“The Chosen,” the super-popular streaming video dramatic series on the life and ministry of Jesus, successfully wrapped up its funding drive to produce a third season, series creator and executive producer Dallas Jenkins said in an email to fans Wednesday.
“Season 3 was fully funded yesterday. My heart is full,” Mr. Jenkins wrote in the email message.
“We don’t rely on a studio writing a big check to secure the future. We rely on you choosing to pay for our free show,” he added.
The program is available on a mobile app for Google Android and Apple iOS devices, as well as via BYUtv and The Chosen’s YouTube page.
Unlike many television series, which rely on studios to fund their creation, producers Loaves & Fishes Productions and partner Utah-based Angel Studios rely on viewers to “pay it forward” with cash sponsorships, purchase of show merchandise, and sales of DVD and Blu-ray discs.
“As I’ve made clear many times, we’re not a charity,” Mr. Jenkins wrote. “We don’t ask for ‘donations.’ And, while we don’t exist to make a profit, we must be profitable to exist.”
Viewers who help “ensure future episodes and seasons while also allowing us to keep it free for those who can’t pay for it,” Mr. Jenkins wrote.
As of June, “The Chosen” had garnered more than 200 million online views and raised $22 million from viewers wishing to underwrite future episodes.
Those numbers have grown in the months since, aided by the record-setting Christmas special “The Chosen: The Messengers” which had a ten-day run on 1,500 movie screens nationwide.
During the September 2021 filming of that Christmas program, Mr. Jenkins expressed optimism about the scripts and stories for the show’s third season.
“I’m currently finishing up the writing of season three, and we are planning to start filming early 2022,” Mr. Jenkins said in an interview on location in Goshen, Utah.
“I never want to get ahead of myself, but we’re covering some ground and covering some stories that the fans I know are going to be extremely excited about, that the scripts are turning out great,” he said.
Along with the Utah location, “The Chosen” is also filmed at the Salvation Army’s Hoblitzelle Camp and Conference Center, a 1,000-acre property in Midlothian, Texas.
The show’s producers are building a first-century village set and soundstage at the property which is expected to house the remaining five seasons the producers hope to film after season 3.
The site also will be used by the Christian evangelical church and charity to train inner-city youth in video production.
The Washington Times contacted the show’s publicists for details on when production is expected to start and when the new season will be released but did not receive an immediate response.
• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.
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