The Creator of 'The Chosen' Was Ready To Quit Film Forever | Ep. 65 w/ Dallas Jenkins
The Jeremy Boreing ShowShow Notes
Dallas Jenkins, creator and director of The Chosen, sits down with Jeremy Boreing one week after stepping off the set for the final time — 528 days of production over eight years. The two friends first met in Los Angeles more than a decade ago, before The Chosen or The Daily Wire existed. Now they talk about failure, surrender, ambition, and what it really costs to make art for an audience of millions.
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Before The Chosen became a global phenomenon, Dallas was a director who didn't want to be called a "Christian filmmaker." He tells the story of The Resurrection of Gavin Stone — a film backed by Blumhouse and WWE Studios that tested well and then bombed on opening weekend — and the night that changed everything: a 15-page memo written until 4 a.m. and a Facebook message from a near-stranger in Romania: "Your job is not to feed the 5,000. It's only to provide the loaves and fish." That line became the name of his company, 5&2 Studios.
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From there, Dallas walks through the unlikely origin of The Chosen: a short film shot behind a barn in Illinois, a crowdfunding campaign he expected to fail, and the COVID-era decision to give the show away for free. The two get into why neither man believes he "works for" the audience, how a council of biblical scholars, a Messianic Jewish rabbi, and a Catholic priest shape the show, and why success can be a spiritual danger. They also cover Christian ambition and narcissism, Dallas's 15-year pursuit of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, and why online criticism no longer drives his decisions. And then the hardest question: after a decade of building Christian and conservative media, has any of it made a positive dent in the culture?
Dallas also previews what's next: The Chosen Season 6 arriving in late 2026, Season 7 and a resurrection feature film planned for 2028, the Joseph of Egypt series with Prime Video, a three-season Moses series in development, and another greenlit project he can't announce yet. Along the way, Jeremy shares lessons from his own journey and the two remember the late Andrew Breitbart, who believed in both of them before anyone else did.
Whether you've watched every episode of The Chosen or you're a creator wrestling with ambition, failure, and faith, this is a candid look at what it means to bring your loaves and fish — and leave the multiplication to God.
Chapters:
(00:00:00) Final Days on Set: Wrapping The Chosen
(00:05:41) The Box Office Flop and the Loaves and Fish
(00:15:10) The Unlikely Birth of The Chosen
(00:24:48) "I Don't Work for You": Art and Audiences
(00:41:08) Great Stories, Success, and Staying Humble
(00:57:48) Faith and Ambition: Pray for Pageant
(01:07:40) Ego, Creative Drive, and Mentoring
(01:22:30) Shutting Out Noise and Online Criticism
(01:37:17) Has Faith-Based Media Changed Culture?
(01:46:30) Remembering Andrew Breitbart Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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