Antony Root
(Executive Producer)

Antony Root joined Granada Television in 1997 as Head of Drama, overseeing such series as The Grand and Far From the Madding Crowd for ITV. He went on to set up Granada International Drama to develop and produce programming for markets outside the U.K. In this role, Root oversaw the A&E telefilms Murder in a Small Town; The Lady in Question; Dash and Lilly, which was nominated for nine Emmys®, including Best Television Movie, and three Golden Globes; and The Great Gatsby. He also served as executive producer on the multi-BAFTA award-winning Channel 4/A&E miniseries Longitude. He transferred to Granada Entertainment USA in 1999 and since May 2000 has served as president of the company. Granada Entertainment is the LA-based production arm of UK media giant Granada PLC. In the last 12 months, Granada has been responsible for an estimated 125 hours of drama, 35 hours of factual, 20 hours of entertainment and six-and-a-half hours of children's programming on U.S. screens. Fifteen one-hour episodes of the reality series I'm A Celebrity–Get Me Out of Here for ABC played on consecutive nights during February sweeps. Martin Bashir's documentary Living with Michael Jackson, also shown on ABC, was one of the highest rated programs of the year. Recent movies for television include Skinwalkers, produced with Robert Redford's Wildwood Enterprises for PBS. The company will produce two further movies from Tony Hillerman's novels this summer.

Root also served as executive producer on the telefilms Princess of Thieves and Strange Relations. Before joining Granada, Root was head of television at Working Title Films, where his credits included Lorna Doone, Newshounds and Derek Jarman's Edward II. He produced the six-hour miniseries Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City, which garnered many awards including a Royal Television Society Award, a Peabody Award and an Emmy nomination for Best Miniseries. He also served as head of drama at Thames Television, overseeing the drama output of the U.K.'s largest independent producer. His credits there included John Schlesinger's Cold Comfort Farm.

Prior to working in television, Root was in theatre management and publicity, and served as a script editor in the BBC's drama department and in Euston Films, the filmmaking arm of Thames Television. He worked on such shows as Dr. Who; The Chinese Detective; Bellman and True; Capital City; and the gangster series The Fear, which he also co-produced.