Behind The Chosen: Faith, Film, and the Fight for Culture

Join host John Coleman on the set of The Chosen in Midlothian, Texas, for an unprecedented conversation with producers Chris Juen and Chad Gundersen of Out of Order Studios. From the Sanhedrin throne room itself, Chris and Chad share the untold story of how a crowdfunded Jesus project became a global phenomenon reaching 520 million people—and what it means for faith-driven investors seeking to impact culture through entertainment.

Key Investment & Industry Topics:

• Why entertainment investment requires a platform approach, not one-off project bets
• How The Chosen scaled from $0 budget for episode 5 to a multi-season global franchise
• The three investment pillars for cultural impact: spark the next generation, build infrastructure, create content
• Why investors should think like oil drillers: invest in a slate of 10 films, not just one
• The unpredictable nature of entertainment returns and how to approach risk wisely
• Building production companies that operate between $1M-$150M budgets with studio-level quality

Powerful Quotes:

"I'm tired of crappy Christian content. God doesn't want your crap. He calls us to be excellent." - Chad Gundersen

"Christians yielded culture, then got mad when culture went bad. Fine, it's risky, but is it worth the risk?" - Chris Juen

"Platforms, not projects. How do you get around the most excellent people in the industry who have a slate of content and invest in that diversified platform?" - John Coleman

About the Guests:

Chris Juen and Chad Gundersen are the co-founders of Out of Order Studios and executive producers of The Chosen, the largest crowdfunded media project in history. Chris brings 20 years of studio experience from major productions including Contact, Spider-Man, and Polar Express, while Chad contributed 20 years of independent filmmaking expertise. Together, they've pioneered a hybrid production model that delivers studio-quality content at independent budgets—proving that faith-driven content can compete at the highest levels of entertainment while maintaining both artistic excellence and fiscal responsibility.

Their production philosophy centers on creating environments where cast and crew are valued, where believers and non-believers alike can experience the gospel through excellent storytelling, and where investors can participate in cultural transformation through strategic, well-managed capital deployment.

Join FDI hosts Richard Cunningham, John Coleman, and Luke Roush, along with Justin Forman of Faith Driven Movements, as they recap an extraordinary year in markets and ministry. Recording just before Thanksgiving, this special year-end episode explores the key economic trends that shaped 2025 and the remarkable growth of the faith-driven investing ecosystem.

Key Investment Topics Discussed:

• US economic resilience despite tariff concerns and employment volatility
• The AI revolution and its impact on mega-cap valuations and energy demands
• Continued illiquidity in private markets and the wait for distributions
• Housing affordability crisis and growing wealth inequality concerns
• Interest rate environment returning to historical norms after post-GFC anomaly

Powerful Insights:

"Bible sales are up 41% this year. There's this real sense that younger people in particular have realized that they need some sort of purpose and meaning that they're lacking."

"We're in this how moment. People generally understand that their work matters. They know that their capital can make a difference. But they're questioning, well, how do we do it?"

"If we lost everything tomorrow, doesn't matter. We know that the most important thing we have is Jesus."

This episode provides essential perspective for faith-driven investors navigating uncertainty while maintaining eternal focus. From the maturity of faith-driven investment strategies across asset classes to the intersection of affordability challenges and Kingdom opportunities, this conversation equips investors to approach 2026 with wisdom, hope, and missional clarity.

Join Justin Forman in Lagos, Nigeria for an inspiring conversation with Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes, founder and Managing Partner of Arura Capital. Adesuwa shares her journey from J.P. Morgan to building the first female-led private equity fund in Nigeria focused on female-founded, female-led, and female-focused businesses across Africa.

Key Topics:

Why Africa has the highest rate of female entrepreneurship globally (4x more than Europe) yet women receive only 2% of capital

How Arura Capital's $20M Fund One delivered top-quartile returns above global benchmarks while creating 205,000 jobs and $150M in value chain revenue

The $150 billion capital gap facing African SMEs and the arbitrage opportunity in overlooked founders

Digital transformation as Africa's leapfrog strategy - from embedded finance to B2B commerce platforms serving 150,000 retailers

Why now is the best time to invest in Nigeria despite (and because of) recent policy reforms

Powerful Quotes:

"To live life where it's only about you is a very, very boring life, I think. You really wanna be able to showcase legacy. You really want to be able to showcase how has it impacted that woman who would have never had access to capital if we didn't show up."

"Female founders actually generate more revenue than their male counterpart. For every dollar invested in a startup, a female founder returns 2.5 times more revenue than her male counterpart."

"If you're an investor that's allocating capital, you can no longer afford to ignore or avoid the African continent, because this is really where the growth in the next 30 to 50 years is gonna come from."

About Adesuwa:

Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes is the founder and Managing Partner of Arura Capital, a pioneering private equity fund investing in female-founded, female-led, and female-focused businesses across Africa. After a successful career at J.P. Morgan, she launched Arura in July 2019 to address the massive funding gap facing female entrepreneurs on the continent. Her Fund One raised $20M and has delivered top-quartile returns while creating measurable social impact across Nigeria, Ghana, and Côte d'Ivoire. Adesuwa was the first woman in Nigeria to raise over $10M for a private equity fund and is passionate about using capital redemptively to transform lives across Africa's value chains.