Binge Jesus 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

"The Chosen" fans love it; as one of them put it, "We're not lukewarm!" (A reference to Revelation 3.) About 9,000 supporters came to Texas last summer to take part in the filming of the scene where Jesus multiplies fish and bread to "feed the five thousand."

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Production values draw fans because it's just better than most faith-based shows. As a Catholic writer says, "It was far less cheesy than what I'm used to seeing." 

There's no quoting of the King James Bible here. Instead, there's modern idiom, beautiful lighting and music, good acting. Many actors look like they could be at home in the Middle East, including Jonathan Roumie who plays Jesus. His father is Egyptian.

It's free to watch on The Chosen App.

from NYT

Binge Jesus 1

Would a big Hollywood studio put millions of dollars behind a multi-year show about the life of Jesus Christ and his students? Not likely! If a relatively unknown director wanted to create such a thing, how would he get the money to produce it? 

Director Dallas Jenkins accomplished that very thing with crowdfunding. His show, "The Chosen," was initially funded by 19,000 contributors. It was enough to get started in 2019, and it's come a long way. 

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A passionate fan base of Christians gradually discovered it. Roughly 5% of viewers got behind it with additional financial support through "pay it forward" voluntary contributions so that the show can be free to view for anyone, anywhere in the world. 

Enough fans showed up the weekend of Nov. 18-20 to place the show's first theater offering (Season 3, Episodes 1 & 2) box office at second behind only "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" in about 2000 theaters. Netflix, Amazon and Peacock started to stream it.

from NYT

(cont'd tomorrow)