Estimated read time: 6-7 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — Dallas Jenkins is used to filming "The Chosen" in the unforgiving summer heat of the Utah desert and the Texas sun. But the project he has wanted to make for two decades took him up north to snowy Canada. It's where he filmed his soon-to-be released "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever."
"Filming in very challenging weather seems to be something God has tasked me with," said Jenkins on a recent video call.
The cast, including Judy Greer and Pete Holmes along with the crew, braved bitter cold temperatures last winter to put together the Christmas movie. Canada seemed like the natural home for the production, Jenkins said, because it had "streets and exteriors that look like that timeless classic Christmas movie that I wanted to do."
Jenkins' film is adapted from the novel "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" by Barbara Robinson. The six Herdman kids grew up on the "wrong side of the tracks," but when they take over the Christmas pageant, they might have a thing or two to teach the rest of the town.
For two decades, Jenkins said, he has pursued the rights to the book. He's told this story a few times before — his wife Amanda Jenkins brought home the book after a shopping trip to Pottery Barn. They read it to their children together and enjoyed laughing and weeping as a family.
"I said, 'I have to make this movie. I'm the only one who can do this story justice,'" said Jenkins. His relentless pursuit began, then finally the mother of the man who owned the rights to the movie convinced her son to give them to Jenkins.
Jenkins said the woman told her son, "You better give it to the guy who made 'The Chosen.' It's the greatest show ever." Soon Jenkins got the rights to the movie and in between making seasons of "The Chosen," he packed his bags and set off with hopes of making the timeless Christmas movie he and his wife dreamed up.
The making of 'The Best Christmas Pageant Ever'
When you hear the phrase "Christmas classic," you might think of the Norman Rockwell paintings or "The Polar Express" or Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song." These pieces of art are some of the visual associations we have with Christmas.
Making "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever," Jenkins drew from the novel itself, but one of his biggest influences was Rockwell (as well as filmmaker Wes Anderson and the movie "Jojo Rabbit"). Along with members of his crew, he said they looked at Rockwell paintings as inspiration to capture the humor and heart they have to translate into the movie they were making.
The movie has "a lot of that nostalgic timeless feel that Norman Rockwell has," said Jenkins. It's part of the fabric of a Christmas movie, he explained.
Around Christmastime, Jenkins theorized, people are more willing to be nostalgic. We rewatch movies like "It's a Wonderful Life," even though they were made decades ago. In order for a film to become a Christmas classic, Jenkins said it needs to stand the test of time.
Of course, Jenkins hopes his movie becomes a Christmas classic.
He thinks it checks the boxes of elements that are "humorous and emotional and timeless, but that's all up to God," Jenkins said. So far based on the screenings they've done, Jenkins said they have seen an enthusiastic audience. One of these screenings happened just a month ago at "The Chosen" convention.
Now that the movie is made, Jenkins said it's time for him to give it all away to God. He said he and his wife frequently talk about how he doesn't want to go back to the place he was in before — frantically checking the box-office numbers and stressing over the results.
"We promised ourselves the only numbers we would ever care about are five and two," said Jenkins. Five and two is a reference to the biblical story of the feeding of the 5,000 with five loafs and two fishes. It's now the name of Jenkins' studio, but it's also become something of a shorthand for him to explain he does what he can, but puts it in God's hands.
Whenever he starts to have feelings about caring more about what others think of him than what God thinks of him, Jenkins said his wife helps him by reminding him to turn to prayer and to the scriptures. "I do want to maintain that posture of 'I've done my part and it's up to God now.' And it's not easy, but I am practicing that on a daily basis."
"Hopefully, people will go see it in theaters, but the main thing has been done," he said. "I got a chance to make this movie, and that was what I'd been hoping for and praying for for so long."
The heart of the movie
Whether it's in his earlier movie "The Resurrection of Gavin Stone" or in the show "The Chosen," Jenkins has a penchant for stories depicting Jesus through the eyes of "the least of these."
An evangelical, Jenkins said he sees the divinity of Jesus in church, and portrayed all over. Recalling his time taking in St. Peter's Basilica, he said it was "one of the most extraordinarily beautiful things I've ever seen and it truly honors the divinity of God."
He doesn't shy away from portraying the divinity of God, but he said he wants to tell stories we've all heard before from a different perspective.
"I love leaning into the fact that the creator of the universe actually was born in a barn," said Jenkins. He believes reverence is good, but that we also need to have an intimate relationship with Jesus.
"We've created a little bit of a veil between us and him because we have him up on this stained glass window or painting," he said. "And I love removing the veil, bringing him down from the stained glass window and saying, 'He wants a relationship directly with you.'"
Without giving away any spoilers, what Jenkins hopes people take away from the movie is a simple phrase: "Unto you, a child is born."
"I want you to see what that means practically, that because a child was born for you, maybe you can be less judging of others," said Jenkins. "Maybe someone was willing to make sacrifices for you. Maybe you can be willing to forgive, to not judge, to help be part of the redemption of others."
"And if you're not a believer," continued Jenkins. "Maybe you will just consider the fact that a child was born unto you, and the ramifications of that can change your life."
There were early screenings of "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" throughout the country before Nov. 2. If you buy one adult ticket, you can get one child ticket free if you purchase through ATOM tickets with the code: CHRISTMASGIFT.
The film releases nationwide in theaters on Nov. 8.
