Chad Gundersen and his partners at Out of Order Studios approach their craft with a strong basis in the Christian faith. Join host Pastor John Cain as Chad discusses his work and the studio’s involvement in the popular series “The Chosen”.
Transcript
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Welcome to another addition of engaging truth. I'm your host pastor John Kane recording from Nacodoches Texas today with us on the program is Mr. Chad gun. Chad is a producer out of order studios. We'll have to ask him about out of order. He is filming a series called the chosen a multiyear series on the life of Christ and his interactions with people. Welcome to the program,
Pastor, thank you for having me really appreciate it.
So I need to ask you a question. Do we say, well, it is, or do we say who are the chosen?
Yeah, right. Well, uh, the chosen, the, the title itself, um, has a few different meanings, um, in Dallas, um, Jenkins, our creator director, um, of the show. He goes into that. And so the few, a few meanings, um, obviously Jesus is the chosen one, right? And so that's a pretty obvious one. Um, and also the, the show itself centers a lot around those that were chosen to be here on the planet when Jesus was present. So obviously we're talking about the disciples, we're talking about Mary Magdalene, we're talking about even some of the Pharisees and these various people that were around. Um, and then obviously it also refers to that. We are his chosen as believers. We are his chosen. So the, the title definitely has multiple meanings. Um, but the show itself, um, like I said, it really, really focuses on those, um, those stories around Jesus and how they impacted how they were impacted by him when he was here.
Well, there have been a lot of movies on Christ and, you know, obviously that, uh, is a topic that it's beloved by many people and you probably have a lot of fans and you have a lot of critics. That's a, it's a lot to take on. So what sets you apart? How, how is this undertaking different from what has gone before?
Sure. Um, you know, Dallas had an idea, um, that he made a short film for his church. Uh, he was who, uh, at the time was working at a church up in the Chicago area and they had made a short film for their Christmas, uh, special for their Christmas, uh, services. And the, the short film was called the shepherd. Um, and the shepherd was an interesting take about the birth of Christ, but it was told from the perspective of one of the shepherds that were during his, um, during his birth. Um, so that idea is what really spawned the chosen itself is what were the stories of those that were around, what are these different angles? The, the life of fishermen, the life of tax collectors, the, the life of all these different people that were here when Christ was on the planet. Um, and that was really the basis behind that and what really kind of spawned that and that kind of what makes us very different.
You know, the majority of the Jesus, uh, movies out there, we are the first series there's been, uh, multipart, like miniseries type thing, but we're the first multi-season. And, um, and we're really taking the time to explore all these different stories, but we are kind of also unique in the way that, you know, we're not just miracle to miracle red letter to red letter where we're just kind of pacing our way through, uh, you know, pick the, the gospel right book of John. Uh, we're not just pacing ourselves through that. And just jumping through these kind of, it's almost like, kind of like the highlight reel of all that was happening, right. And each book, you know, has a different perspective and they highlight different things. And we're obviously using the entirety of all the gospels, um, to tell this story, but we're really digging into the lives of these, these folks like Simon, Peter, for example, right.
You know, having to deal with taxes, having to deal with being a fisherman, having to deal with those things. And so we really have consulted quite a bit too with, um, you know, biblical scholars, um, Jewish heritage scholars, um, and then obviously just the scriptures themselves to really try to figure out what would the life of a tax elector be like, what would the life of these fishermen be like during that time? And that's obviously where our fiction comes into play there. Um, but at the same time and people love this is that as we're telling these stories and people are engaging with these characters, all of a sudden they're like, oh, wait a minute. That was scripture. That was, that was directly from scripture. What they just said was exactly what Jesus said in the book of John. And that is exactly what Simon, how he responded or whatever it was.
And that's kind of, I think what excites people is that, yes, it is scripture. Um, now we're not a replacement for scripture. We are a TV show. We make that very, very clear. Um, you know, we, we say, look, go read your Bible. That's what we do. Um, but at the same time, it, it does really help you engage with these people. And I think it also shows a side of Jesus that is much more human, right? Jesus was all man, and all, all God, there, there, there is no questioning that. And I think the majority of TV shows, they really kind of focus on the deity of Christ, which is obviously he's our savior, he's our Lord and savior, that's who he is, but he was also a man and God did that intentionally so that he could relate, um, to, to us and help us through those time.
So when we, uh, when we plan, uh, whether it's audio or video to, uh, communicate something quite often, we have an audience in mind. What, what's your target audience? Did you have somebody in mind that you said, you know, I need to make this for a certain group of people.
Well, you know, I think as filmmakers, as television makers, you, you always want to hit as broad an audience as you can. Right. I, you know, and if, I think if anybody says differently, you know, you know, they, you gotta have a focus for sure. Um, and we definitely are focused on, on believers. We're focused on that. The, the millions, if not billions of people in the world that claim to follow Christ. Right. And, and, and regardless of denomination, I mean, I do think we've done a pretty good job. Um, yes, we have our critics, um, and they obviously normally are louder than most, um, that, you know, have a lot of questions and, and, you know, you know, poor Dallas, he gets called a heretic and he gets called a false prophet and he gets called all these things. And, you know, but we're not, we're not a church.
We're not pastors, that's not who we are. We are believers. Um, and we have done our homework. We feel to do that. Um, but we do want to entertain people. We want people to see a different Jesus than what they've normally seen. Um, and so our audience, you know, it's weird. I mean, of course the audience you start with is probably not the audience we have now because our audience has become so big. I mean, we are worldwide. We're in every nation. Yeah. We have, we have followers and viewers, honestly, from every religion, not even the Christian ones, right. I mean, we have Muslims and we have Buddhist and we have Hindu all of them, honestly, age by the storytelling part of it. Um, and a lot of those religions too, they, they may not believe Jesus is the savior. They may not believe he's God, but a lot of 'em believe that he least was a good prophet or whatever he may be. So that what is, what's engaging them. And then hopefully it's opening their eyes to who and what Jesus really was exactly. Right.
So the Bible is often very understated, very reserved, very compact in the way that it, uh, tells many of these historical accounts. Uh, describe for our listeners, how you've, uh, used biblical history and maybe a careful historical fiction.
Well, it, it is a line that we, we walk and we walk it very delicately and with a lot of prayer, um, and a lot of, um, advice and counsel, um, as I mentioned, um, we have multiple biblical scholars, um, uh, from various different faiths that come together and work with our writers and work with Dallas, um, to figure those things out. And so whether it's being accurate, which we a hundred percent wanna be and need to be, and, and try to be is biblically accurate. Obviously, first and foremost, we ought, we wanna, we honor, we wanna honor scripture. We wanna honor the Bible for what it is, and that is the holy word of God. But at the same time, we also consult with, um, historical, you know, scholars, uh, Jewish scholars, uh, scholars that know, um, Jewish history, um, history from Israel and that sort of stuff all the way down to what is a typical life of some of these people, um, of a, um, of a Pharisee of a, uh, fisherman of, you know, somebody like Mary Magdalene in a position that she was in, what would her daily life would've been like?
And obviously no different than any culture in the world. We have historical documents that talk about, um, what their life was like. And so that's what we use to kind of talk about those things. So we, we, we, we feel like we've done our homework. We feel like from both a biblically accurate perspective and from a creative perspective to get things right. And then obviously a lot of it is just the, um, the talents of our writers and the talents of Dallas and on the entire team that we've assembled around him, um, to create this thing, uh, whether it's the look, um, interesting. The, we were at, um, a convention NRB, national religious broadcasters. We were there this past week. Um, and we have a model, um, that we built of, uh, of a city that we're gonna be building for the show, but we're basically building our own caper.
Right. A lot of the show, a lot of, uh, the Bible takes place in caper. We'll use it for the spell towns as well. So we're at NRB, which is a huge, um, uh, convention every year, um, with multiple religious scholars, religious, um, historians. And we had a gentleman come up to us and he, he looks at me and he goes, you know, I'm, I'm from Israel. Um, I am a first century biblical, um, expert on, on a lot of levels. And he was very humble, very nice guy, very sweet guy. And I'm sitting there going, oh, no,
Um, they put this thing together, um, and he just kind of pauses for a moment. And then he goes, you guys did a really, really good job. I feel like you guys have done. It's one of the best models that I've seen. And he even re fors the statue. There was a little, little miniature statue, um, outside the courtyard, he goes all the way down to that statue. I think you guys did a wonderful, wonderful job. So obviously I was a expecting something a little bit different, but I, but it was, I went back to the team, James and Jeff and the team behind that put that together. And I said, Hey, kudos to you guys for doing your research. Um, and really making sure that we're hitting things accurate. So it was a, a nice thing that we didn't seek that out. It didn't come, uh, outside of just him walking by and being a fan. So it was nice.
So you are filming on about 700, I hear in north Texas. And, um, your actors, your actresses, uh, I didn't hear a single Texas accent among them. I think you're the accents that you've, you've come up with are very engaging. Very interesting.
Well, um, uh, you know, thank you as soon as the camera stop rolling. You'll hear some Texas accent and different things. Um, but, uh, yeah, and we do have, we have talent literally from all over the world. Um, you know, we have a, a few actors actually from Israel, so they're actually, um, Israeli, um, and they're from there. Uh, we have actors from Australia. Uh, we have actors from New York and California and obviously many here from Texas. Um, but another thing that we do, we have a dialect coach. We have somebody that is an expert in, um, in these dialects. Um, and they work with our actors, this, this, and so it is something that is very important to us and it is something that they have to go, they have to gotta go to school. Right. And, uh, and we make sure and sure, every now and then you can kind of hear an actor, maybe slip out here and there and, you know, but it is something that we do pay very, very close attention to. Um, you know, as I mentioned, one of our actors that's from Israel is Shaar and Shahar plays our Simon, Peter, um, and is from there. So, um, if anybody ever questions his accent, it would be a funny one because it's like, no, he actually is from there, lives there. Um, and so he is kind of our onset expert as well. And people kind of try to, you know, emulate him. But again, at the same time they spend hours working, their dialogue, working their lines, stuff like that with the coach that we have on board.
So we're talking with Chad Gunderson of, out of order studio, uh, this project, the chosen, I understand it's the number one crowdfunded media project in the world in history. Yes, sir. That's amazing. That's amazing. And you're not done yet.
Yeah. Yeah. So, um, and actually, so we, we only crowdfunded for season one. So season one, we became the number one crowdfunded project. The, the, the number one project at the time was around maybe just under 6 million. And it was a, a huge Hollywood, very well known project. Um, that many, many people were familiar with. There was a history there. Um, and we like to say, well, we have a bit of a history with our project as well. Um, and on, yeah, exactly. We, we have this bestselling book, maybe you've heard of it, you know, it's the bestselling book of all time. Um, and, uh, yeah, it was not. And, and Dallas talks about this too. He, you know, crowdfunding is such a tricky, tricky thing, right. And be honest with you, not many of us had that kind of faith to see that happen.
And I think God kind of showed this otherwise, um, that that happened. And so, yeah, we became the number one, uh, most crowdfunded, uh, media project in history. And that was for season one. Um, and we had thought about continuing on that path, but honestly the show had started to becoming so successful and now we utilize this, pay it forward method for the show because the show is free, right? And we make that abundantly clear. Nobody has to pay for the show. Now, if you wanna buy a DVD or you wanna buy a gift or you wanna buy a Bible study or a, a, um, a devotional, of course you need to buy those. Um, and that helps us continue to do what we do, but the show itself, you know, you can go to the app, you know, go download the app in the app store, whatever you're to.
And it is a hundred percent free. There is no charge for it. Um, but what we do do is we have people when they finish watching an episode or watching the show, we give them the opportunity to say, Hey, this was free to you. And if you want to create an opportunity where others can watch this for free, you can pay it forward. And at that point, there's, they can honestly give any amount of money. Um, and that's kind of the way it's done, but there is no obligation. We don't take your information. We don't do anything with it. We just let you do. But I think the show has drawn such an audience and people have really engaged so much, uh, with these characters, with Jesus, um, that we have presented, um, that they're just like other people have to see this, you know, and it's, it's this, it's this right here. Right. Come and come and see, come and see. Um, and so that's kind of, what's happened now for season two. It's gonna continue to happen for season three, which we're preparing for now. Um, and so it's been nothing short of, of miraculous and a blessing to be a part.
Great. Uh, we'll come back to Chad in just a moment, but first I wanted to invite all of our listeners to, uh, our programs website, Elm houston.org, to, uh, read more about us. You may download podcasts of our past radio programs, find shortcuts to our Facebook, Twitter, YouTube accounts. And you may also donate to sport hour, uh, work online. You're on the air host are all volunteers. And so your donations go far to, uh, purchase airtime really to, uh, help keep us on the air. We strive to share with you interesting interviews of people who are doing great things to share the good news of Jesus Christ at this intersection between faith and life. You may also at Elm PO box 5 68, Cypress, Texas, 77 4. Oh. And now back to Chad, Chad, what are some of the, uh, favorite platforms where people could, um, uh, watch your shows?
Well, the number one platform to watch the show is through our app, right? So as I mentioned, go to your app store, wherever you get your apps, whether it's through apple or, or Google or wherever you get your apps for your phone, uh, the app is free as well, and you can download the app and all the shows are right there in the app. Um, we're also on YouTube, um, and various places on Facebook and all the other social media, but the show itself, the number one place is the app itself. A app is very, very the
Chosen, sorry, go ahead. It's just entitled. The chosen,
Literally search. The chosen will be the number one that pops up. Um, and so, and there is an app there. Um, and then once you download it, all the episodes are right there in the app and you can watch it. Um, it will stream directly to what are device you have in your house. So whether you have an apple TV or a five or stick or whatever device that you have to stream, you know, things like Netflix and these other things with it'll stream right to your device, and it will connect there. So it's a, a neat, uh, way of getting it done. So you can watch it on your, on your TV at home. Um, obviously the DVDs and stuff like that. It is on YouTube as well. You can continue to watch it there. Um, we have been telling people the, that the episodes probably won't be on YouTube much longer, um, but they all are there all of season one.
Um, and we're in the middle of season two now. And, um, you know, episode seven's about to come out, episode eight will be out shortly. And then the entirety of season two will be done as well. Um, but yeah, there it's on multiple other platforms. Things like pure flicks things like peacock network, uh, TBN, um, and we're on a handful of other network type things and streaming places too. Um, but like I said, it is worldwide, but the app really is the number one place, um, that we go to and we encourage people to go to. And on that app alone, you know, we've just passed 200 million views just on the app that doesn't count any of those other places that I mentioned, YouTube, pure flex, DVD sales, all those things. And so just that app alone, we've seen over 200 million people and our goal is to reach a billion people with the show. Um, so I'd argue we're well on our way with season two, already passing 200 million. So,
So people are watching this in their own homes. Have there been any, uh, questions about, uh, institutional use such as for Sunday schools or, uh, Bible study or, uh, are there, uh, study guides study materials that you have that go along with each show?
Yeah, so we, we encourage churches to use it. Um, and honestly up until this point, we've just said, use it now, obviously don't go and show the entire episode or do anything, but for pastors to use clips, we encourage them to do so. We do have some clearances that we do try to do. So if there are any pastors that, that do want to use that go to, uh, probably the chosen website, that and TV, um, and just go to the question section, um, and there are some releases that we try to do just to make sure that everybody knows we're on the up and up, right. And they feel like they're on the up and up as well, but we don't charge for that. We don't do any of that sort of thing. Cause we want people to use this. We want it to be a tool for pastors, for teachers, for, you know, for Bible studies and stuff like that.
So, um, in, we do have, we have, we have two devotionals. Um, if you go to the chosen, um, the chosen gifts.com, I'm not gonna sing it like Dallas always does, but he does, he loves love to sing, but it's the chosen gifts.com. Um, we have a couple of devotionals. We do have a Bible study there and then we also have multiple other resources. Um, for things we have a children's book. Um, we have some other stuff coming out, so there's a lot of resources for churches, small groups, Bible studies, stuff like that, all on that website. Do
You think the timing of your success, uh, has been perhaps a silver lining with, uh, all that the world has gone through with COVID recently?
r nation, but in our world of:And I do think it was a time where people were looking for, they were looking for light. They were looking for, uh, positivity. They were looking for, um, whether they were believers or not. They were looking right. Yeah. Now believers definitely needed it and wanted it. But there were a lot of people that going, man, this really helped me watching this show, relating to this character, listening to Jesus in a way that I never knew really existed. Right. But yet it's clearly there in scripture of who he was and his sense of humor and his warmth and his heart, um, and his love for people, his true love for people. Um, I think this show has really opened up their eyes to that. And it definitely came at a very interesting time. So it is another one of those things where we just kind of thank God that, that we were, we were in the right place at the right time. And we joke now. And we're just like, Lord, just please don't let us mess it up. Just please don't please don't let us mess it up. There is something that you do here through the show and just let us be good stewards of what you've
Provided. Absolutely. Yeah. The right place at the right time. God used you. And, uh, absolutely a silver lining that people who perhaps weren't ready to listen before suddenly in a point of time, became ready for, uh, the message that you were, uh, prepared to share. So thank, thank you for being, being ready and, uh, allowing our Lord to use you. Is there an overriding message, a theme that runs through the whole of your series?
Well, I think it would be as, as simple as hope, right? That there is a savior out there that does love of and care for you. Right. And I do think sadly that the Christian faith more so and more so over the last few years, um, has continued to be put in such a shaming light, right? And sadly, there are some quote unquote believers out there that are kind of the, the basis behind that, you know, because they're just not showing true hope and love and caring and all those things. And I think when people watch this and they see this Jesus in the chosen, they see that he does love and he does care. And there is hope for me, no matter where I'm at whatever walk of life, you're in, whatever it is, you know, Jesus doesn't, you know, he doesn't get all mad about sin.
He gets mad, not even mad, right. He gets mad at, uh, mostly religious people, honestly, which is funny right throughout the scripture. Um, but at the end of the day, right, the scripture says that there's only one thing that keeps you from him and that's accepting him as your Lord and savior, right. It's not whatever sin you're walking in because we've all have sin. We all have issues. We all fall short. So pick the sin. I don't care. It is right. And neither does he honestly. Now he wants you out of that. He wants you to live up pure life. He wants you to walk in all the things that he has, but he also knows that we technically can't. We can only do it with him as our Lord and savior. So the key at the end of that is that hope that there is a Lord, there is a savior. Um, there is somebody that cares enough about us to, to not only give his own life, um, but to be there for us and to just be sometimes a shoulder to cry on. And I think that's what this world needs right now is a little bit of hope, a little bit of love. Um, and I, and we hope that we're just being that little piece of that and opening people's eyes to who Jesus really is.
Yeah. I think right now people, uh, realize that we're survivors, but, uh, we feel pretty weak. We pretty feel, uh, pretty vulnerable. And uh, now is a perfect time to let people know that, uh, we can never achieve the level of divinity. It takes God to reach down to this earth through Jesus. And that's the only way I, and that's, that's what we have. We have this, this tremendous gift of God's love and forgiveness. And, uh, thank you Chad, for using this media of, you know, film, TV, uh, online, you know, movies, however, uh, it's, it's dispensed, it's the same message. Mm-hmm
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