After viewing the film, VidAngel suggested using it as a "concept pilot" to test interest for a larger series. It eventually helped launch the largest crowdfunded media project in history.

Jenkins filmed the short on a friend’s farm in Marengo, Illinois, following what he described as his "biggest career failure" with the film The Resurrection of Gavin Stone .

Unlike the full series, this pilot was produced with a lower budget and a different crew, lacking the extensive historical research team used in later seasons. Plot & Narrative Structure

The film reimagines the Nativity story through the eyes of a fictional, marginalized character to make the familiar narrative feel "fresh and real".