EXCLUSIVE: The prayers of The Chosen fans have been answered with news that season four of the popular Jesus of Nazareth series has been granted a waiver from SAG to continue filming amid the strike.
The series’ official Twitter account tweeted yesterday afternoon PST: “Great news! We just received word from SAG that we have been approved for a waiver. We’ll continue shooting on Monday.”
The Utah-shot series barely missed a beat, only having to film a day or two without cast. The series includes multiple SAG actors, including star Jonathan Roumie who plays Jesus.
A recent Instagram post by creator Dallas Jenkins implored SAG for an exemption: “We’ve submitted all the requested paperwork immediately. We fit all qualifications for an exemption. Every day that goes by without your response costs us hundreds of thousands of dollars while your actors are stuck in Utah. We’re the good guys. We’ve treated your actors well.”
The Chosen becomes the first known TV series to be granted an exemption. It is widely anticipated that waivers will largely apply to indie films, given that most U.S. series are made with a studio.
The agreements are being granted to “truly independent producers” as long as they are not affiliated with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and agree to be bound retroactively to whatever contract terms eventually are achieved with the AMPTP when the strike is settled.
But SAG’s path to granting exemptions isn’t straight forward. Even in the case of The Chosen, the series recently announced a sales licensing deal with Lionsgate and previous seasons have been sold to CW, Netflix, Amazon and Peacock. Far as we know, those deals only apply to seasons one to three, not season four (even if the budget for the latest season may have benefited from those deals).
We’ve reached out to Jenkins, producers and SAG for detail on how the waiver came about.
The Chosen certainly has indie roots given it is widely regarded as one of the most successful crowdfunded TV series of all time. According to a Wall Street Journal profile, two years ago viewers had already contributed $40M towards its production. New episodes are released for free on the show’s website and app, and are later made available via platforms. Texas-based indie Out Of Order Studios produces.
The historical drama tells the story of Jesus through the eyes of those who knew him, charting his teachings and ‘miracles’ as he embarks on his ministry to change the world.
We broke news yesterday of the first interim agreements being granted by SAG, some of the terms, and some of the questions that still exist around the process.
The first movie understood to have been granted an interim agreement is upcoming Simon West action-comedy Bride Hard, which is set to star Rebel Wilson.
As we reported last week, House Of The Dragon is among a handful of high-end studio series that may continue filming overseas this summer due to UK union rules.