A+E Networks Announces "ROOTS" Award Winning Directors and Music Producer

Phillip Noyce and Thomas Carter Set to Helm

Grammy(R) Award Winner Questlove Named Executive Music Producer

Four-Night, Eight-Hour Scripted Event Series to Simulcast on HISTORY(R), A&E and LIFETIME

New York, NY - July 22, 2015 - A+E Networks announces two directors and the executive music producer of its four-night, eight-hour scripted event series ROOTS. Multi-award winning Phillip Noyce (Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, Salt) and Emmy(R) Award winner Thomas Carter (Coach Carter, Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story) are set to helm nights one and three respectively. Directors for nights two and four are to be announced.

Additionally, Questlove, from the Grammy Award winning band The Roots, is set as the executive music producer. For ROOTS, he will create the authentic African sound and themes for the characters as well as produce the overall sound as the music progresses each night.

ROOTS is a historical portrait of American slavery recounting the journey of one family's will to survive, endure and ultimately carry on their legacy despite enormous hardship and inhumanity. Spanning multiple generations, the lineage begins with young Kunta Kinte who is captured in his homeland in The Gambia and transported in brutal conditions to colonial America where he's sold into slavery. Throughout the series, the family continues to face adversity while bearing witness and contributing to notable events in U.S. history - including the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, slave uprisings and eventual emancipation. The story of Kunta Kinte and the women and men who came after him echoes through the history of millions of Americans of African descent, and reveals powerful truths about the universal resilience of the human spirit.

ROOTS is an A+E Studios production in association with Marc Toberoff and The Wolper Organization, the company that produced the original ROOTS. Will Packer, Marc Toberoff, Mark Wolper, Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal serve as executive producers. LeVar Burton and Korin Huggins are co-executive producers. Lawrence Konner, Mark Rosenthal, Alison McDonald, and Charles Murray are writing. Dirk Hoogstra, Arturo Interian and Michael Stiller serve as Executives in Charge of Production for HISTORY. ROOTS is distributed internationally by A+E Networks under the A+E Studios International banner.

About HISTORY(R)

HISTORY(R), now reaching more than 96 million homes, is the leading destination for award-winning original series and specials that connect viewers with history in an informative, immersive and entertaining manner across all platforms. The network's all-original programming slate, including scripted event programming, features a roster of hit series including American Pickers(R), American Restoration(TM), Ax Men(TM), Counting Cars(TM), Pawn Stars(R) and Swamp People(R) as well as HISTORY(R)'s first scripted series Vikings, and epic miniseries and special programming such as The Bible, The Men Who Built America, Houdini, Sons of Liberty and the Emmy(R) Award-winning Hatfields & McCoys, Gettysburg, Vietnam in HD, America The Story of Us(R) and 102 Minutes That Changed America. The HISTORY(R) website is the leading online resource for all things history, and in 2011, the United States Library of Congress selected HISTORY(R)'s Civil War 150 site for inclusion in the historic collection of Internet materials related to the American Civil War sesquicentennial. www.history.com.

About A&E Network

Now reaching more than 96 million homes, A&E is the home to quality original content that inspires and challenges audiences to BE ORIGINAL. A&E offers a diverse mix of uniquely immersive entertainment ranging from the network's original scripted series, including "Bates Motel" and "Damien" to signature non-fiction franchises, including "Duck Dynasty," "Wahlburgers" and "Storage Wars." The A&E website is located at aetv.com. Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/aetv and Facebook at facebook.com/AETV. For more press information and photography please visit us at press.aenetworks.com.

About Lifetime

Lifetime is a premier female-focused entertainment destination dedicated to offering the highest quality original programming spanning scripted series, non-fiction series and movies. As a result of the network's aggressive programming strategy that has doubled the hours of its original programming, in 2014 the network reached its strongest ranking among the key Women 18-49 demo in six years and its youngest median age in 18 years. Lifetime Television(R), LMN(R), Lifetime Real Women(R) and Lifetime Digital(TM) are part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, LLC, a subsidiary of A+E Networks. A+E Networks is a joint venture of the Disney-ABC Television Group and Hearst Corporation.

About A+E Studios

A+E Studios is the studio unit of the award-winning global media company A+E Networks, LLC. A+E Studios creates, produces and distributes high quality scripted programming across all networks and platforms in the A+E Networks portfolio, including A&E Network, Lifetime, History, LMN, FYI, H2 and A&E IndieFilms. A+E Studios' slate of programming consists of scripted series, event series and movies, including "The Returned" for A&E Network, "UnREAL" for Lifetime and "Texas Rising," "Sons of Liberty," and "Houdini" for History, among others.