- Filming for Season 7 of "The Chosen" is underway in Goshen, Utah County.
- Dallas Jenkins emphasizes authenticity in the show's production every season.
- Fans from all across the world are also volunteering as extras, making donations in exchange.
SALT LAKE CITY — Seven mega-successful seasons in, Dallas Jenkins still begins every meeting with "The Chosen" creative team the same way. At the top of the blackboard, Jenkins writes a single word — authenticity — a touchstone for the vision that continues to steer the show.
The commitment to authenticity extends to Goshen, Utah County, where a replica of the Holy City serves as one of the show's primary filming locations. There, the creative team carefully dresses the set to reflect the world of first-century Judea.
Every detail is captured, down to the fruit resting in brass bowls. Livestock are brought in every morning, hay and soot scatter across the ground and dust clouds the air after each step.
Design for the Season 7 set began in January. A month before filming, the creative team arrived in Goshen to prepare the space for every scene. Because of its scale, the set is used for most exterior shots, as well as marketplace and landscape sequences.
"It's just gorgeous. It's so grand," said B.J. Forman, art department coordinator for "The Chosen," while working on the Goshen set. "When we got here is when our world exploded. Things haven't really changed from Season 2 to Season 7 when we come here. We embrace the space, we embrace the real estate, we embrace the scope and the scale."
Cast and crew from "The Chosen" will spend three weeks filming scenes for Season 7 on the set, which sits on the outer edge of the small Utah County town of Goshen.
Over the course of filming in Utah, a rotating cast of 400 background extras will blend and blur into the show's backdrop. The majority are unpaid fans who flock to Goshen from all across the world for the opportunity to take part in its creation, making a donation in exchange for the experience.
"It just is beautiful," Jenny McGinty, an extra for "The Chosen," said while looking out over the Goshen set.
"You feel like you are in old Jerusalem. Even though I'm only an hour and 15 minutes away from home, I feel like I'm in another world, that I've traveled time and space and get to be here. The atmosphere and the feeling is so sacred."
Construction began in 2010 on the Jerusalem replica, Motion Picture Studio South Campus, which is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "The Chosen" has used the set for filming since Season 2.
"Every time I come here, I feel so welcomed," Jenkins said while filming on the Goshen set. "There's something very warm about (the Goshen set). Even just landing on the plane, there's usually people who in the airport will stop me and tell me how much the show means to them. ... It's very clear that Utah loves 'The Chosen' and wants us here."
Take a look at some behind-the-scenes moments of "The Chosen" Season 7 filming in Goshen, thanks to Deseret News photojournalist Scott G Winterton.
