How THE CHOSEN Became the Incredible Show We Know and Love
By Movieguide® Contributor
When producer Derral Eves saw one of Dallas Jenkins’ Biblical short films, he knew right away that he was seeing something extraordinarily special — what would be the start of award-winning series THE CHOSEN.
“I got this short film that a creator made…and immediately I could tell it was extremely low budget,” Eves recalled of a short film THE CHOSEN creator Dallas Jenkins sent to Vidsummit, “where we’re talking low, low budget, but within about two to three minutes I was captivated because it was different and I heard it was about the birth of Jesus Christ, but Jesus Christ wasn’t even [in it]. Like Joseph, Mary, wasn’t even in it.”
“I never thought about it — how it [was], you know, seeing the birth of Jesus Christ through the perspective of [a] shepherd,” THE CHOSEN producer told Movieguide® this week, “and so it’s kind of getting pulled into that story.”
“And what was beautiful from that story was, it gave me context of something that I’ve heard hundreds of times, you know, as a kid, about the birth of Jesus Christ, but I never thought about it being from the perspective of someone else. I always thought it from you know Mary and Joseph’s perspective, and what was beautiful from that was I started to see things that I never really considered.’
Eves explained that the lowest citizens in Jesus’ time were shepherds. And the shepherd in Jenkin’s film was the lowest of all shepherds.
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“He was being picked on. He was hurt…The whole thing so around his perspective and I could see his inner desire for redemption. He wanted that inner desire of the Messiah that’s been prophesied about,” Eves told Movieguide®.
“So he’s always trying to learn and all he was was rejected through the whole thing, and I’m like, man, whoever’s writing this is really good because immediately I could identify with someone. Immediately I could see a fresh take and a fresh approach to content even with a low budget.”
The film even brought Eves to tears. So, he phoned up Jenkins, and they talked about the idea of a series.
“I was all in after he explained to me how the show was going to be…He started to say, ‘Hey, you know we’re going to discover the authentic Jesus, but it’s going to be through the eyes of those that He called and you’re going to see the challenges they go through’ and I’m like, ‘That’s going to be huge.’”
Eves’ prediction was right. THE CHOSEN is huge. The show about Jesus and his followers is about to launch its fifth season with plans for at least two more seasons. It’s one of the rare shows that’s had theatrical releases, and it’s reached over 200 million unique viewers with a goal of reaching one billion. It’s also the most-translated TV show in the world and has won Movieguide® Teddy Bear® Awards.
THE CHOSEN Season 5 will release Part One in theaters on March 28, Part Two on April 4 and Part three on April 11.
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