Tag: The Chosen

A Faith and Family Hollywood Merger

With the out-of-touch product that Hollywood has been serving up for far too long now, it turns out that a sizable audience has been built up, one that is truly longing for solid faith and family-based entertainment fare.

Well some good news is on the horizon for folks like these and likeminded ones. Two highly successful media outlets, both of which have been providing consumers with faith and family focused content, are teaming up.

Great American Media, parent company of the popular cable channel Great American Family, is merging with PureFlix, a streaming service that offers a variety of faith-based movies, television shows, and documentaries.

The terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed, but Great American Media will hold the majority interest in the upcoming combined company.

Great American happens to be the current competitor and business rival of the Hallmark Channel. Interestingly, the person who launched Great American had been at the helm of Hallmark for over a decade.

Bill Abbott, then-CEO of Crown Media, which is the parent company of Hallmark, guided the channel to become the go-to network for made-for-TV Christmas movies.

Abbott left Hallmark in 2020 over an incident involving traditional versus non-traditional values. He went on to launch Great American Media and its two cable TV channels, Great American Family and Great American Living. He also launched a free ad-supported subscription streaming channel called Great American Adventures.

Great American Media’s programming features the aforementioned Christmas films, rom-coms, and classic series that focus on “faith, family and country” themes.

The executive was also able to bring over some of the top former Hallmark Channel stars to his budding network, including Danica McKellar, best known for playing Winnie Cooper in the original “Wonder Years” television show, Lori Loughlin of “Full House” fame, as well as fellow “Full House” star and queen of Hallmark’s Christmas fare Candace Cameron Bure.

PureFlix is a streaming service that is known for its extensive library of faith-oriented and family-friendly content, including the “God’s Not Dead” film franchise and “The Chosen” streaming series.

The streaming service presents a family alternative to Netflix. It currently has a price tag of $7.99 per month and boasts more than a million subscribers in over 190 countries.

In 2020 PureFlix became part of Affirm, Sony Pictures’ faith-based division, which had previously released faith-based films known for modest production budgets and sizable profit margins, including such successful titles as “War Room,” “Heaven Is for Real,” “Overcomer,” and “Miracles from Heaven.”

Abbott will remain as CEO of the newly formed entity created by the two-company merge, and he will report to the board of directors.

The merger highlights the importance of faith-based family-friendly entertainment to Hollywood as a whole.

“This merger will allow us to further our commitment to original, quality content and makes Great American Media and Pure Flix leaders in a large and under-served market,” Abbott stated in the announcement of the transaction.

It is this oft-neglected group of media consumers that stands to benefit the most from the merger. This being said, my prediction is that the joining of forces of the two media outlets is likely to produce an all-out faith-based juggernaut.

It is going to have a larger reach, a larger library of family-friendly material, and a larger comprehensive streaming and cable television experience. And Pure Flix and Great American Media will most likely enhance one another’s content.

Great American Media had previously launched its content on traditional cable networks as opposed to a streaming service. The company’s networks are not only available in 50 million pay TV homes, they are featured in internet TV bundles such as Frndly TV and Fubo, and also on its own free, ad-supported channel, making it one of the fastest-growing television outlets.

After the merger takes place, PureFlix will have given Great American’s networks a streaming home of their own.

At the same time, Great American’s cable channels will have provided a new platform for Pure Flix to showcase content for TV audiences and will also have made available a library of new content that can be shown on Great American Media’s networks.

This is the kind of win-win business deal that makes for a very happy Hollywood ending.

Viewers Show Their Christmas Love for ‘The Chosen’

Dallas Jenkins, filmmaker son of “Left Behind” series author Jerry Jenkins, is the creator of the streaming series “The Chosen,” which is the first multi-season series that focuses on the life of Jesus Christ.

The series has become a global phenomenon. It currently holds the record for being the highest crowd-funded project of all time.

Its devoted audience has funded $40 million in crowd-funding financing to date, which has facilitated the production of two full seasons of programming.

The number of viewers of “The Chosen” keeps growing exponentially, thanks to the series’ multiple streaming platforms and its very own app.

The New Testament project has been translated into 50 languages and has made its way into the world’s top entertainment app list.

The success of “The Chosen” has resulted in an upgrade of the project’s production facilities, allowing future filming of the upcoming third season to take place with a historically accurate set design, one that sits on 900 acres in Midlothian, Texas.

The series is available on the app with no fee or subscription required. The opportunity for viewers to voluntarily “pay it forward” is provided via crowd-funding at the conclusion of the screening.

Plans for the series to continue for seven full seasons is in the works, allowing for a full exploration of all aspects of the life and ministry of Jesus.

Part of the uniqueness of the approach that has been taken by the creators of “The Chosen” series has to do with the emotionally relatable characters that are featured in their cinematic story lines.

Bible believing Christians adhere to the doctrine that Jesus is both human and divine.

While still staying true to Scripture, Jenkins and company have focused more heavily on Christ’s humanity. This is in contrast with what many of their predecessor filmmakers have done.

“The No. 1 word that we put on our wall, the banner across everything we do, is ‘authenticity,’” Jenkins says. “So many past Bible projects telling Jesus’ story have been a little stiff, maybe a cleaned up, sanitized version of the story. We desperately seek to pursue a portrayal that’s as authentic as possible.”

For the role of Jesus, Jenkins went with an actor that he had used before, Jonathan Roumie. Having been raised in the Greek Orthodox Church and being a convert to the Roman Catholic faith, Roumie is highly knowledgeable about the Gospel story.

He had played Jesus in a touring multi-media project about the life of Saint Faustina called “Faustina: Messenger of Divine Mercy.” He had additionally played the role of Jesus in a short film by Jenkins, titled “The Two Thieves.”

As we move further into the Christmas season, the timing is perfect for a remembrance celebration of the birth of the holy infant. It is also a welcomed time to experience a cinematic retelling of the time-honored Christmas story, particularly a retelling that is respectful in its presentation. And the following one truly is.

Multiplying the joy of the season, the producers of “The Chosen” have created an additional stand-alone big-screen movie titled “Christmas with the Chosen: The Messengers.”

The recent Christmas feature contains the same high-level production value and powerful storytelling as that of “The Chosen” series, which pleases devotees of the initial project as well as others in the movie-going public who are seeking to escape the darker and more cynical movie fare that poses as holiday entertainment.

The Christmas edition of “The Chosen” has broken yet another record by becoming the bestselling movie in the history of its distributor, Fathom Events, with $8 million for 640,000 tickets in 1,700 movie theaters nationwide.

Fathom, which has been going strong for 17 years, is the 11th largest distributor of content to movie theaters.

In the lead-up to the box-office event, $1.5 million in tickets were sold during the first 12 hours of availability. As a result, the original 2-day run had to be expanded to 10-days.

On a musical note, “Christmas with the Chosen: The Messengers” is loaded with performances by an all-star roster of contemporary Christian music performers that include For King & Country, Phil Wickham, We The Kingdom, Matt Maher, Maverick City Music, Brandon Lake, Cain, Leanna Crawford, Jordan Feliz, Dawson Hollow, One Voice Children’s Choir, The Bonner Family, and Bryan and Katie Torwalt.

The music component of the film culminates in an epic performance of “Joy to the World,” featuring a collaboration of star musicians playing and singing the venerable hymn.

May all enjoy this miraculous time of the year when Earth receives her King.

Jerry Jenkins: ‘Left Behind’ May Be ‘Pretty Close’

Jerry Jenkins is one of the most successful authors of our time.

Best known for the “Left Behind” series, co-authored by Tim LaHaye, the set of End Times tomes quickly rose over the years to cultural phenom heights, awarding it the virtual status of a household name.

Gifted with the art of dramatic storytelling, Jenkins and LaHaye were able to take their humble talents and combine them with the ministry of Bible prophecy.

A multimedia franchise was born, one that consists of sixteen bestselling novels, three films starring Kirk Cameron, one reboot featuring Nicolas Cage in the lead, and some additional faith-based video game fare.

At the core of the “Left Behind” concept is a scripturally-based End Times precept that is woven throughout the passages of the New Testament’s final book, Revelation.

In the “Left Behind” books and attendant multimedia, those who choose to accompany the authors on their journey find themselves entering a realm of a future world in which people are desperately trying to cope with the disappearance of millions of their loved ones who have mysteriously vanished.

While on their search to find family members, co-workers, and friends, they find answers in the process to age-old questions about life here on Earth and beyond.

But ultimately revealed to them is that there is a protracted battle taking place between the Tribulation Force, which is an underground network of Christian converts, and a world-encompassing totalitarian government, referred to as the Global Community.

The Global Community is headed by an individual who is the embodiment of evil, the Antichrist himself.

It turns out that Jenkins hasn’t just been writing about End Times prophesies. As one of the most prolific writers in the country, he has been hard at work producing more than 200 books in multiple genres. Twenty-one of his books have been New York Times bestsellers and more than 72 million copies of his works have been sold.

He began his career as a sports writer and moved into a new mode of expression with a nationally syndicated sports-oriented comic strip called “Gil Thorp.”

He was anything but an overnight success. In fact, the book that launched Jenkins’s most successful series, the original “Left Behind” novel, was actually his 125th book.

Similar to many who attend Bible-oriented churches, Jenkins is non-denominational in his personal beliefs. He is often asked about his denomination, and when this happens he is ready with his two word response, “Jesus Christ.”

Because Jenkins has penned the most widely read books on biblical predictions, he is also frequently asked to comment on the unprecedented circumstances in which we find ourselves today.

He recently told the Christian Post why he believes that we are now close to experiencing the same End Times events that take place in the “Left Behind” series.

“We’re getting pretty close to the end. I think we have more reason to believe that now than we ever have,” Jenkins said. “It seems like something is coming. You just wonder how long God can carry us as sinful and restless as the world is.”

He avoids providing specific calendar days as to when these future events are to occur by pointing out the profound differences between finite human beings’ designs and the Creator’s plans and purposes.

“… God has a different economy of time than we do. He wrote in the Bible 2,000 years ago that the end was soon or imminent, and that we should watch and wait. We’ve been doing that all these years.” Jenkins explained.

“The Bible also says that to God, 1,000 years is as a day and a day is as 1,000 years. So if He waits one more day, in His mercy, that would be 1,000 of our years. Yet I don’t think there’s any more prophecy that needs to be fulfilled before the end, so it could be today as well,” Jenkins said.

Based on the idea that the end could come at any time, Jenkins views the saving of souls and the sharing of faith with others as a greater imperative than it has ever been.

“I think it’s obvious that we need to be at the task of being sure that the fewest people possible are left behind,” he said. “That means sharing our faith and being bold and not holding back. Sometimes we’re so afraid to offend somebody, we could offend them right into Hell. I think we need to just be overt, and it’s on them what they do.”

In addition to his other amazing accomplishments, Jenkins is the owner of a film company, Jenkins Entertainment, which is run by his son Dallas. The firm has produced uplifting family films since the early 2000s.

Jenkins’s son is the creator of “The Chosen,” the first multi-season television series about the life of Christ.

The story of the financing for “The Chosen” is instructive for young filmmakers. By utilizing a provision of legislation that allows crowdfunding companies to offer ownership shares to online investors, the project was able to raise more than $10.2 million from over 16,000 investors, making it the top crowdfunded film project at the time.

It now has $20 million in crowdfunding and has been viewed by over 90 million people in over 180 countries, catapulting it to the top crowdfunded media project ever.

The senior Jenkins’s latest novel is titled after his son’s hit series and will be released as a series of books. The first volume of the series is titled “The Chosen: I Have Called You By Name.” He is already in the process of writing a second installment of the series.

The author hopes that the culture can be impacted positively by “The Chosen” television series as well as “The Chosen” book series, much like the “Left Behind” series, by helping folks return to fellowshipping with God.

“That is that people … go back to their Bible, check it out, see what it says. Go back to church, return to their relationship with God or begin a relationship with God.”