - this person left that person for
another person - and they just want to know in Armenian what's
happening," Partamian said.
But telenovelas also are serving to connect two minority cultures,
said Jose Luis Benavides, director of the center for ethnic and
alternative media at California State University, Northridge.
"A lot of these cultural products really allow people to learn a
little bit about other groups they otherwise wouldn't be exposed to,"
Benavides said.
"To learn something that is much more complex about Latin-American
culture in general through a soap opera is just fantastic."
And as worldwide demand booms, it has become a boon for the dubbing
and subtitle industry, said Deeny Kaplan, executive vice president of
The Kitchen, a language-customization company with offices in Studio
City, Miami and Caracas, Venezuela.
"We see more sellers of telenovela products and more buyers from
other countries," said Kaplan, who notes that the industry exceeds
$100 billion annually.
"Every day we're dealing with countries like Vietnam, Japan, Korea,
Israel, South Africa and Russia, around the clock, that want to do a
telenovela in another language."
Her company has produced as many as four telenovelas a month, dubbing
about 80 episodes into multiple languages.
"The fact that we're doing French dubbing in Miami of Latin soap
operas that are going to air in South Africa is crazy," Kaplan said.
"What it says is there is an interest in learning the cultures of the
different countries and grabbing parts of those cultures and making
them your own."
Still, for some, it's considered a guilty pleasure.
Gharibians' grandson, Eric Sahakian, said his friends hate to admit
that their own moms, aunts and grandmothers are hooked on the show.
"It's funny how it's a phenomenon. It's like the MySpace of older
women," said Sahakian, 16.
"It's cool that they can take something in Spanish and make it
something that's enjoyable to Armenians."
Do Sahakian and his friends watch the show?
"I'd like to say it's stupid, but you keep wanting to watch it five
minutes more," he said sheepishly.
"People my age don't say they watch, but I think some of them watch
it secretly, undercover."