Amid a pandemic that is ravaging the United States, HBO Max wants to help everyone relax, enlisting celebrities like Mahershala Ali, Idris Elba and Oscar Isaac to read bedtime stories, in a new series done in partnership with the sleep app Calm.
Described as a “television experience that combines mesmeric imagery with narration,” the series, titled “A World of Calm” is a collaboration between the makers of Calm and Nutopia, the team behind Nat Geo’s “One Strange Rock.”
Additional celebrities include Nicole Kidman, Zoë Kravitz, Lucy Liu, Cillian Murphy, and Keanu Reeves.
Here’s how HBO Max describes the series:
A timely antidote for our modern lives, each half-hour episode takes audiences on an immersive visual journey into another world. Building on the record-breaking success of Calm’s Sleep Stories – bedtime stories for grown ups with over 250m listens – each relaxing tale is designed to transform how you feel. Transporting the viewer into tranquility through scientifically-engineered narratives, enchanting music and astounding footage, to naturally calm your body and soothe the mind. Each story is brought to life by a different iconic voice.
“With the considerable amount of stress and chaos we are all experiencing at this particularly challenging time, we could all use a bit of guided relaxation and A World of Calm is here to help,” said Jennifer O’Connell, executive vice president of non-fiction and kids programming for HBO Max. “With soothing imagery and tranquil narration, this is one HBO Max original that we hope becomes part of your daily routine.”
The series is co-produced by Calm and Nutopia with Jane Root, Nicola Moody, Michael Acton Smith and Chris Advansun serving as executive producers, and Sara Brailsford and Fiona Caldwell as co-executive producers.