Antony Root is Executive Vice President of Programming and Production at HBO Europe, based in the company’s Budapest headquarters, where he is responsible for all local original programming produced for the 15 markets where the company provides a bouquet of premium TV channels. These include scripted drama, miniseries and documentaries.
A graduate of Cambridge University, Antony started his career in the theatre before joining BBC Drama where he worked on numerous drama series. From there he moved to the UK’s ITV and subsequently to Working Title Films, before being appointed Head of Drama at major UK producer Thames Television.
In 1996 Antony joined Granada Television as Head of Drama and in 1998 became the first Granada executive tasked with developing and producing drama programming for broadcasters outside the United Kingdom. As Head of International Drama he oversaw three movies for A&E in the United States, progressing to President of Granada Entertainment USA, based in Los Angeles.
In 2005 Antony returned to the UK to take up the position of Senior VP, European Production, for Sony Pictures Television, where 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.
In 2010 and 2011 Antony served as Director of Industry Week at the RomaFictionFest before joining HBO Europe as Executive VP, Original Programming and Production.
Productions with which Antony has been associated as producer or executive producer have won BAFTA, Peabody and Banff awards and have been nominated for Primetime Emmys and Golden Globes.