Jane Root

Jane Root is a leading creative executive with a reputation for innovation, determination and delivery. Her work was celebrated by Women in Film & TV when she was awarded the prestigious 2017 Business Award acknowledging her outstanding achievements in the industry both in the UK and abroad. In 2008, Jane created Nutopia, a TV production company based in London and Washington committed to thinking big and focused on ambitious factual series of all types, as well as factually-inspired drama. Nutopia is dedicated to creating ground-breaking, specialist factual content on a global scale. Best known for pioneering a new genre of television - the 'megadoc' - by combining epic cinematography and action-driven drama with high-end documentary and A-list talent. Recent credits include highly praised series 'The World According to Jeff Goldblum' (Disney+), award-winning earth science series 'One Strange Rock' (Nat Geo), critically acclaimed drama doc 'The Last Czars' (Netflix), and Grierson-nominated feature doc 'The Hunt for Jihadi John' (HBO/Channel 4). The company continues to development shows for the biggest broadcasters in the world, alongside some of the highest profile partners in the industry. Jane was President of Discovery Channel US until 2007 where she re-positioned the channel giving it a fresh voice and leading to record ratings. During her time at Discovery, Jane commissioned international hits including Man vs Wild (Born Survivor), Deadliest Catch and Dirty Jobs, as well as turning Planet Earth into a worldwide phenomenon. Before her US adventure, Jane was Controller of BBC2 for 5 years. During her tenure as 'one of the BBC's most successful channel controllers', she was responsible for hits including The Office, Top Gear, The Weakest Link, Great Britons and Who do You Think You Are. Under her mandate, BBC2 won the prestigious "Channel of the Year" award 2 years in a row at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, and the Broadcast Award for Best Channel in 2004. Prior to this and for 10 years Jane co-founded and was joint Managing Director of Wall to Wall TV, shaping it into one of Britain's most respected and successful TV production companies. Jane has also worked as a journalist, writing the books Open the Box (Comedia, 1986) and Pictures of Women (Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1982) and worked for the British Film Institute and publications including The Guardian, Sight and Sound and Cosmopolitan.