Antony Root

Antony Root is an award-winning television executive and producer. After a brief career in theatre management, he joined BBC Television's Drama Series and Serials Department as an Assistant Floor Manager. He was subsequently promoted to Script Editor, working on the scripts for such series as Doctor Who (2005), The Chinese Detective (1981) and Strangers and Brothers (1984). In 1984 he was recruited by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television, as its Development Executive where he was responsible for the development of all new drama and film projects for the company. His credits included Capital City (1989), Bellman and True (1987) and the miniseries The Fear (1988), which he also co-produced. In 1989 he joined Working Title Television as Head of Production where he developed and produced Lorna Doone (1990) (ITV), Derek Jarman's Edward II (1991) (BBC) and Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City (1993) (C4). In 1994 he was appointed Head of Drama at Thames Television, executive producing John Schlesinger's Cold Comfort Farm (1995) (BBC) and developing Five's first drama series, Wing and a Prayer (1997), before leaving to join Granada Television as Head of Drama in 1996. In this role his credits as executive producer included The Grand (1997) (ITV) and Far from the Madding Crowd (1998) (ITV). In 1997 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 (1999) and The Lady in Question (1999), both starring Gene Wilder, and Dash and Lilly (1999), starring Sam Shepard and Judy Davis. He also executive produced the mini-series Longitude (2000) (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 (2000) (A&E) and Princess of Thieves (2001) (ABC). In 2000 he was appointed President of the company overseeing all its development and production including the television movies Strange Relations (2001) (aka My Beautiful Son) (Showtime/ITV) and Second Nature (2003) (TNT), the second season of the series Beggars and Choosers (1999) (Showtime), and drama and comedy pilots for the U.S. networks. Having managed the company's transition from scripted to non-scripted programming, and its merger with Carlton America, he relinquished this role in 2003 but continued to oversee its scripted programming including serving as executive producer on the series Touching Evil (2004) (USA). In 2005 he returned to the UK to take up the position of SVP, European Production, for Sony Pictures Television. In this role, which he held until December 2009, he was responsible for all SPT's 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.[7] 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.