Dallas Jenkins crowdfunded three seasons of The Chosen with $40 million contributed more than 16,000 people. Is this an isolated miracle or the new model for creating films which Hollywood would reject? Will it reach people beyond the core who created it?
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32 replies on “The Chosen Shocker: TV Series Hollywood Wouldn’t Make Raises $40 Million in Crowdfunding”
I think it’s the topic.
That said, I have contributed to crowdfunding of two documentaries and two jazz albums that both got done, and my life is richer for it.
Two productions, West Side Story and Cowboy Bebop, have both been remade and released with huge marketing budgets in recent days. Both now have a central transgender character, which has been celebrated by the media. Both have been total flops
to be the contrarian…..chosen is very pc and panders ust as hollywood. i watched all eight episodes and nothing changed that.
Scott, I had the same experience you described on backstage with my wife I guess we’ll be watching it sometime soon.
Also I’m so excited about the “David” movie that seems to be following in the financial steps of “The Chosen”.
I was knocked off my chair when Scott brought up this topic on the Backstage show. This series is absolutely the best depiction of Jesus and his followers I have ever seen. It got me through a tough time last year when I lost my husband. I had missed the first season and binged it just before the second started. Glenn Beck had interviewed Dallas and that is how I got the word it was out there. The characters are very relatable and the acting is top shelf. Not just an outstanding character here and there BUT all of them are superb! Right down to the bit parts. AND it’s surprisingly FUN. I’ve enjoyed the interviews with all involved. Characters, writers etc. This series have changed THEIR lives. I know it sure changed mine. I’m proud to be a funder. This thing was inspired and that is all there is to it. Bless Dallas and his wonderful crew at putting this together with such care. Do yourselves a favor and COME AND SEE. It can be watched at the AngelStudio site too.
I hope that this series is wildly successful.
Thank you, guys, for bringing this discussion forward. Bill’s “don’t overgrow yourself” is a great caution, too. I discovered the series beginning Season 2 and had to go back and binge S01! And I’m glad I did. But mentioning the crowdfunding aspect WITHOUT the FREE access falls short. You “fund” if you want. The app is free. You can cast to your Smart TV from your smartphone. You can “pay it forward” with contributions or purchase merch which goes to future episodes. But you are NOT required to do pay anything to watch free but you do have to listen to Dallas before each episode. (He also offers “Shut Dallas up!” promos jokingly. He’s proud of his project as he should be!).
The project puts “skin and bones” on the people we have read about in Scripture. Two dimensional text is fleshed out with real human emotions into that third dimension. Jesus laughs, disciples bicker, the Baptist loves to stir things up, Nicodemus sees but can’t give up his position to follow . . . and all the major points stick to Scripture like Gorilla glue.
Season 1 is also available on Pureflix for those that have that subscription. You only have to listen to Dallas at the end of the last episode 😂
I keep reading little bits of history about people that did some rather spectacular or audacious things during WWII and think “that would probably make for a good action movie”. If there was a company that wanted to specialize in one-off movies there is plenty of content.
There are probably a bunch of people that would say “movie about the Bible, pass” that might watch a “mythological tale from the ancient middle east” just like the various stories out of The Odessey, with Troy, Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans and others that did so-so to pretty good.
Scott’s closer focused on the Christian aspect of it, but the “broaden the audience” problem is one faced by lots of groups. Some Sci-fi and fantasy properties come to mind, with the books in those genres often getting pushed aside as “weird” or non-mainstream. If enough book buyers tossed in the equivalent amount of the book purchase toward a movie, I wonder how many more movies could be made, but especially in such a way that people would watch (perhaps paying a ticket price or streaming rental) where they might not sit down with a book.
If they can make a TV series from Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time books I don’t see why they can’t do anything else (though I wonder if WoT is just following the Game of Thrones popularity).
When Scott brought up “The Chosen” I just couldn’t believe it. Watched the first season. Thought it well made and pretty Biblically based. The Bible itself says that everything Jesus did and said couldn’t be recorded. Things shown not in the Bible seemed to ring true. As a model going forward… We shall see. Still think this will not go over into the popular zeitgeist, but one never knows.
Declaration Entertainment anybody? Bill was way ahead of the pack on this one. The Arroyo movie was the result. And all the Virtual President pieces too. But he went the subscriber route and Dallas went the Kickstart route. Looks like a rout. Too bad too, because those V.P. videos were impressive.
Yes! I did enjoy Arroyo.
I keep looking for Arroyo. Maybe Bill could get The Arroyo streaming on this website. Throw in some ads. Make a little money. The Arroyo was a good flick. Wish I could find it.
I still have the DVD. I think it was part of joining Declaration Entertainment. Or maybe out of support for D.E. I bought it outright.
I guess I didn’t give enough since I didn’t receive a DVD but I would love to see it!
Impeccable timing as Mrs Ron and I are looking for something new to binge watch. This will be next.
As good as The Passion without the heavy Catholic vibe.
The Chosen puts human faces on the characters from the Bible. And the script is so well-written and well-delivered by the actors.
Have Kleenex at the ready for the first episode!
I sit back and enjoy watching those “church produced” movies. Yes, I can be critical about acting, production, and such but I forgive the amateurs for being amateurs. I’ve enjoyed how the quality of those movies has increased over the years and I look at how they are learning – sometimes reinventing the wheel – but doing it completely outside the traditional industry. They are certainly not at the same level as Hollywood blockbusters… or even some B-Movies… but many of them are enjoyable.
I also enjoy horrible, truly horrible Sci-Fi movies that barely stand up to 1970s Dr. Who special effects so take everything I say with a grain of salt.
“The Chosen” is not a conventional “church produced” movie, James. If you haven’t jumped into “The Chosen” yet, I would suggest you check out Dallas’ short that started this ball rolling. It’s called “The Shepherd” (YouTube) which he DID produce for his church solely. It showcases the storytelling skill of Dallas and his writing crew which literally puts “meat on the bones” of the Luke 2 by presenting real people encountering a world changing event on a night long ago. Did the shepherd ACTUALLY meet Mary in Bethlehem and give her water that day? It could have happened but it builds the character of the story and fills in the empty spaces with not gratuitous events but events that do mesh with the Gospel environment and the characters portrayed.
Lenny, I didn’t mean to imply “The Chosen” was the same as “church produced” movies. I am replying more to a secondary comment Scott made in the episode about low budget (and low quality) Christian films.
My main point is that the low budget Christian industry is growing and learning and I’m willing to support them and not be too critical of their learning process as their storytelling gets better. I have supported several artists by purchasing their books, CDs, or other items long before crowd sourcing was a thing.
I have no problem with “The Chosen” adding a little artistic license to their story telling. There’s so much “empty space” that can be filled in to make a compelling story without “adding to the scriptures” (I’m not saying they are).
And I’m certainly happy their are new funding methods for Christian artists and storytellers.
Christian film-making is learning its craft, much the same way Hollywood learned its craft over the years. Early 20s and 30s films could be every bit as cringe-worthy, especially in the same way that Christian films tend to take liberties with reality to prove what the film-maker believes gives glory to God, a lot of those pre-WWII and even some afterward were heavy handed with the forgotten man theme and thinly-veiled socialist propaganda. They’ve learned to cover that stuff more skillfully with guns, bombs and big explosions to sneak a little leftist preaching into movies now. But over the years Hollywood got better at story-telling and made writers work harder at their craft. That’s happening now in Christian film-making and lately there have been some excellent movies produced that let you see a good film without having to set your Christianity on a shelf to get through them. They’ve also attracted some pretty good actors too and that helps. But God help us if Hollywood tries to horn in. They will botch it up because they do not understand how anyone can watch a movie that doesn’t have some f-bombs in them or the occasional gratuitous GD, an explosion or two and someone naked, even if they only show a butt. The Chosen model taps into a distinct but huge market (as Mel Gibson demonstrated with The Passion and is about to redemonstrate with The Resurrection.) If I can scrape a little together, I plan to invest it with Dallas. I was captivated by The Chosen”. Amazing Christian film-making. It was a breath of fresh holy air.
Tom, That’s exactly what I was trying to get at: Christian film (and other arts) is learning and getting better.
Thank you for being far more clear in your presentation than me!
Regarding the MST3K reboot, Patton made me miss Mike the way Mike made me miss Joel. And at least Mike was still funny, unlike Oswalt.
I thought the show got progressively more snarky, political, and ill tempered as time went on, with Oswalt being the obnoxious anti-American end result.
I didn’t even watch enough of Oswalt to get to the political garbage. The little bit I saw was so painfully unfunny apparently I tuned out before the worst of it
The farther MST3K got away from Joel’s leadership and vision, the more derivative it seemed to get. Hodgson was a visionary genius, pure and simple.
It’s been a while, but while there was a dropoff from Joel to Mike, I still liked the show. Where I recall MST3K jumping the shark was when TV’s Frank left
Hollywood needs to make movies out of Kurt Schlichter’s Crisis books about America splitting – great action, story, and they merciless mock The Radical Left
This show is excellent – whether you’re a believer or not. What Dallas Jenkins has done is to make the characters real and relatable to everyone without sacrificing scripture.
According to the email I received last night, the Christmas special currently playing in theaters has actually been extended through Christmas. I don’t ever recall a Fathom event that was extended once, let alone twice.
In reality, Dallas Jenkins’ career was in the toilet. He had directed a film that majorly flopped at the box office. So I don’t think we can attribute his success to his or his father’s name. The flop was big enough that no one was knocking on his door.
What actually started the ball rolling was a short film he made for his church depicting the birth of Christ from the perspective of a shepherd. That film went viral on the internet because it was a fresh approach to the age-old story. Oftentimes, we get the overly-pious version of Jesus that no one would pay attention to if they encountered Him. Mel Gibson was the first one to make it ‘real’, but only in terms of His crucifixion.
The other unique thing they’re doing is to allow viewers to ‘pay it forward’. You can donate on an individual basis so others can watch for free.
So is this a successful model to use moving forward? Not sure. Although this series has a huge following and is available on a worldwide basis and translated into several languages, it does have a large built-in base hungry for this particular type of story. I would suspect that any other similar effort would need to be on a scale of a Star Trek or other super-popular storyline that Hollywood has messed up.
The Chosen is produced in conjunction with Angel Studios, (formerly VidAngel), that has other projects on the plate for crowd-funding. I haven’t followed their level of success with these other projects, but I do get the promotional emails. It appears that they’re working hard to make this model work. Whether or not it will over the long haul is yet to be seen.
Well said, Julianne!
The Chosen is a great series!