Filming on Season 4 of The Chosen halted Friday after members of the actors union voted to strike, demonstrating that what goes on in Hollywood will impact faith-based projects, too.
SAG-AFTRA, the union representing some 160,000 actors, voted on Thursday to begin their strike at midnight Pacific Standard Time on Friday. The move will pause countless productions worldwide, including ones beloved by the Christian community. The vote by the SAG-AFTRA union was unanimous.
It’s the union’s first strike since 1980.
Dallas Jenkins, creator and director of the Bible-based hit series The Chosen, said on Facebook on Thursday evening that the strike will impact the filming of Season 4.
“Unfortunately, despite the requested work we did on our end, an exemption for us will not be granted in time to avoid a shutdown,” Jenkins said. “We will do a little filming [Friday] of everything that doesn’t require our cast, and then we’ll wait and hope that either the strike ends (unlikely soon) or that we’re granted an exemption and can resume filming.
“Yes, it’s upsetting and will cost time and money … but we bring our five loaves and two fish. God handles the rest,” he added.
On July 1, Jenkins had said there was a chance “we could get an exception or a temp deal because we’re independent, but that may not happen.”
“Worst case scenario…we have already filmed everything from the first four episodes, so even if the remainder of filming is delayed, the editing and release of the first four won’t be,” he wrote on July 1.
The SAG-AFTRA strike is the second strike in Hollywood in recent weeks after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) voted in May to strike. Jenkins said he and the writers of The Chosen are not members of the WGA. Therefore, that strike has no impact on filming.
Both strikes are driven by the new financial dynamics of streaming, which has dramatically changed what actors and writers are paid.
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Photo courtesy: ©Angel Studios/The Chosen, used with permission.
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
