The Chosen creator reveals the “failure” that led to shows inception

The Chosen has become a global success and one of Prime Video’s most popular series. Since its debut in 2019, this Christian historical drama has gained millions of fans around the world. Created by Dallas Jenkins, the series tells the story of Jesus of Nazareth through the eyes of those who knew him: his disciples, followers, religious leaders, and others.

With five seasons released and two more planned, the show has reached audiences through both streaming platforms and theatrical releases. But despite its worldwide fame, its creator recently admitted something unexpected. As reported by Collider, in a column for AARP, Jenkins wrote,

“It was born from failure.”

How failure led to the success of The Chosen

In the AARP piece, as Collider reports, Dallas Jenkins openly shared that The Chosen wasn’t part of the career path he had imagined. In fact, before creating the show, he faced a major setback that nearly ended his time in the film industry.

Jenkins had directed a feature film called The Resurrection of Gavin Stone, and it showed promise. As Jenkins wrote in the novel,

“The movie turned out well, it tested very high and everyone was excited — until it completely bombed.”

He also stated,

“On a Friday afternoon, when the box office numbers came in, I went from being a director with a very bright future to a director with no future.”

That evening turned out to be a major turning point. He and his wife were struggling to understand what had gone wrong and where to go next. But that night, they experienced a moment of clarity. Jenkins wrote,

“The answer became clear that night, when God once again put something very clearly on my wife’s heart and mine: ‘It’s not your job to feed the 5,000, only to provide the loaves and fish.’ (In the Bible’s Matthew 14, the disciples present Jesus with five loaves and two fishes, and he feeds a crowd of 5,000.) And in that moment, my life changed. I no longer cared about affirmation or legitimacy or results or success (or lack thereof). I just wanted Him to be happy with my 5 and 2. And if that meant never making another movie or TV show, I was genuinely OK with that.”

This message, inspired by the Bible story in Matthew 14, gave Jenkins a new outlook. Still unsure about the future, Jenkins made a small project, a short film. As Collider reports, Jenkins wrote in his column,

“I ended up doing a short film for my church about the birth of Christ from the perspective of the shepherds. It felt like a big step down from my Hollywood aspirations, but that was OK. When that short film went viral and launched a crowdfunding campaign that raised $10 million for a first season of a show about Jesus, suddenly I had a new opportunity.”

It was a turning point for Jenkins, one that would allow him to make more successful seasons of a project that was close to his heart. However, success has not gotten to him, and he still remains grounded, evident from what he wrote next:

“I believe I had a new choice, too. To do this my way, pursuing once again success and results. Or God’s way, which was just to focus on my loaves and fish and not care about the result.”

Now in its sixth season of production, The Chosen has been released on major platforms like Netflix, YouTube, Facebook, and Prime Video. It holds the record as the most successful crowdfunded TV show in history and has earned over $120 million from its theatrical releases.

The Chosen is streaming on The Chosen App and Prime Video.

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