A miracle came down on behalf of one Hollywood show that can now continue to work with its actors amid the SAG-AFTRA strike … and it benefits none other than Jesus, or at least fans of his story.
Showrunners for the popular Christian-based TV series “The Chosen” announced Sunday they’d gotten the green light to move forward with production … including their main cast, several of whom are in the actors’ union. It’s the first show to catch this break.
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 5 loaves & 2 fish. God handles the rest.
Dallas (2/2)— The Chosen (@thechosentv) July 14, 2023
@thechosentv
The reason … they received a waiver from the Screen Actors Guild, which essentially gives them an exemption to keep filming — even though the rest of the major productions in town are shut down. Deadline was first to report the news.
The folks who run “The Chosen” Twitter account had actually been pleading with SAG to cut them some slack … and luckily, it came in record time. They were worried they’d have to pause things in Utah — where they’re in the middle of shooting a new season — unless they got the waiver … and since they received it in just a few days, they’re not totally off schedule.
To be clear: 1. We’ve agreed to all of SAG’s requests and their interim agreement. 2. Season 4 is entirely independent and 100% funded by donations.
— The Chosen (@thechosentv) July 17, 2023
@thechosentv
Now, as for why they’re getting the waiver while other productions have to wait in the wings … it actually has nothing to do with what you may think — namely, some kind of religious loophole. On the contrary, it has more to do with whether the show/movie is independent … aka, not having major ties to a TV or movie studio as far as funding.
“The Chosen” certainly has a grassroots background — it initially got off the ground via crowdfunding — but has since kinda gone mainstream … with licensing deals being struck among a number of major studios like Netflix, Amazon, CW, Peacock, and others.
Despite that, it’ll be allowed to resume … so, fans of the show gotta be stoked. Praise be!
We covered the SAG-AFTRA strike on a recent episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms.
