A+E Networks announces two directors and the executive music producer of its "Roots" remake – a four-night, eight-hour scripted event series that will air in 2016. 

Directors Phillip Noyce ("Patriot Games," "Clear and Present Danger," "Salt") and Thomas Carter ("Coach Carter," "Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story") are set to direct 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. Per the press release, for "Roots," Questlove will "create the authentic African sound and themes for the characters as well as produce the overall sound as the music progresses each night."

Can someone tell me what exactly the "authentic African sound" is, please? It must be something like the "authentic African accent" casting directors are sometimes looking for. It’s like saying the "authentic European sound." What is that exactly? Or the "authentic Asian" sound. Africa is not a country. It’s an entire continent with 54 countries – the planet’s 2nd largest continent and the second most-populous continent (after Asia).

Just an FYI…

Earlier this month, Laurence Fishburne became the first actor to be cast in the upcoming remake, which History, A&E and Lifetime have all teamed up for, calling it a series for a new generation of viewers, which will simulcast on all three flagship networks. 

Fishburne will play Alex Haley (James Earl Jones played him in the original 1970s series).

Will Packer is an executive producer, and original "Roots" cast member LeVar Burton is a co-executive producer, along with Mark Wolper. 

Lawrence Konner, Mark Rosenthal, Alison McDonald and Charles Murray are writing. 

Vickie Thomas is casting director. 

"Roots" will be an original, contemporary production, incorporating more material from Haley’s novel, "Roots: The Saga of an American Family," as well as researched new scholarship of the time.

The networks say that they are working closely with many prominent historians in the fields of African and African American history, as well as diverse leaders from across the country.

It’s set for a 2016 premiere.

Worth noting, History, A&E and Lifetime are all subsidiaries of A&E Networks, itself a joint venture between Disney and Hearst Corporation.