The Chosen did not begin like a normal television series, and according to one recent behind-the-scenes account, it still does not operate like one now.

From the start, the show stood apart because it was built not on traditional studio faith, but on audience conviction. Its first season was launched through crowdfunding, pulling in more than $10 million and setting a record at the time for the highest crowdfunded media project. That support has only continued to grow. The series is now in production on its sixth season, and creator Dallas Jenkins has openly spoken about his hope of ultimately reaching 1 billion people. The article says the show has already been seen by more than 280 million viewers, a scale that would have sounded almost impossible when it first began.

But the most striking part of the story is not the numbers. It is the culture that has formed around the production itself.

After visiting the set in Goshen, Utah, where part of season 6 was being filmed at a miniature Jerusalem owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the article argues that The Chosen feels fundamentally different from other productions in four major ways. What emerges is a portrait of a show powered not just by budgets, schedules, and standard industry machinery, but by unusual levels of personal belief, sacrifice, and devotion.

The first difference is the depth of personal investment from the people working on it.

On the day the writer visited, the production was filming part of Christ’s journey carrying the cross to Golgotha. Stormy weather repeatedly interrupted the shoot, with dark clouds, thunder, and rain rolling through the set. In the middle of that uncertainty, one crew member passing by on a golf cart joked that “you can’t even film the crucifixion without the heavens weeping.” The comment was delivered lightly, but the article emphasizes that it revealed something deeper: an atmosphere of reverence. Even casual remarks reflected a sense that the subject matter was not being treated like just another assignment.

That seriousness extended well beyond one offhand quote. When Dallas Jenkins was asked whether filming the crucifixion storyline brought added pressure, he responded that the team had felt a weight and responsibility since season 1, because they viewed every part of Jesus’s life as important to get right. The writer says that same spirit seemed visible across the production, regardless of the specific faith background of the people involved.

The article also highlights the art department as a major example of this commitment. Department coordinator B.J. Forman said the team tries to give actors a 360-degree set 99% of the time, allowing them to be fully immersed in the world rather than standing inside partial builds surrounded by empty blue-screen space. Forman described it as something he had “never seen” before. The piece notes that those who manage the Goshen set even said The Chosen had added more detail than any previous production there, to the point that some changes became permanent because they were so effective.

The second thing that makes the production unusual is its extras.

On most sets, background performers show up, do the work, collect a paycheck, and move on. Their connection to the project is often temporary and transactional. The article contrasts that norm with what happens on The Chosen, where many extras are not only passionate fans, but are willing to travel long distances and pay their own way just to take part.

One example given is Hannah Teoh, who flew 17 hours from Singapore to be on set. Initially skeptical of faith-based entertainment, she said she only gave the series a chance during the enforced stillness of COVID and ended up deeply moved by it. According to the article, the storytelling reaffirmed important elements of her faith so strongly that she decided not only to support the crowdfunding campaign, but to travel across the world to participate in the production herself.

Another couple, Lucy and Brandon from Jacksonville, Florida, came to work as background performers with only 11 days left before their wedding. Brandon was also spending his birthday on set. The writer describes his excitement as genuine and striking, especially as he explained that the show had drawn him toward reading the Bible and eventually joining a church community. The point the article makes is clear: for many of these people, appearing in The Chosen is not simply a fun entertainment experience. It feels personal, even life-changing.

The third major difference is the show’s creative approach to financing an expensive production.

The article says that on the single day of filming visited by the writer, there were around 600 extras. Because many of them came on their own dime and brought their own costumes based on a production guide, the show avoided what would have been a massive traditional expense. The piece estimates that outfitting those extras conventionally would have cost at least $30,000, while paying them standard Utah rates might have added roughly $75,000, bringing the total to over $105,000 for one day just for background performers. Instead, the production has opened the process to supporters who see appearing on set as a privilege and a contribution.

That same outside-the-box thinking appears in other parts of the project too. The article points to ChosenCon, a fan convention built around panels, sessions, cast access, and merchandise, as another example of how the series sustains both enthusiasm and funding. It also notes that the team has released episodes theatrically, with The Chosen: The Last Supper earning more than $11 million on its opening weekend and debuting at No. 3 at the box office. According to the article, it became only the third faith-based film since 2020 to open above $10 million.

What makes all of this especially notable is the relationship the production appears to have built with its audience. Rather than simply asking fans to fund the show and then stay at a distance, The Chosen has created a wider participatory culture around itself. Supporters do not just watch. Some donate, some attend conventions, some buy tickets in theaters, and some literally step into costume and stand inside the world of the story.

That may be the clearest reason the production feels so different.

In an entertainment industry where viewers are usually treated as consumers at the very end of the pipeline, The Chosen has turned many of them into collaborators in spirit, and sometimes in practice. That kind of connection is difficult to manufacture and even harder to scale. Yet the article suggests that this is exactly what has made the series powerful: not merely that people believe in the story it tells, but that they have come to believe they are helping carry it forward. And that may be the most unusual production model of all.