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LOS ANGELES — While Hollywood has ground to a halt due to parallel writers' and actors' strikes, there's a U.S.-based series that is being allowed to continue to production.
"The Chosen," a faith-based series about the life of Jesus, "allows us to see Him through the eyes of those who knew Him," according to the series. It has received a green light from SAG-AFTRA to move forward, the show states.
It's a change from what producers of "The Chosen" said they were initially told.
"Unfortunately, despite the requested work we did on our end, an exemption for us will not be granted in time to avoid a shutdown," a tweet on the series' account stated last week.
"We will do a little filming tomorrow of everything that 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," the full tweets read. Yes, it's upsetting and will cost time and money…but we bring our 5 loaves & 2 fish. God handles the rest."
But there was an update over the weekend.
"Great news! We just received word from SAG that we have been approved for a waiver. We'll continue shooting on Monday," a subsequent tweet announced.
The crowd-funded, independent series has run for three seasons.
"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 production tweeted.
During the strikes, writers and actors are prohibited from working and promoting their projects produced under contract with major studios.
While U.K.-filmed shows may be allowed to continue production during the strike, seasons of "The Chosen" have been filmed in Utah and Texas and reportedly have found a permanent production home in Midlothian, Texas.
