Derral Eves is one of the producers of The Chosen, a series about Jesus Christ that has 500 million viewers and is available in Spain on the Movistar and Acontra platforms. The first episode of the third season premiered in Verdi cinemas on Friday. More than about Jesus Christ, he talks about those who lived near him. It started as a short shot by Dallas Jenkins for a parish that excited Eves, a marketing genius (the list of his clients is overwhelming: Bill Gates, NBC, ESPN…) who saw a vein, and he got it right. This weekend he was in Barcelona, ​​invited by Cinemanet to award The Choosen its Family award, but he also participated in the Betel23 youth day, organized by the archdiocese.
How do you explain such success with a figure that is 2,000 years old?
In the first century the world had many problems similar to those of today. Racism, hatred, problems between religions and beliefs… Jesus fascinates us because his message remains valid.
How did you manage to be original?
With Dallas Jenkins we saw all the productions about Christ and they all dealt with him from his point of view, not from the people he dealt with, and that’s the difference.
They are going for 500 million views and say they aspire to 1,000.
Keep in mind that my mother has seen it a million times – she laughs -. But yes, we aspire to this number. Few have succeeded.
Does it have an evangelistic, historical will…?
It’s a Jewish series! Because Jesus was Jewish – he laughs again – but the funny thing is that he was so disruptive that we still talk about him.
They have been financed by micro-patronage: a matter of faith?
I think we’ve sent a very clear message: that people want and want passionate projects like The Chosen. It’s not an alternative to Hollywood but it can be inspiring.
Some of those who have paid appear in the series. Is it a path?
It was much better to summon the people than to create them through special effects. 10,000 people showed up. It’s funny because we can see on the platforms that people press pause when they see the mass of people, they look for his face.
Would Muhammad be a good subject for a series?
Certainly. He’s a great man who did some really good things, that would be interesting.
Do you foresee it?
I am focused on Jesus, but I have friends who, seeing the success of The Chosen and being Muslims, are thinking about it.
How do you deal with or take advantage of the algorithm?
I have tried to reveal the little secrets of the algorithm all my life. Being able to understand or understand how the algorithm works on each platform, each one is different. Now the algorithms are controlled by artificial intelligence, which tries to predict what people want to see in order to keep them in the same place.
What would you do with AI?
I’m obsessed with it. I am scared. I see Terminator there…
Do we need to make new laws?
It is too early to know how to act. On the other hand, if laws are not put in place there can be real dangers. What’s interesting is that the people who write the laws have no idea about technology.
Do we intervene or wait?
I look forward to hearing what will happen. I think it will transform the world, make it a little smaller.
He was a newspaper editor. In the current context do they have a future?
Certainly. We are in a very interesting moment. People will always have a desire to tell or to know stories, although in the last 15 or 20 years there has been a major shift: the headline has become important to the detriment of the story, and this is a very big problem, because the headline is looking for the click without you being interested in the story. And it’s a mistake, that we lose the background story.
But can this be profitable?
There will always be a click on a headline, and where there is traffic there will be marketing and therefore money. But I don’t think newspapers will keep the reader’s trust if they are just looking for the click, if there is no important story behind it. You can’t live off the click, you can live off the trust and loyalty of the reader. But nowadays young people believe that everything is fake news.
And how is this combated?
We need to promote good stories. I think the new generations love authenticity, it connects deeply with the person, be it a film or a newspaper.
