Antony Root is a British television executive and producer. He has worked in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States. He was formerly Executive Vice President of Original Programming and Production for HBO Europe and Head of Original Production for

WarnerMedia Warner Media, LLC (Trade name, doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational corporation, multinational mass media and show business, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 ...

EMEA. He retired from this position in March 2023.

Education

Root was educated at King's College School, Cambridge,

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

and

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...

, where he read philosophy and English. At Cambridge he was president of the Amateur Dramatic Club (CUADC) and junior treasurer of the

Footlights The Cambridge Footlights, commonly referred to simply as Footlights, is a student sketch comedy troupe located in Cambridge, England. Footlights was founded in 1883, and is one of Britain's oldest student sketch comedy troupes. The comedy so ...

revue group.

Career

After a brief career in theatre management, Root joined the BBC television drama Series and Serials Department as an assistant floor manager. He was subsequently promoted to become a script editor, working on season 19 of ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' (credited on the serials '' Four to Doomsday'', '' The Visitation'' and '' Earthshock'', broadcast in 1982), '' The Chinese Detective'' (1981–82) and '' Strangers and Brothers'' (1984). In 1984 he was recruited by

Euston Films Euston Films is a British film and television production company. It was originally a subsidiary of Thames Television, and operated from 1971 to 1994, producing various series for Thames, which were screened nationally on the ITV network. Euston ...

, a subsidiary of

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

, as its development executive, where his credits included ''

Capital City A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state (polity), state, province, department (administrative division), department, or other administrative division, subnational division, usually as its ...

'', ''

Bellman and True ''Bellman and True'' is a 1987 film based on the novel of the same name by Desmond Lowden. The film was written and directed by Richard Loncraine. It stars Bernard Hill, Derek Newark and Richard Hope. The title comes from an old Cumberland s ...

'' and the miniseries ''The Fear'', which he also co-produced. In 1989 he joined Working Title Television as head of production, where he produced '' Lorna Doone'' (ITV),

Derek Jarman Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, poet, gardener, and gay rights activist. Biography Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing ...

's '' Edward II'' (BBC) and Armistead Maupin's '' Tales of the City'' ( C4). In 1994 he was appointed head of drama at Thames Television, executive producing

John Schlesinger John Richard Schlesinger ( ; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director, and actor. He emerged in the early 1960s as a leading light of the British New Wave, before embarking on a successful career in Hollywood ...

's '' Cold Comfort Farm'' (BBC) and setting up Five's first drama series, '' A Wing and a Prayer'', before leaving to join

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...

as Head of Drama in 1997. In this role his credits as executive producer included '' The Grand'' (ITV) and '' Far from the Madding Crowd'' (ITV). In 1998 he became the first Granada executive tasked with developing and producing drama for broadcasters outside the United Kingdom. As head of international drama, he oversaw three movies for A&E in the United States – ''Murder in a Small Town'' and ''The Lady in Question'', both starring

Gene Wilder Gene Wilder (born Jerome Silberman; June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and filmmaker. He was mainly known for his comedic roles, including his portrayal of Willy Wonka in ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Fa ...

, and '' Dash and Lilly'', starring

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned half a century. He wrote 58 plays as well as several books of short stories, essays, ...

and

Judy Davis Judith Davis (born 23 April 1955) is an Australian actress. In a career spanning over four decades of both List of Judy Davis performances, screen and stage, she has been commended for her versatility and regarded as one of the finest actresses ...

. He also developed and executive produced the

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

-winning miniseries ''

Longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lett ...

'' (C4) for Granada Film. In 1999 he transferred to Los Angeles and assumed the additional role of SVP, movies and miniseries at Granada Entertainment USA, where his credits as executive producer included ''

The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' () is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with Jay Gatsby, a mysterious mi ...

'' (A&E) and '' Princess of Thieves'' (ABC). In 2000 he was appointed president of the company overseeing all its output including the television movies ''My Beautiful Son'' ( Showtime/ITV) and ''Second Nature'' (

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

), the second season of the series '' Beggars and Choosers'' ( Showtime), and drama and comedy television pilots for the U.S. networks. In 2005 he returned to the UK to take up the position of senior vice-president, European production, for

Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production company, production and broadcast syndication, distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, California, it is a division o ...

. In this role, which he held until December 2009, he was responsible for all development and production in the European region including the management of its wholly owned and joint venture entities in six countries. From January 2010 to October 2011 he worked as an international consultant and executive producer. His assignments included serving as director of Industry Week at the RomaFictionFest in 2010 and 2011. In October 2011 he took up the position of executive vice-president, original programming and production, at HBO Europe. In this role he headed HBO Europe's original programming division with direct reports in London, Copenhagen and Madrid and operating departments in Warsaw, Prague, Budapest and Bucharest. He was responsible for the creative, production and financial supervision of all HBO Europe original programming and for the selection of fiction and documentary programmes to be developed and produced. He was a member of HBO Europe's senior management team and reported to the CEO. In 2020 Root was appointed Head of Original Production for WarnerMedia EMEA. In this expanded role he continued to oversee the original programming output of HBO Europe with added responsibilities for the original productions commissioned by the Turner channels in Spain, Germany and France and by HBO Max across EMEA. He retired from this position in March 2023. Productions with which Root has been associated as producer or executive producer have won BAFTA, Peabody and Banff awards, as well as many local awards in HBO Europe and HBO Max's operating regions, and have been nominated for European Film Awards, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes and Oscars.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Root, Antony Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge British television producers Living people People educated at Marlborough College Year of birth missing (living people)