Ellen Pompeo is returning to television medical drama territory, though she is stepping away from her long-running role as Dr. Meredith Grey to play a disgraced ER nurse in a new Hulu series, according to reports broken by Deadline and detailed by Variety. The project, titled “Not a Sound,” is in development at Hulu through 20th Television and comes from creator David E. Kelley.
The Plot and Production Team Behind ‘Not a Sound’
According to source reporting from Variety and Deadline, “Not a Sound” is based on Heather Gudenkauf’s novel of the same name. The narrative follows Amelia Winn, a disgraced ER nurse who loses her hearing in a devastating hit-and-run accident. Alongside her service dog, Winn discovers the murdered body of a former colleague, which pulls her into a mystery that could reveal the truth about the accident that changed her life.
The series is written by Matthew Tinker, president of David E. Kelley Productions, and Annakate Chappell, both of whom previously worked as writers on Kelley’s ABC drama series “Big Sky.” Azazel Jacobs, whose Netflix film “His Three Daughters” earned him Gotham and Independent Spirit awards, is attached to direct.
Executive producers on the project include Chappell and Jacobs, alongside David E. Kelley Prods.’ Kelley and Tinker, and Calamity Jane’s Ellen Pompeo and Laura Holstein. 20th Television serves as the studio, with the project falling under Pompeo’s overall deal at the studio.
Pompeo’s Expanding Slate with Hulu and ABC
The Hulu development order adds to an expanding slate of projects Pompeo has undertaken with Disney and its streaming platforms. According to Variety and Deadline, her true crime anthology series “Good American Family” was recently renewed by Hulu for a second season, and the streamer also ordered a dramedy pilot titled “Chicks,” which Pompeo is starring in and executive producing alongside Katie Robbins.
Concurrently, Pompeo maintains her connection to ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” where she has played Meredith Grey since 2005. She is headed into the show’s 23rd season, serves as an executive producer, previously executive produced the spinoff series “Station 19,” and holds an executive producer role on an upcoming “Grey’s” offshoot set in West Texas slated to premiere in midseason 2027.
Collaborator Backgrounds and Industry Context
The collaboration marks a reunion of sorts within the television landscape. As Deadline noted, “Not a Sound” brings Pompeo and David E. Kelley together over two decades after Kelley’s “Boston Legal” wrapped its season in March 2005 to make room for the debut of “Grey’s Anatomy.”
Key members of the creative team bring notable recent credits to the production. Matthew Tinker oversees David E. Kelley Productions’ slate across film, television, and new media, executive producing upcoming second seasons of Apple TV’s “Presumed Innocent” and “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” as well as Netflix’s “Myron Bolitar.” Annakate Chappell serves as a supervising producer on CBS’s “Tracker” and is writing the feature film “Bingo” with Robin Wright attached to direct and star. Director Azazel Jacobs has a television background that includes co-writing and executive producing both seasons of “Doll & Em” for Sky/HBO.
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