A great deal. Dallas Jenkins, creator, producer, writer and director of the international hit series The Chosen,understands the art of formulating and keeping audience engagement, which is a skill every content creator must learn and cultivate.
“The director on any project is the final storyteller. I want to make viewers react,” Jenkins says.
In telling a story, Jenkins wants viewers of The Chosen (now in production with Season 6) to identify with what they’re seeing—to be drawn in and invested in the content.
“Like with any Chosen scene, it’s not just about the miracle,” Jenkins states. “We want [viewers] to identify with the stakes, with Jesus. So many Bible stories go from miracle to miracle, but you need to be showing the personality [of the characters].”
Jenkins adds, “You can develop the backstory of the character, and provide all the spiritual and emotional context. People fall in love with the characters and their journey from season to season [of the series], and it becomes their journey.”
Another top skill Jenkins possesses as a TV and film director is the ability to delegate, giving other players on his team a chance to add their unique talents into the final product—talents Jenkins says are oftentimes superior to his own.
“A director is there to influence how the story is told,” Jenkins notes, for example. “All the other parts, people on my team can do better than me. I’m a good writer, but not as good as my writer. And I’m a good cinematographer, but not as good as my cinematographer.”
Yet another reality the director has faced during the production of The Chosen is how to flourish under tight budgetary constraints.
“Don’t try to do more than you can afford,” Jenkins notes. “But you can make an impact. Don’t try to do a poor man’s version of something bigger and better.”
Instead, work with what you have at your disposal—and make it the best it can be.
“I’ve done no-budget testimonial videos for my church that had a huge impact,” Jenkins says of his early days, pre-Chosen, as a church film team member with an early vision of The Chosen series brewing in his mind. His key storytelling approach at this time was the same as it is today, essentially.
As Jenkins states, “I was … before God stepped in. But God did this to change me. And now here I am.” And he adds, “It’s all about storytelling.”
–Carol Badaracco Padgett