Student stands in front of the classroom in a scene from East Los High
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A Nonprofit’s Los Angeles Drama Receives Three Daytime Emmy Nominations

Apr 13, 2015

LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES – The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences had some big news on April 1, 2015 and it wasn’t an April Fools joke. East Los High, a Hulu original series, received three Daytime Emmy nominations. Not only was this big news for all the writers, actors, and producers, it was also big news for a nonprofit that aims to address social and health issues around the world.

Population Media Center (PMC) partnered with Hulu and Wise Entertainment to bring its entertainment-education approach for social change to Hollywood. This resulted in the creation of East Los High, a spicy teen drama with results, including these Daytime Emmy
nominations, that have been astounding in more ways than one.

A few years ago, PMC received funding to produce a TV series addressing high teenage pregnancy rates in the US. Formative research, an essential component of all the dramas PMC creates around the world, revealed that, at the time, more than 50 percent of Latinas in the US experienced at least one pregnancy before reaching 20 years old.  Familiar with challenging statistics, PMC created East Los High to help change those numbers.  Impact has spanned numerous research indicators and issues, including more than 27,000 people using Planned Parenthood’s “The Check” widget available on eastloshigh.com to explore their risk and need to get tested for STDs, HIV, or pregnancy within the first month of broadcast.

With the unique approach to creating, writing, and producing an entertainment-education show that also gets high ratings and puts audiences on the edges of their seats, it makes sense that East Los High was nominated in the category of “Outstanding New Approaches to a Drama Series,” along with nominations for “Best Actress for New Approaches to a Drama Series” for two East Los High actresses: Danielle Vega (Ceci Camayo) and Vannessa Vasquez (Camila Barrios). East Los High was also the first series with an all Latino cast.

“We’re honored to have East Los High recognized in this way,” says Bill Ryerson, PMC President and Founder. “It proves that entertainment designed to improve lives can also be engaging. Stories should be suspenseful and fun – and that’s what East Los High accomplishes – without sacrificing dedication to addressing social issues that are very real for the audience.”

The Hollywood Reporter described it as “a hit drama with all the elements of a racy telenovela, designed to teach as much as titillate.” Season One of East Los High began airing in the summer of 2013 and quickly rose to be one of the top five shows on Hulu. Season three of East Los High launches in summer 2015.

The 42nd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards will air live exclusively on Pop from the Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, CA on Sunday, April 26 at 8:00 p.m. EST / 5:00 p.m. PST.

ABOUT POPULATION MEDIA CENTER (PMC):

Population Media Center is a nonprofit, international nongovernmental organization, which strives to improve the health and well-being of people around the world through the use of entertainment-education strategies, like serialized dramas on radio and television, in which characters evolve into role models for the audience for positive behavior change. Founded in 1998, PMC has over 16 years of field experience using the Sabido methodology of behavior change communications, impacting more than 50 countries around the world.
www.populationmedia.org