A+E Studios’s Roots Set for MIPTV World Premiere TV Screening

PARIS: A+E Studios’s new event miniseries Roots will make its international debut at MIPTV as the World Premiere TV Screening, with cast members Anna Paquin, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Anika Noni Rose and Malachi Kirby, together with executive producer Mark Wolper and co-executive producer LeVar Burton, in attendance.

Roots is based on Alex Haley’s 1976 novel. It recounts the journey of one family and their will to survive and carry on their legacy despite hardship. The original Roots series aired on ABC in 1977. The MIPTV World Premiere TV Screening will take place on April 4.

Laurine Garaude, the director of Reed MIDEM’s Television Division, said: “The Alex Haley novel and original series left its mark on a generation of readers and television viewers around the world. The quality of the talent associated with this new version of Roots and the incredible production team involved once again confirms the commitment that broadcasters have towards event drama with international potential. The World Premiere TV Screening is an ideal showcase for this kind of premium programming destined to interest the thousands of buyers and international media that attend MIPTV.”

“We are incredibly proud of Roots. It’s a story with exceptional gravity, emotion and universality, which will impact viewers around the world,” said Sean Cohan, the president of international and digital media at A+E Networks. “Roots was developed and produced by our in-house production arm, A+E Studios. We launched Studios to better control our destiny—to produce and own our premium content. To that end, Roots is one of our biggest undertakings. It embodies the type of ambitious storytelling that A+E Studios is bringing to the global marketplace.”