Jane Root

Producer, also writer · Born May 18, 1957 (69)

Primetime Emmy nominee · BAFTA Award nominee

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.

What are Jane Root's films like?

Across their 27 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Society and Ideas.

Themes

share of theme weight

Society

21%

Ideas

19%

Power

17%

Morality

13%

Survival

12%

Self

10%

Bonds

9%

Power6 Legacy6 Family bonds5 Community5 Nature4 Purpose4 Betrayal4 Mortality3

What they feel like to watch

their average across 3 films

ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category

Earnest

Tone · Sincerity

ironicearnest

Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 3

Serious

Tone · Weight

lightdark

Light 1 · Serious 2 · Dark 0

Grounded

Tone · Style

naturalisticheightened

Grounded 2 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 0

Charged

Feel · Intensity

gentleintense

Gentle 0 · Charged 2 · Intense 1

Steady

Feel · Swings

steadyswings

Steady 2 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 0

Straight-faced

Feel · Humor

noneconstant

Straight-faced 3 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0

Slow burn

Demand · Pace

slowrelentless

Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 0

Engaged

Demand · Attention

casualfull focus

Casual 1 · Engaged 2 · Full focus 0

Easy watch

Demand · Emotional cost

easyheavy

Easy watch 2 · Affecting 0 · Heavy 1

Resolved

Demand · Resolution

resolvedambiguous

Resolved 3 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 0

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Contemplative

16

Tense

11

Hopeful

11

Dread

5

Melancholic

7

Other

13

How their films linger

Thought-provoking18 Hopeful14 Bittersweet6 Haunting5 Rousing5 Feel-good2

How their films end

Happy3
Bittersweet8
Tragic3
Ambiguous10
Cyclical2
Other1

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Jane Root's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 27 of their 29 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Disney+ (9).

Also on these channels

HISTORY Vault4 titles, show their 4 titles on HISTORY Vault
Fox Nation2 titles, show their 2 titles on Fox Nation
PBS Documentaries2 titles, show their 2 titles on PBS Documentaries
BBC Select1 title, show their title on BBC Select
CNN All Access1 title, show their title on CNN All Access
ViX1 title, show their title on ViX

Subscription and free streaming for Jane Root's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

40 credits, 29 with a MovieCove page.

The White House(2026)
Show 8 episodes · Executive Producer
Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all shows (provisional, few ratings)
Pole to Pole with Will Smith(2026)
Show 7 episodes · Executive Producer
Midcredits score: 57th percentile of all shows
World War II with Tom Hanks(2026)
Show Producer
Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all shows
Limitless: Live Better Now (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
Show 3 episodes · Executive Producer
Chris Hemsworth: A Road Trip to Remember(2025)
Producer
Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all films
Secrets Declassified with David Duchovny(2025)
Show Producer
Midcredits score: 41st percentile of all shows
Shark Beach with Anthony Mackie(2024)
Executive Producer
Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all films
Jesus: Crown of Thorns(2024)
Show Producer
Midcredits score: 8th percentile of all shows
Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife(2023)
Show 3 episodes · Executive Producer
Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all shows
African Queens: Njinga(2023)
Show 4 episodes · Executive Producer
Midcredits score: 1st percentile of all shows
7 Toughest Days(2023)
Show 3 episodes · Executive Producer
Midcredits score: 15th percentile of all shows (provisional, few ratings)
Queen Cleopatra(2023)
Show Producer
Midcredits score: 1st percentile of all shows
Limitless(2022)
Show 6 episodes · Executive Producer
Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all shows
Blood, Sex & Royalty(2022)
Show Producer
Midcredits score: 16th percentile of all shows
The '80s: Top Ten (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)
Show 6 episodes · Executive Producer
Welcome to Earth(2021)
Show 6 episodes · Executive Producer
Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all shows
Vendetta: Guerra nell'antimafia(2021)
Show 6 episodes · Executive Producer · Writer
Midcredits score: 35th percentile of all shows
Shark Beach with Chris Hemsworth(2021)
Producer
Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all films
A World of Calm(2020)
Show 10 episodes · Executive Producer
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all shows
Babies(2020)
Show 6 episodes · Executive Producer
Midcredits score: 43rd percentile of all shows
America: Our Defining Hours(2020)
Show Producer
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all shows
The World According to Jeff Goldblum (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)
Show 22 episodes · Executive Producer
Unmasking Jihadi John: Anatomy of a Terrorist (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)
Executive Producer
The Hunt for Jihadi John (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)
Executive Producer
Jesus: His Life(2019)
Show Producer
Midcredits score: 54th percentile of all shows
The Last Czars(2019)
Show Producer
Midcredits score: 69th percentile of all shows
The '80s Greatest (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
Show 10 episodes · Producer
One Strange Rock(2018)
Show 10 episodes · Executive Producer
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all shows
Civilizations(2018)
Show Producer
Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all shows
Africa's Great Civilizations(2017)
Show Producer
Midcredits score: 49th percentile of all shows
America: Promised Land(2017)
Show Producer
Midcredits score: 28th percentile of all shows (provisional, few ratings)
Finding Jesus: Faith. Fact. Forgery.(2015)
Show Producer
Midcredits score: 12th percentile of all shows
How We Got to Now(2014)
Show Producer
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all shows
How We Invented The World (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Show 5 episodes · Executive Producer
Mankind: The Story of All of Us(2012)
Show Producer
Midcredits score: 69th percentile of all shows
In the Shadow of the Moon(2007)
Producer
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
Saving Ronald Reagan (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)
Executive Producer
All Mod Cons (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1997)
Show 6 episodes · Executive Producer
A Night in with the Girls (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1997)
Actor
Cinéma! Cinéma! The French New Wave (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1992)
Executive Producer

Career shape

A full career of 23 titles from 1992 to 2026.

Biggest box office

In the Shadow of the Moon (2007)

$2.2M worldwide

Highest rated

In the Shadow of the Moon (2007)

Midcredits 97^th

By role

only this rolewith another role

Acting1 of 23Producing22 of 23 · 60^th

By decade

1990s3 · 1 acting · 2 crew2000s1 · crew2010s6 · crew2020s13 · crew

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.

Awards

3 major nominations and no wins, 2020–2022.

2022
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special
2020
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special
- BAFTA Award, nominated · Current Affairs

Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.

How do Jane Root's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 76^th percentile, the median of all 4; across a limited sample of 3 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 85^th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

85^thpercentile

Typical film, the median of 3

Approval · how many liked their films

82^ndpercentile

Typical film, the median of 3

Reach · how many have seen their films

78^thpercentile

Typical film, the median of 3

Midcredits score across 29 titles, by percentile

75^th and up8
50^th to 74^th9
25^th to 49^th6
Below 25^th6

Shape of the crowd

9 of their 29 titles are Mixed.

Universally Loved4
Universally Panned1
Divisive4
Cult Classic3
Crowd Pleaser7
Broadly Agreed1
Mixed9

Most divisive · producer

Jesus: Crown of Thorns (2024)

93^rd percentile spread · 40% rated it 4 or lower

Most loved · producer

In the Shadow of the Moon (2007)

Midcredits 97^th · 88% liked

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.