Why 'The Chosen' Plans To Film Season Two During A Pandemic
“The Chosen” will begin filming its second season this fall, despite coronavirus health concerns. Photo courtesy of Out of Order Studios.
Dallas Jenkins, showrunner for “The Chosen,” announced on a YouTube livestream last week that the show would be starting production on the second season this fall. This comes while the film industry is still reeling from the effects of the pandemic, and Hollywood film and TV productions are only now restarting in Los Angeles.
The Chosen is a TV show with one season out of a planned eight seasons that tells the story of the gospels through the eyes of people whose lives were forever changed by meeting him. The show is the biggest crowd-funded media project of all time, raising more than $11 million to fund their first season, eclipsing the $5.8 million by the previous record-holder, Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Read: 'The Chosen' Sets A New Gold Standard For Depictions Of Jesus
Jenkins made the announcement with Jonathan Roumie, the actor who plays Jesus in “The Chosen,” as well as co-writers Ryan Swanson and Tyler Thompson.
“I can tell you now that we are green-lit for season two and we will be filming this fall,” Jenkins said. “The first four episodes of season two at least will be filmed this fall.”
Jenkins was very frank about the previous uncertainty of filming.
“Just a few weeks ago we were living in a holding pattern,” he said. “I didn’t know what was going to come next. I didn’t know if we were going to be able to film season two this year. I didn’t know how we were going to do it. COVID was creating all sorts of complications, was making it difficult for film production crews.”
Several investments and locations that were needed to make the season happen were being held up and filming this year looked in serious doubt.
Jenkins filmed and released a video called “I’m in a Tough Spot” asking for prayer from his fans. He says that with this video, God started opening doors.
“Almost to the minute we posted that video, and almost to the minute a couple days before that I recorded that video, things started to open up, as if God had been waiting for me and for us—some of my partners on this project—to fully surrender,” Jenkins said.
The team also announced that they would be working on writing season three at the end of Aug. so they could hopefully film all planned seven seasons of “The Chosen” in the next three and a half years.
“The Chosen” is not the first television show or movie to announce it will start production, even as the pandemic continues. Blockbusters like “Jurassic World: Dominion,” “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” and “Mission: Impossible” have all either restarted filming or will restart in the fall. Los Angeles reopened to filming in June amid extensive rules laid about by unions to protect the health of workers.
Still, there are some who are concerned that the decision to start production on a film during a pandemic at all is unwise. LA reopened for filming in June, but now California’s coronavirus cases have surged past New York’s.
Religion Unplugged spoke with Jenkins on the challenges of filming during the pandemic, particularly how he plans to keep everyone on the film set safe.
“There are some rules that are probably challenging for independent productions like ours with limited budgets and time,” he said. “We're wanting to focus heavily on testing, because I believe if we can ensure that those who are on set have tested negative for COVID, then we may be able to have precautions that are reasonable but not so onerous that we can't make a good project. We'll make a proposal to the unions about what we're intending to do, and hopefully we'll be on the same page.”
Despite the challenges, Jenkins believes that moving forward this year is the right choice.
“Most decisions in life are about risk/reward,” he said. “We're going to take appropriate measures, focused on a lot of testing; but we believe shutting down and waiting another year to produce and release this show isn't what our fans or our cast and crew want.”
Jenkins is particularly firm against criticism that suggests filming now is failing the Christian command to “love your neighbor.”
“It's a silly premise to say that working and hiring people who want to be hired isn't loving your neighbor,” he said.
Far from this being the wrong time to film, Jenkins sees these problems as evidence that “The Chosen” is needed more now than ever.
“We are more divided than ever, and I believe Jesus breaks down barriers,” Jenkins said. “We've seen it for the last year, as fans of ‘The Chosen’ come from literally every country in the world and from nearly every faith denomination. When Jesus arrived on the scene, there was immense oppression and division and fear, and people expected him to be a warrior who would defeat enemies and oppressors. But his radical message of love, service, and sacrifice went against expectations and transformed the world, so I believe telling those stories in a compelling way can have impact today.”
Season one of “The Chosen” is available to stream for free on The Chosen App. Viewers can also help fund season two by going to the app and selecting the “pay it forward” button.
Joseph Holmes is an award-nominated independent filmmaker and film critic living out of New York City. He runs a blog Overthinking Films where he discusses how films connect to philosophy, society, and culture.