The Chosen: An Interview With The Director

An Interview with Director Dallas Jenkins

I became Facebook friends with Dallas Jenkins several years ago and had no idea that one day I would be interviewing him for his work on what I believe will be one of the most important TV series ever made.

Dallas is the son of Jerry Jenkins, coauthor of the award-winning, New York Times bestselling “Left Behind” book series about the End Times. Dallas has directed more than a dozen feature and short films over his twenty-year career for some of the biggest studios in Hollywood.

The Chosen, which is a first-ever TV series about the life of Jesus, is his latest project, and is special in a couple of ways. One, the story is told from multiple perspectives, especially the characters who encountered Jesus. Typically, Jesus films and mini-series are from the point of view of Jesus, and they go from miracle to miracle. Exploring all the people in the gospels allows the show to dig deeper into the stories and allows the audience to encounter Jesus through the eyes of those who were impacted by Him. This makes the show more relatable and helps the viewer connect with the heart of Jesus.

Two, this project is being crowd funded. In fact, to date, it is the highest grossing crowd funded media project of all time, at more than seven million and counting. There was a time when Dallas would have been surprised if it made eight hundred dollars. What a testimony to the power of God in His perfect timing.

This started with a special Christmas episode. Within the first moments of The Chosen pilot episode, you are drawn in by an outcast; a young, crippled shepherd. You watch him in the marketplace and the synagogue desperately seeking to hear the readings of the Scriptures, driven by his hunger to learn about the prophesied Messiah, only to be shunned and scolded.

Jesus came, full of grace and truth, to proclaim good news to the poor, to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and a release from darkness for the prisoners (Isaiah 61). This is the Jesus you will meet in The Chosen.

At a time in our culture when we are more divided than devoted, the message in The Chosen is a beacon of Light that invites everyone into its warmth with the hope and promise of forgiveness, redemption and restoration.

I got a chance to interview Dallas about the story behind The Chosen.

Me: Thank you again for taking the time to talk with me.

Dallas: No problem. Thank you for asking.

Me: How many movies have you made in your career?

Dallas: Six or seven feature films and six or seven short films.

Me: How much of an influence has your dad been on you?

Dallas: My storytelling desire and ability came from him, obviously, but he also is a movie buff and introduced me to great movies.

Me: He must be very proud of you.

Dallas: Yes, he is. He’s very proud to see how this project is being received and how we’re telling the Jesus story.

Me: When did you know that you wanted to make movies?

Dallas: I knew I wanted to make movies for a living when I watched One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest in high school. I thought, I want to arouse emotion in others the way this film has in me. I have been a Christian my entire life, so in the beginning I was a filmmaker who happened to be a Christian, not a Christian film maker.

Me: When did you know you were called to make movies?

Dallas: One day, about twelve years ago, I was mowing my lawn and I heard God say that He wanted me to make movies that were explicitly faith-based, to not be ashamed of doing it as ministry. But also that that doesn’t mean they have to be low quality. Sometimes Christian movies aren’t made well. “What If” was the first film I made right after that.

Me: The Chosen project came on the heels of a big disappointment. You had just made and released The Resurrection of Gavin Stone and it didn’t have the Box Office success you anticipated. Tell me more about that.

Dallas: Gavin Stone had Hollywood producers behind it who were ready to financially back future projects. It was a big deal. When it didn’t have success at the Box Office, they all pulled out.

Me: How did that make you feel?

Dallas: I was confused. I was of course disappointed. I felt discouraged. It had been a big opportunity. As someone who typically plans things and likes to be in control, I thought where am I going next?

Me: What happened next?

Dallas: God put the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand with five loaves and two fish on my wife’s heart. We were talking about it and she pointed out that God knew everything about the situation beforehand. He knew the people were hungry. It was actually his “fault” they were hungry. And when it came time for the miracle, He could have done it all Himself. Yet He had them do for themselves what they didn’t need Him to do. He had them gather the food and distribute it. He did this throughout his ministry, Like Lazarus. He had them remove the stone from the mouth of the cave and remove his grave clothes. He’s saying do for yourselves what you can do and let Me do the rest. Leave the outcome to Me.

The next morning I was up at 4am and I got a Facebook message from someone I barely knew, just a Facebook friend. It said, “It’s not your job to feed the 5,000, it’s only to bring the loaves and fish.” I asked him why he sent that to me. He said he didn’t know, God told him to. I almost thought someone had a camera on in our room when my wife and I talked. It was really a miracle. But it was clear that as long as I was doing what was right, I needed to only worry about my part and let God worry about the outcome.

It was that philosophy that allowed me to be open to all the crazy decisions that happened with The Chosen, such as doing it through crowd-funding.

Me: What’s your view on miracles?

Dallas: I think sometimes we think of miracles as only the big obvious ones. Here in America it’s not like in other countries where they are needed to prove the existence and power of God. Everyone has access to a Bible in America. Here, God provides solutions. God shows up in areas He’s already spoken to us about. That’s what miracles have been for me.

And for me, God gives only enough for the day. Like Manna from Heaven, where he told the Israelites to not store any up. He hands out Manna daily so I stay desperate for Him, dependent on Him. Just enough for the day.

Me: Yes, the Bible tells us He’s our Daily Bread, doesn’t it? How has this miracle impacted your faith?

Dallas: Truly, to not stress about the outcome. Do what we can and leave the rest to Him. God has provided when and how much we needed and no more. We have been through so much in the past year. I left a job with no safety net, we’ve had more health issues in our family than in twenty years combined. And God has provided for every bit, but never more than the minimum.

Me: What do you sense God is saying to this generation?

Dallas: There is a tremendous craving for authenticity. Because of social media, we have lost authenticity in our communication and in our relationships. Because of that we are hungry for authenticity. That’s why The Chosen has struck a chord with so many people. It’s the way the story is being told, we’re not telling a clean, safe, whitewashed story. And we are pulling back the curtain so to speak with sharing our journey in the making of it. Letting people in to the process and the story.

Me: How should the Church respond to the cry of this generation?

Dallas: The Church can take advantage of this cry for authenticity by stripping away the veneer and not denying the pain and struggles that Jesus came for. The Church needs to be communicating authentically and in real relationships with people.

Me: What do you think about where we are as a nation right now? Are you concerned about it?

Dallas: Well yes. We’ve become very tribal. We stick with our people. We are breaking away from people who need us most, trying to be right instead of showing love and kindness. Jesus came for the sick. We try too hard to be right, to win. No one is hearing each other. We’ve lost the ability to know how to communicate with people who are different than us.

Me: Amen! I’m sure God is showing up on the set of The Chosen. How are lives being impacted there?

Dallas:Yes, believers on set are seeing Jesus in a new way, connecting with Him in new ways. Half of the cast and crew are unbelievers, and many of them have told stories of how they felt weirdly called to be part of this project, and how it’s a different set than they’ve ever been on.

Me: How do you stay God-centered on set?

Dallas: Every day a group of us do prayer and devotion, but it’s not a believer-only set, it’s mixed, so nothing is forced. Every day people visit, Pastors visit and pray with and for us. Rabbis visit the set. I lead a lot of the prayer and devotions. My daily prayer is Lord, help me get out of the way. But God is doing so much that my prayers are really about gratitude. I’m really grateful. God has given us special favor and wisdom for such a time as this.

Me: Dallas, what’s your hope for The Chosen?

Dallas: From a practical standpoint, to be able to tell the story from beginning to end. We still need financing for that. Spiritually, the goal is to make Jesus more known around the world. But that’s up to God.

How can you be a part of this great movement to make Jesus more known? First, you can pray. The prayers of those in Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, are extremely effective in moving God’s plans. Second, you can share. Go to TheChosen.tv, The Chosen Facebook page, Youtube, and Instagram and share the videos. Third, you can invest. There will be another opportunity to invest that will be posted on TheChosen.tv.

Pray, share, invest.

Let’s do this, Church!