The why behind translating ‘The Chosen’ into 600 languages

Stan Jantz, CEO of the Come and See Foundation, said miracles are a good way to describe how Season 5 of “The Chosen” could become funded.

The organization works to help ensure the show has the money it needs, but also has a goal of getting the hit series about Jesus and his disciples translated into 600 languages. Jantz told the Deseret News the donations come from all across the world.

It’s not typical for that to happen with nonprofits, said Jantz. More than 104,000 supporters from 151 countries made Season 5 possible. He said he thinks it is because of the nature of the show — but also how good it is.

“This is not a made up story,” said Jantz. “(Jesus) He’s a real person who still lives at the right hand of God, and we can still make a connection with him.”

What does the Come and See Foundation do?

With more than 100,000 donors, you would have more than 100,000 stories about why they chose to donate their money, he said. “I would say the big story is just the number of people who have decided this is something important for them to share.”

With the donors coming from many countries, it shows the global impact of the show, said Jantz. “It’s also indicative of how it’s just touching people on a global level, not just here where the show is made.”

Jantz said a couple had donated to the show and wanted to see the set. The show has two locations where they film: one in Goshen, Utah (the Jerusalem set) and the other is the Capernaum set in Midlothian, Texas.

The couple walked around the Midlothian set on a tour with Jantz, and the husband “kept using the word ‘excellence’” to describe the set.

“Within about three days, we got a very nice gift from this person, and much more than the couple had given the first time,” said Jantz. “And it was because he saw the beauty and excellence of the work that was being done.”

In addition to helping with the funding the show, Jantz said the organization is making progress on its goal to translate the show into 600 languages. The Come and See Foundation keeps a running list of their progress on translation — listing the languages they have translated the show into so far and how many seasons have been translated.

Jantz said they want people to be able to watch the show in the language they know best — whether that be through dubbing or subtitles. He said they work to make professional and top grade translations.

One viewer from India reached out to Jantz after she watched two seasons of the show in Bengali, her native language. She said the tone of the characters fit with their personalities and thought the dubbing actors were cast perfectly.

This viewer understands English, said Jantz, but to listen to the show in Bengali was a special experience for her.

“When you can reach somebody on a heart level with something like this, it just is so impactful,” said Jantz. The team is currently working on 108 languages right now. The work does not just involve simply translating the show, but capturing the tone and expressiveness.

“It’s all done through studios and through direction,” said Jantz. “This translation, it honors the language and the speakers of that language in a big way, especially when it’s done with such excellence.”

As his work to aid the show has gone on, Jantz said he has great experiences telling people about what he does. When he meets people and they ask what he does, he said he usually just says he does work with “The Chosen.” But what happens next often are what he described as lovely conversations about what the show means.

The organization will focus on funding Season 6 next, said Jantz.