'The Chosen' to Continue Filming Amidst Hollywood Strikes
'The Chosen' received a waiver from SAG for being an independent production.
In the midst of the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, many projects are shutting down, but The Chosen won't be one of them. TVLine reports that the historical drama, which premiered on The CW last month after the network acquired the first three seasons, has received a waiver from SAG granting them permission to continue filming despite the strike.
Since the series is considered an independent production and isn't part of one of the AMPTP studios that are included in the strike, SAG gave the Jesus-centered series the rare waiver. It was initially a crowdsourcing project through the Angel Studios app and was available on DVD and streaming on BYUtv, Peacock, and Netflix, as well as Angel Studios' VidAngel subscription service. Since premiering in 2017, The Chosen has been seen by over 110 million viewers in 175 countries around the world.
Per the answer on SAG's FAQ, "With respect to non-AMPTP, independently-produced content that comes within the scope of a strike order, SAG-AFTRA anticipates offering an Interim Agreement that would allow such productions to continue working during a strike provided that the producer agrees to abide by terms that SAG-AFTRA is seeking from the AMPTP." This means that since The Chosen is produced by mostly independent studios, aside from Lionsgate Television which acquired worldwide distribution rights to the series, the union has given it the thumbs up to continue filming for Season 4.
It's unknown how far into Season 4 the series is filming, but luckily they won't have to worry about having to shut down. Unfortunately, don't expect the new season to air on The CW anytime soon. As for now, the network has episodes of The Chosen airing back-to-back every Sunday at 8 p.m. ET, with the Season 3 finale expected to air on Christmas Eve. There's no word on when and if the fourth season could air on the network, but maybe it will be part of the midseason schedule.
The CW's fall 2023 schedule was recently released, a revision of what the network previously put out since it won't be able to air original scripted content. However, that really is the only change since The CW has started to become a network to air sports and unscripted and acquired series. While The Chosen was able to get a waiver, not many shows will be able to have the same thing, so it will be interesting to see what other projects will and will not be able to continue in the midst of the strikes.