Popular drama series The Chosen has plans to add a second soundstage at its film set in Midlothian as it looks to better accommodate its more than 200 cast and crew members.
“We’re filming also in Fort Worth and Utah, but there aren’t any true soundstage facilities. There’s converted warehouses and whatnot,” Adam Swerdlow, vice president of operations for The Chosen, told The Dallas Express.
The Chosen Texas and Out of Order Studios are more than halfway through production, with Season 4 scheduled for release next year.
The program depicts the life of Jesus Christ in Galilee and Judea in the first century.
Its first two seasons were filmed at Capernaum Studios near Fort Worth, and the third and fourth seasons were produced at Camp Hoblitzelle, a 1,200-acre site in Midlothian. Seasons 5 through 7 are also scheduled to be filmed there, Swerdlow said.
The Chosen‘s production team has spent millions constructing a Biblical village set and a 30,000-square-foot soundstage at Camp Hoblitzelle, according to the Angel Studios website.
“This new film campus, which was completed in October 2022, provides a true-to-history set for the next four seasons of The Chosen,” the page states.
According to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the new 30,705-square-foot soundstage at Camp Hoblitzelle will include a parking lot and restrooms to support the film campus. It has an estimated construction cost of $10 million, and Arlington’s GLHA Inc.
Angel Studios explained The Chosen is filmed in Texas for a variety of reasons, including that the show’s creator and director, Dallas Jenkins, along with other members of the creative team, live in Texas.
“The terrain and working environment also work well for the time period and location of the story. These factors, plus the costs that matched the show’s needs, all made Texas the perfect location,” the studio’s website reads.
The number of cast and crew members filming at each set varies, Swerdlow said.
“It ebbs and flows. We have 250 cast and crew. I don’t work on the production side of it, so I can’t speak to the whole effect of it. But it’s quite the endeavor just picking everything up and moving to another location,” added Swerdlow.
Swerdlow said producers are conducting an economic impact study and cannot yet comment on the scope and impact of the new financial investment in Midlothian until that is completed.
The series is offered for free on the Angel app. It can also be found on streaming services like Peacock, Amazon Prime, and Fox Nation, among others.