Billed as SBT’s new weapon in the battle for audiences, The Chosen: The Chosen is a rare case in the North American audiovisual space. Unable to secure a project about the life of Jesus Christ from major studios, director and screenwriter Dallas Jenkins set up a virtual crowdfunding fund to finance production. It raised more than $10 million (R$49.3 million at current prices) just to get the first season out of the closet.
In the third year, Jenkins decided to innovate: in November last year, he released the first two episodes in North American cinemas before making them available for free through the application developed for the series. The result? The “film” grossed $14.6 million (R$72.1 million) at the box office. It arrived on Brazilian screens this Thursday (31), where the large Christian population should help repeat its success abroad.
In fact, Brazil came onto Jenkins’ radar when he released The Chosen in 2019. Ultimately, his team promoted the production as the first adaptation of the life of Jesus in a series of multiple seasons. There he became aware of Record’s biblical storylines. “I haven’t seen any Brazilian soap operas, but I was told they exist. But we’re still the first series with multiple seasons (laughs),” says Jenkins TV news.
“From the beginning we didn’t have a lot of money for marketing, but our social networks always had comments in Portuguese and lots of thank you messages. Brazil is our largest market, other than the United States. We have received a lot of support, even from people who are not religious, but they like the stories. You’ve already seen the huge statue [do Cristo Redentor, no Rio de Janeiro] and now they see the human Jesus, without being a statue, and his disciples in front of the stained glass windows of the churches.
In an exclusive conversation with the reporter during his visit to Brazil to promote the cinema premiere of “The Chosen”, Dallas Jenkins points out that he sees the collective financing system as an alternative for audiovisual productions that escape the everyday. “I think it will happen more and more, but it would be irresponsible of me to give people the impression that it is an easy process. That’s not the case!” he emphasizes.
It’s difficult when you have to ask people for monetary donations because you usually don’t have anything to show for it. I had made a short film at my church that excited the public and helped people invest. It will never be the only way of production, but it is undoubtedly a process that gives you more control over the product.
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Dallas Jenkins jokes with Jonathan Roumie backstage
For Jenkins, the difference between “The Chosen” is telling the biblical stories and parables of Jesus that much of the world already knows, from different perspectives. “In the Bible the passages are small: ‘Jesus did this, Jesus said that.’ There is no context. It’s fun to look at these stories, learn about the culture of the time and fill in the gaps,” he explains.
“We stay true to the message, but we build the past with a lot of research, a lot of culture and also a lot of imagination. You’ve heard the story elsewhere, but it becomes more exciting when you have a different perspective.” It’s like Titanic [1997], you know the ending, but you want to see how it unfolds. People always say to me, ‘I can’t wait to see The Chosen tell such a miracle!'” says the director and screenwriter.
Interestingly, Dallas Jenkins did not plan to focus on religious stories in his film career. He began working on “secular” (i.e. unrelated to the Bible) productions. But faith spoke louder and he could not deny his calling. “My wife was actually embarrassed when I moved, she didn’t want me to do The Chosen Ones,” he admits.
“But every filmmaker becomes better when he tells stories that move him, when they are authentic to his heart. When I started doing religious productions, my work became much more popular. Even with an audience that is not religious because it is not a preacher.” Series. Even if you don’t believe Jesus is the Son of God, you might like the message, the story we tell.”
There is no premiere date for The Chosen on SBT yet. The first season of the series is available to Netflix customers and also Globoplay to subscribers of the + Live Channels package. It is still possible to watch the series for free on the app “The Chosen”, dubbed and with Portuguese subtitles.