Image courtesy of One Thirty Agency
Director Dallas Jenkins (pictured left) and Actor Jonathan Roumie (pictured right) discuss a scene portraying Jesus in the synagogue.
.
Image courtesy of One Thirty Agency
—
For Dallas Jenkins as a filmmaker, the praise and the accolades go to God. “I can do everything I can, but there’s that piece of it that’s almost transcendent, that’s bigger and better than I could do,” the director finds.
Right in the middle of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest starring Jack Nicholson, young Dallas Jenkins saw a scene that made him light up—to physically stand up and react. And right then, the son of Christian novelist Jerry B. Jenkins (the Left Behind series) knew, “I want to do that.”
While he didn’t know all that a film director does, as a boy, he quickly learned: the director is the final storyteller on any project. One who guarantees that people react to what they see.
“I’m the son of an author, so storytelling is in my DNA,” film director Jenkins says today from his office in Dallas, where he’s soon to call “action” on Season 4 of The Chosen.
Join hundreds of church filmmakers at the annual Capture Summit.
And the glory goes to …
Gauging by viewers’ reactions to The Chosen series and its recent film finale of Season 3 that rocked the box office, Jenkins has wildly succeeded. On February 2, 2023, the finale, which features episodes 7 and 8, opened at $1.67 million, about which Jenkins admits—he wasn’t expecting big numbers.
“I’ve gotten to a place in my life and career that I don’t care about the results. Obviously, I’m a human being so I want people to like what I’m doing, and if the show can generate income, that’s all good,” he notes. “But I’ve gotten to a place where I don’t have expectations.”
For the first 20 years of his career, Jenkins says that was not the case. “I was obsessed with winning awards and having a big audience, but God took all that away.”
And he adds, “With those five loaves and fishes, how He feeds them is really not up to us. So I’m not motivated by success or failure [today], other than simply wanting to make the show. I put all that in God’s hands.”
Cutting his teeth as a church filmmaker
The seeds of the series The Chosen were planted in the church when Jenkins worked as a church filmmaker making short stories.
“When I was in a church, we didn’t have the resources either,” he’s quick to point out. But church filmmakers do have precious ideas that can make a big impact when approached with the resources at hand.
“Don’t try to do more than what you can afford,” Jenkins advises church filmmakers. “Don’t try to do a poor man’s version of something bigger and better.” Instead, stick with what you can do and pray.
On February 2, 2023, the finale of The Chosen season 3 rocked the box office opening at $1.67 million. Director, Dallas Jenkins admits—he wasn’t expecting big numbers.
One of the things a church filmmaker can do, for instance, is making sure their cameras and their audio gear are the best they can be for their needs. As Jenkins says, “This is where a church film team has put its money. And at the end of the day, you’ve absolutely got to have good audio.”
In addition, whether a church film team is creating a testimony or a fictional narrative, Jenkins advises, “Keep it small. The audience can’t see outside of the frame … make sure you put what’s in your budget within that frame. People won’t compare it to The Chosen. The only time it looks bad is when you’re trying to make it look as good as something else.”
Jenkins paints this picture for church filmmakers, too: “Don’t drink wine on a beer salary. This is an important maxim, and it applies to me as well on The Chosen. In Season 4, [as always], we will make compromises because we can’t afford certain things.”
Who’s the Director?
When asked for his initial vision in crafting The Chosen for a widespread viewing audience, Jenkins shares, “When we first started to craft it, we started with the end, then we worked our way forward. So we wanted a general sense of where we were going.”
Then, there’s the loaves and fishes part again—where mere human filmmakers can’t figure out exactly how to make it work, even though they have control over where the story is going.
“There’s always things you envision, casting, building a set for filming, the getting-to-the-edge-of-the-Red Sea moment, where there’s nothing we can do and the Romans are chasing us,” Jenkins muses. “And it has always turned out better than we could hope for. There are many solutions that I couldn’t have come up with on my own.”
For Jenkins as a filmmaker, the praise and the accolades go to God.
“I can do everything I can, but there’s that piece of it that’s almost transcendent, that’s bigger and better than I could do,” the director finds.
One element of the beauty of a series—an episodic that unfolds bit by bit—is that Jenkins and crew (and church techs with their testimonial series and sermon series promos and so forth) can get into their work, add what talents they can bring, and then leave the viewers’ takeaway in God’s hands.
“You can develop the backstory of the character, with all the spiritual and emotional context,” Jenkins says. “People fall in love with the characters and the journey from season to season and it becomes their journey.”
Developing motivations and relationships in their film content is something church filmmakers can strive to improve, just as Jenkins does, he says, giving viewers rewards in the big moments and helping content to truly resonate.
In church testimonial videos, in particular, Jenkins describes a format that works especially well to impact viewers.
“I was … before God stepped in. But God did THIS to change me. And NOW here I am. I was drunk. God stepped in and now I'm sober,” he says as one example.
Closing credits
Jenkins has done what he calls “no-budget testimonial videos” for his church that had tremendous impact, and he remembers them well.
“It’s all about storytelling,” he restates.
And he adds from his vantage point telling the big-time story he’s telling today, “I love the church. We’re in a partnership. The series The Chosen has helped people know and love Jesus more.”
Just the same, he notes, what film teams are doing at church is enhancing the Gospel message.
“We’re helping each other do this mission,” the director closes. “And there’s so much at stake.”
Interested in refining your video production skills? Join us at the annual Capture Summit, presented by Church Production.
