Long road for Reza Aslan’s ‘Of Kings and Prophets’ from Bible to TV

Ten years ago, Reza Aslan and his business partner Mahyad Tousi established BoomGen Studios, which consults with Hollywood on content about the Middle East. BoomGen is now a production company with two hit television shows, Ovation’s “Rough Draft with Reza Aslan,” a talk show, and the new “Of Kings and Prophets,” which airs Tuesday nights on ABC and is based on the Old Testament story of King David, as told in the biblical books 1 and 2 Samuel. Aslan was also a consulting producer on the HBO series “The Leftovers.”

Aslan talked with RNS about why Hollywood resists nuanced religious content and how BoomGen is trying to change that. Aslan was born in Iran, raised in the U.S. and converted to Christianity as a teenager before returning to Islam. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.