The 4.48-minute YouTube video What is Zoroastrianism? by the Religion Education Committee (REC) of the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America (FEZANA) had, within two weeks of its release on June 30, 2025, elicited "nearly 1,00,000 views and over 480 comments making it FEZANA’s most popular video to date,” noted the August 2025 issue of FEZANA Bulletin. The viewers included both Zoroastrians and others.
Above: Meher Pavri in a still from the video; inset r: Tanya Hoshi
Produced, directed and edited by Tanya Hoshi, chair of FEZANA’s communications committee, when responding to queries by Parsiana in the first week of August she revealed that the number of views had already increased to 1,42,000. "The most challenging aspect was editing. I had to make sure I factored in the feedback from stakeholders.” These included FEZANA’s REC co-chairs, Artemis Javanshir and Persis Driver who had worked with her on the script, FEZANA president Ervad Kayomarz Sidhwa, as also several prominent Parsi and Iranian Zoroastrians. Produced under the banner of Tanya’s company, Hoshi Media, "the video gave me a much welcome challenge of finding the right balance of music and visuals to keep it engaging,” she commented.
The video starts with the striking of a match to symbolically ignite interest in the ancient faith. The narrator, soprano Meher Pavri of Canada, her head dutifully covered, urges the viewers, "Let’s explore one of the world’s oldest and most influential religions, Zoroastrianism.” The historical highlights, key tenets and principles of the faith and its spread in the diaspora are succinctly captured in the video.
"FEZANA currently has 4,100 subscribers on YouTube. We gained over 2,800 new subscribers from this video alone on YouTube and it led us to gain an additional 1,800 new followers on Instagram as well, where we have our largest following of over 26,000,” stated Hoshi. The majority of viewers are males aged 35-55, primarily from the United States.
According to Hoshi, "What’s fascinating is that YouTube shows us that the largest percentage of viewers found our video after searching ‘Please Explain the Zoroastrian Religion’ online. The majority of the comments expressed appreciation for learning something new through our video.” The statement in the video that men and women are considered equal in Zoroastrianism generated "a debate in the comment section based on what others have observed in cultural practices of the religion.”
Encouraged by some of the comments like "I knew nothing of Zoroastrianism before watching this video,” "Thank you for sharing all the wisdom and knowledge of your religion,” the REC is "excited to continue producing high-quality educational content for the global community.” The Committee is hopeful community members will watch and share the video (www.youtube.com/watch?v=khK9JzF41FI) as also use it at interfaith events and during group tours at their centers while additionally donating to support future videos.
What is Zoroastrianism? was completed within "a humble budget… to efficiently compensate talent and product. While the writing, shooting and editing was completed within a week,” it took two months to launch the video after incorporating the required feedback.