“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” has become a box office hit since its November 8 release, grossing nearly $20 million as of this writing and earning a 90% critic score on Rotton Tomatoes. But frankly, it’s a miracle the film ever got made.
Director Dallas Jenkins recently sat down with The Washington Times’ Higher Ground to share how he felt called to make this movie 20 years ago, and the work that God did in his life that led to his dream finally coming true.
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“When you first have an idea or something God puts on your heart, and if it just doesn’t let go of you, you know, I think that’s one of the signs that it could be a calling from God,” he said. “When I finished reading this book, I was weeping from how moving it was in spite of the humor… and then the gut punch, spiritually and emotionally, I just said, ‘I was born to make this movie.’”
“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” is based on the 1972 bestselling novel, which tells the story of the six Herdman siblings who hijack the local Christmas pageant. Although the Herdmans are introduced as “the worst kids in the history of the world,” they unwittingly help the entire community learn the true meaning of Christmas.
Despite Mr. Jenkins’ strong feelings about having a hand in making the movie, the rights holders had a different idea. Twenty years ago, the story was already with another studio and big-time director, and Mr. Jenkins was relatively unknown. But that didn’t deter him.
SEE ALSO: Dallas Jenkins brings classic Christmas book to life: ‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’
The father of four started reaching out to the rights holders every year, selling them on his vision for the movie and his heart for it. He also set a weekly reminder to pray for the situation.
“I would check in, every year I would bug them, and every year the answer was the same,” he noted. “Every week in my calendar on my phone and laptop was three words, ‘pray for pageant.’ Every week it would come up and remind me, and I would pray.”
During that time, Mr. Jenkins also poured himself into a project that he had extremely high hopes for, which bombed at the box office. The experience was crushing for Mr. Jenkins, who felt unsure if he would ever direct again. That’s when a friend sent him a message that ended up transforming his life: “It’s not your job to feed the 5,000, it’s only to provide the loaves and fish.”
“As a person who has always been pretty good at figuring out solutions to problems, and being results-focused, and then coming to grips with the fact that, ‘Okay, my job is just to give these five loaves and two fish to God, and when I do that, the transactions over,’ I really embraced it. And I really surrendered. And I said, ‘Okay, God, whatever you want,’” he recalled. “And the opportunity with ‘The Chosen’ started to come.”
When season 1 of “The Chosen” aired in December 2017, it became the most successful crowdfunded television series or film project in history. It also eventually paved the way for Mr. Jenkins’ dream of making “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” to finally come true.
Five years ago, Mr. Jenkins learned that the studio that held the rights to “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” for almost 15 years just couldn’t get it done and the rights holders were looking for a new studio. But despite his continuous appeals, the rights holders still decided to go in a different direction.
“I really felt like it was over,” he recalled. “And I went to my computer to sit down and get some work done and ping, a popup taunting me: ‘pray for pageant.’ And I went to delete it. And one of the handful of times in my life where I really felt the Holy Spirit pressing on my heart clearly, ‘Just don’t do that.’”
At that point, Mr. Jenkins resigned to continue to pray for the pageant and trust God with whatever came next. His faith and patience paid off.
“Three years ago, I checked in again [with Darren, the key rights holder] … And he says, ‘You know what, Dallas? It’s kind of a funny coincidence you reached out,” he said.
As it turns out, the big studio had forgotten to renew the rights and the rights holders weren’t happy. Then just a couple of days prior, Darren’s mom had reached out to him asking if he’d ever seen a show called “The Chosen.” When she learned that Mr. Jenkins was desperate for the rights to “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” she knew he was the right person for the job.
“When I think back on that and what our family went through and that God the whole time was like, ‘Oh, I have so much for you. You have no idea about, but now you’re ready for it,’” he said. “Because before, I wouldn’t have been able to handle this. I would have been seeking the result, the feedback, the reviews, the box office, as opposed to seeking God’s heart… And I can truly say I’m thrilled that ‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ is impacting people, and that it’s getting great reviews and box office. But I genuinely would be okay if it wasn’t, because I got a chance to make a movie that honors God, and I’m just grateful that he’s given me that opportunity.”
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Marissa Mayer is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of professional experience. Her work has been featured in Christian Post, The Daily Signal, and Intellectual Takeout. Mayer has a B.A. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Arizona State University.
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