(RNS) — With the abundance of legal codes, death and, well, genocide, the story of Moses’ journey through the desert isn’t exactly begging to be made into a comedy.
But “The Promised Land” does just that. Written and directed by Mitch Hudson — a crew member for “The Chosen,” the popular film series depicting Jesus’ life — “The Promised Land” leans into the irony baked into the biblical narrative, using the “mockumentary” style made famous by hits like “The Office,” “Parks and Rec” and “Abbott Elementary.”
The pilot episode, which has racked up over 140,000 Instagram followers and 450,000 views since it debuted on YouTube two weeks ago, features Moses dealing with every absurd complaint the Israelites bring to him. For starters:
- “This water is too bitter.”
- “My son is 14 and he won’t move out.”
- “What do I do about this pestilent growth on my foot?”
Meanwhile, Moses’ sister Miriam has decided she’s a musical prodigy, and there’s an escaped Egyptian soldier in the camp trying desperately — and hilariously — to go undetected.
Hudson grew up in a Christian home in Virginia where he was raised on “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “VeggieTales,” he told Religion News Service in a recent call from the set of “The Chosen” in Midlothian, Texas. He spent his teen years living in Bahrain and earned a film degree from Liberty University in 2015 before joining the crew of “The Chosen” in 2018.
Then, in 2021, two fellow Liberty alumni in the film world (who are now producer/associate producer on “The Promised Land”) approached Hudson with the idea of doing “Moses in the style of ‘The Office.’” RNS spoke with Hudson about how that idea came to life, the influence of “The Chosen” on the new show and what fans can expect next. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What made you say yes to this concept?
At first, I was kind of like, how does this even work? What kind of funny is it? Monty Python funny, where it’s a bit more of a lampoon, a bit more critical? I wasn’t super comfortable with that. But then I was looking at it, and I was like, you know, the story of Moses has a lot of irony, and irony, a lot of times, is the basis for humor. I rediscovered the story in Exodus 18, where Jethro comes to Moses and basically says, you’re doing this all wrong. I was like, man, a father-in-law coming in to visit — this could be pretty funny. We can relate to a father-in-law who’s got different ideas of how to run things. So I wrote a pilot, and a plan for a whole series.
“The Promised Land” writer and director Mitch Hudson. (Photo © Sebastian Molina0
The story of Moses and the Israelites isn’t always lighthearted. What has it been like to transform this difficult content from the Bible into a comedy?
As I’m writing, I have the Bible open. I’ve got some biblical commentaries that are helping me understand the material as best I can. I think what makes shows like this funny is how genuine they feel. And so I want to make sure that we were all as authentic as possible, and part of that is finding what moments allow for jokes, and what moments I need to take seriously, because they’re serious to the characters. So I’m trying to walk that line of, where do the jokes stop? And there are a few moments where that’s going to come up, like when we have the golden calf, and some of the key failures of Moses and his family. When it feels like the characters are hurting, we’ll go through that with them, but then we’ll get back to the lighter parts. And I think this style allows for that.
How has working on “The Chosen” informed your approach?
I’m the second, second assistant director. So I direct all of the background actors on the show. I think we average something like 70 background every day, and that’s not even counting the days where we have thousands for scenes like the feeding of the 5,000. It’s been influential to me to learn from people like Dallas Jenkins. He takes the content very seriously, but it’s also very important to him that the show is artistically satisfying. I think sometimes the problem with Christian productions is they are message first, art second. With “The Chosen,” it’s been really cool to see how they work to get the performances right, the production design, doing the things regular TV shows do to make a good show. The content just happens to be Jesus. I’m trying to apply that same principle to “The Promised Land.” Also just in general, the way the set of “The Chosen” is run is very different and very special, and it’s definitely a good environment to work in. I want to make sure we also have that on our set.
What can you tell me about the show’s cast?
Some of our cast members are also on “The Chosen.” And that wasn’t always the case. When we filmed our pilot, the only cast member who was on “The Chosen” was Wasim No’mani, who plays a Pharisee named Yanni on “The Chosen,” and Moses in “The Promised Land.” When we were editing, I showed one of the early cuts to Dallas (Jenkins), and he was like, your cast is incredible. He cast several of them in Season Four of “The Chosen.”
This show has gone from idea to reality very quickly. What made that possible?
In addition to our investors, we have “The Chosen” to thank in part for that too. I told the producers in the summer of 2022, when we were filming Season Three, listen, we don’t have much of a budget, and I’m going to need tents, props and costumes. I think a big part of what made it happen is the fact that I was able to go up to some of my fellow crew members and say, will you help me out with this one-week shoot, right after we wrap season three? And the producers were very kind to let us rent for cheap out of the materials we used for production.
Who is the target audience?
I view the target audience as predominantly millennials and Gen Z, especially people who have a degree of connection to faith. I’m a millennial born in the ’90s, and this kind of show, if I wasn’t the one making it, would really appeal to me. I think a lot of Christian content focuses on things that are not currently factors in my life, like being a father, or dealing with serious issues of faith. And I’m not saying any of that is wrong. But what do I watch all the time? I watch half-hour comedy shows. I think I’m not alone in that.
“The Promised Land” writer and director Mitch Hudson, left, with actor Wasim No’mani, center, who portrays Moses. (Photo © Sebastian Molina)
What do you hope they get out of it?
I hope that when they watch it, there is something in there that makes them think, “Man, I should reread these stories.” When I read the scripts for “The Chosen,” I often think, is that in the Bible? And then I’ll go back and I read it. It brings it to life in a new way for me. So I hope there’s that, but I also hope, truly, that it’s just a fun and entertaining show they will enjoy watching over again.
What can fans expect next?
So far, the response has been incredible, which is a dream come true. The goal is to make 39 more episodes and then a feature length film. The episodes for the show will take us throughout the rest of the story of Moses. So the next episode would start where we left off, with Jethro telling Moses, “Hey, if you want to lead, you need to trust others to help you lead.” And then from there we carry over until we get to Joshua taking over. In terms of when are the next episodes coming, if it all works out for us to film this fall, we will hopefully have more episodes by next summer. Hopefully Season Five of “The Chosen” comes out in the spring, and then right afterward, you have some more episodes of “The Promised Land” to watch.