Exclusive: Uncover the Authenticity and Intentionality of THE CHOSEN’s Art Direction, Plus a Broadway Connection

BroadwayWorld was invited on set in Utah for the filming of season six of hit television series THE CHOSEN, including viewing the filming of scenes on an epic scale with approximately 600 extras, a tour of the massive outdoor Jerusalem set by art department coordinator B.J. Forman, and an exclusive interview with DallasJenkins, the creator, executive producer, and director of the acclaimed series dramatizing the lives of early followers of Jesus Christ.

Forman is no stranger to BroadwayWorld as the production stage manager for THOUGHTS OF A COLORED MAN on Broadway and the national tours of THE SOUND OF MUSIC, MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET, MAMMA MIA!, and GREASE, in addition to numerous other stage credits.

“When I was offered this job, I had previously done one gig as an art director for the same production designer and the same producers,” Forman explained when BroadwayWorld asked about his unconventional journey to THE CHOSEN. “I was like, well, first century, that's way outside of my wheelhouse. I could never art direct a show like that. They said, no, we don't want you to art direct. We want you to run the whole department. So I took my stage manager skills and I put that into play for running the art department, and it all works. It's the same muscles. I get to flex all the same muscles with people and with artists and with schedules and coordinating. And I got to really figure it all out on my own, but I really didn't learn—I mean, I learned new vocabulary, but all the same rules applied.”

Forman works to bring the imagination of production designer James Cunningham to life. “He does an incredible amount of research to try and find what things actually looked like, what they felt like, the actual colors that they were before they became the ruins,” Forman said. “If we can find a piece of the color palette, we always try to incorporate it. We have a book of just every kind of option. And, you know, this set is primarily beige. It's a lot of beige. So you have to find a way to add color and add texture, things that will pick up light and shadow, so that it's not just this world of off-white.”

“We bring in torches,” he added, pointing to the numerous torches decorating the stone walls. “Our director loves to see fire, loves to see smoke. He loves constant movement in the background of the set, so we're always adding these, making sure that every setup, every frame, has got some kind of flame or flicker happening in there.”

Since season two, in addition to their home base in Texas, THE CHOSEN has filmed on this Jerusalem set owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Goshen, Utah.

“From the day that I set foot on this set, I felt like God was putting on my heart that lives were going to be changed by what we did here,” said Jenkins to BroadwayWorld exclusively. “I believe that the people who built this set did it with intentionality and out of service to God. I believe that, I feel that, and so I believe that this is, in many ways, a partnership, that those who built this set, those who use this set, and us, are doing something together that we think will impact the world. And I think that not only that, the quality and the attention to detail that was put into this set matches what we're trying to do with the show.”

“Fortunately for us, they allow us to modify to whatever we need,” said Forman. “Some things we build to be structural and permanent. At their request, we can either tear it down or leave it up.”

One example is a section of the set, complete with cobblestone flooring, built to match photos of an area in Matera, Italy where they will travel to film for three weeks after wrapping a similar amount of time in Utah.   

“The horizon, the location in Matera looks like a first-century town, and you can't get that anywhere else,” Jenkins said exclusively. “And so we didn't want to make it about a bunch of visual effects. There will be some, of course, anyway, but we felt like that location was the most authentic that we could find for having a backdrop that feels like first century.”

The production’s drive for historical and cultural accuracy is reflected in more than just location. “I am the Jew on the crew, and that is my hashtag, but I bring a little bit of authenticity to it,” Forman said. “I can't even count how many times Dallas has called me to set to just check on something. One of the things that I do bring to the party is that all the Hebrew in the show is done with this right hand. I write it for every handwritten piece of paper in the show that the camera sees. I write it, and if an actor has to write in Hebrew, I teach them. They come to me for a workshop.”

Jenkins noted that many non-Christians watch and appreciate the show. “We hear from people all over the world who aren't traditional believers, who are impacted by the storytelling,” he said exclusively. “A great story is a great story. And I think people can feel the sense that I'm not trying to preach at them with this show. I'm just trying to give them an authentic idea of who Jesus is and what it was like in the first century, and who these people were in first-century Galilee, and I think the audiences appreciate that. I can appreciate stories of people, groups that I don’t necessarily identify with, and I think others can do the same with this show.”

“As far as creating the world and helping to create the show and the world that it has become, I wouldn't be anywhere else,” Forman said. “I love where it brought me. I love the connection to the storytelling, to the history.”

Following its theatrical debut earlier this year, season five of THE CHOSEN will receive its streaming premiere on Amazon Prime on June 15, after which it will arrive on THE CHOSEN and BYUtv apps, where all seasons are available to stream for free.   

The season six finale will be produced as a feature film, released exclusively in movie theaters on March 12, 2027 by Amazon MGM Studios, preceded by the rest of the season’s streaming release.

Photo Credit: Dallas Jenkins on set. Courtesy THE CHOSEN.