Mark Sourian, president of manufacturing at “The Chosen,” speaking to Deseret Information in an interview. The Chosen
MIDLOTHIAN, Texas — Earlier than turning into the president of manufacturing with the collection “The Chosen,” Mark Sourian was an government at DreamWorks and Common.
Sourian has labored on tasks with Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton, Scott Rudin, Mark Boal and different huge names in Hollywood. He’s overseen manufacturing on movies like “The Ring” and “The Destiny of the Livid.” As a producer, he’s labored on “A Canine’s Function,” “Supply Man” and extra not too long ago, the collection “Echo 3.”
Spielberg as soon as mentioned to The Hollywood Reporter, “Mark’s ardour for our tasks has been unflagging and, as a director, that’s one thing you at all times need in your producer.”
Sourian’s storied profession has allowed him to watch firsthand what it’s wish to work with “the greats” of Hollywood. It’s an expertise that he mentioned primed him to see a robust imaginative and prescient behind the collection “The Chosen.”
On the set of “The Chosen” in Midlothian, Texas, Sourian sat down with the Deseret Information to speak about what’s it been like since he’s joined the collection.
One of many issues Sourian mentioned stunned him probably the most was how “The Chosen” wasn’t any completely different than engaged on different productions. “The legal guidelines of physics apply it doesn't matter what venture you’re doing,” he mentioned.
“The Chosen” is a collection in regards to the life, ministry, demise and resurrection of Jesus. When Sourian was first launched to the venture by the company representing Dallas Jenkins (the creator and director of the present) and Jonathan Roumie (the actor who performs Jesus), he advised Deadline he had some skepticism in regards to the venture.
That rapidly modified when he talked to Jenkins.
“And the extra that I received to know Dallas and the extra that he talked relatively secularly, frankly, in regards to the present, referencing exhibits like ‘The Wire’ and ‘West Wing,’ that actually intrigued me by way of making me really feel like, ‘Wow. Actually, really, this can be a man who has a imaginative and prescient, and this can be a present that's an elevated present, and a present that isn’t making an attempt to proselytize, and is one thing completely different than what’s been on the market earlier than,” Sourian advised Deadline.
In case you requested Sourian 10 or 15 years in the past if he thought he’d be at “The Chosen,” he mentioned he wouldn’t have thought he’d find yourself right here. “As a result of I believe again then, I had a really slim definition of what I'd have thought my life would have been by way of what defines success.”
What modified was Hollywood, Sourian mentioned. “I believe the enterprise of Hollywood has in some ways fractured. It’s much less assured by way of what it's.” Since Hollywood has modified, “The Chosen” has turn out to be extra viable, he mentioned.
Since becoming a member of the present, Sourian advised the Deseret Information he’s seen moments the place he noticed one thing particular in Jenkins and the present. “I believe it’s turning into a phenomenon,” he mentioned.
Throughout Season 3, there's a scene the place Jesus is strolling down the primary boulevard in Capernaum. Folks begin to acknowledge who Jesus actually is and the disciples turn out to be afraid Jesus will get damage.
Within the warmth of the Texas solar, a whole lot of extras have been crowded into an alleyway with smoke machines going. Three cameras have been set as much as seize the scene. “There’s all this chaos, however it’s managed chaos and it’s all working.”
Whereas watching that scene come collectively, Sourian mentioned he remembered considering to himself, “Wow, I really feel like I’m working with Cecil B. DeMille on this second.” He acknowledged “that could be a slight overstatement,” however mentioned he recalled “feeling like I’m in a second of greatness.”
Sourian mentioned he additionally appreciates the placement of the manufacturing. Midlothian has a inhabitants of about 37,000. It’s a city recognized for its cement business and metal mine, however is now additionally the manufacturing hub of “The Chosen.”
As a veteran Hollywood business determine, Sourian additionally mentioned he thinks it’s nice to have a middle of manufacturing not primarily based in a few of the extra typical areas, like Hollywood or New York Metropolis. “I simply love that we’re in a spot the place there isn’t a number of manufacturing, in order that we’re spreading the chance for work to a distinct place within the nation.”
Sourian additionally mentioned the accountability he feels “isn't any joke.” This sense of accountability he feels is one he mentioned is felt by many different crew members.
Thousands and thousands of individuals discover Jesus’ story within the Bible “extremely significant,” he mentioned. The impression on individuals who watch the present and the that means of the present instills in Sourian an actual sense of accountability.
“For some individuals, for many individuals, it’s a supply of salvation. It’s a supply of guiding mild, and we simply don’t wish to mess it up,” he mentioned.