Kelley, known recently for “Big Little Lies” and “The Undoing,” serves as showrunner, writer, and executive producer of the series, premiering November 10 on the NBCU streamer. Levinson directs multiple episodes including the pilot, as well as executive produces. Hans Zimmer and Steve Mazzaro are co-composers for the gritty police procedural with a twist. “The Calling” centers on NYPD Detective Avraham Avraham (Jeff Wilbusch) whose belief in mankind is his superpower when it comes to uncovering the truth. Guided by a deep sense of spirituality and religious principles, Avraham is left to question his own humanity when a seemingly routine investigation turns upside down. The series is based on Dror Mishani’s novels of the same name, which showrunner Kelley calls a “riveting and emotionally complicated series of books.”
“Avi is a deeply mysterious, spiritual and compelling detective unlike any protagonist I’ve encountered before,” Kelley said in a press statement. “[Actor] Jeff Wilbusch brings him to rich and hypnotic life in front of the camera, and behind the camera Barry Levinson is…Barry Levinson. What a privilege to have him at the helm. Add Hans Zimmer to the mix, and the final product is something we hope thrills, moves, and instills a bit of hope in the audience.” Juliana Canfield, Karen Robinson, and Michael Mosley also star, along with guest stars including “This Is Us” breakout Chris Sullivan, Constance Zimmer, Ben Shenkman, Rafael Cebrián, Danielle Davenport, Noel Fisher, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Christopher Mann, Steven Pasquale, Stephanie Szostak, Tony Curran, Matthew Del Negro, James Cusati Moyer, and Derrick Delgado. Co-composers Zimmer and Mazzaro said, “Our goal with ‘The Calling’ was to write a score that constantly keeps every character a suspect throughout. We used a variety of raw and gritty-sounding stringed instruments coupled with pulsing synths, contrasted by a beautifully haunting duduk performance from our good friend, Pedro Eustache for Avi’s character. We’ve also manipulated real-world sounds such as jail cells and door sounds hidden within our percussion.” Executive producers for the crime drama include novelist Mishani, Heather Brewster, Jason Horwitch, Jonathan Shapiro, Matthew Tinker (Kelley’s producing partner), Keshet Studios’ Peter Traugott and Lisa Roos, Keshet International’s Alon Shrutzman, Keshet Media Group’s Avi Nir, and Keshet Broadcasting’s Karni Ziv. All eight episodes of the hour-long series will be released at launch. “The Calling” premieres November 10 on Peacock. Check out the trailer below.
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