Kevin Burns


Kevin Burns is an American television and film producer, director, and screenwriter. His work can be seen on A&E, National Geographic Channel, E!, Animal Planet, AMC, Bravo, WE tv, Travel Channel, Lifetime, and The History Channel. Burns has created and executive-produced more than 800 hours of television programming.

Biography

Early life

Born in 1955, Burns grew up in Niskayuna, New York. Raised Roman Catholic, he graduated from St. Helen’s School before attending Niskayuna High School. In 1977 he graduated cum laude from Hamilton College. In 1981 he received both a master's degree in film from Boston University's College of Communication and a Student Academy Award from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his first film, I Remember Barbra, a humorous documentary short that profiled Barbra Streisand's impact on her former Brooklyn, New York neighborhood. After graduation, Burns taught film production at the university, as well as heading the school's "Film Unit", a group that allowed students to gain real-world experience by producing commercials, public service announcements, documentaries and other projects for clients. In 1988, he moved to Los Angeles, where he began working as an executive at 20th Century Fox Television.

Career

While at Fox, Burns co-founded Foxstar Productions, the production unit responsible for creating a series of Alien Nation movies for television. In 1994, while serving as senior vice-president of Foxstar, he founded Van Ness Films, a non-fiction and documentary production unit. That same year, he met Jon Jashni, a Fox film executive who shared his interest in the works of legendary Hollywood producer Irwin Allen.
In 1999, Burns officially made a transition from his role as a studio executive to that of a full-time producer. While still under a production deal at Fox Television Studios, Burns and Jon Jashni formed Synthesis Entertainment and began developing and producing remakes and sequels of the Allen properties, most notably a Fox Television pilot for an updated version of The Time Tunnel and the feature film versions of Poseidon and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
In 1999, Burns also created Prometheus Entertainment, a company specializing in documentary, reality and non-fiction programming and specials. Here, Burns continued to produce and direct a wide variety of programming, including the reality show The Girls Next Door on E!, High Maintenance 90210, Hollywood Science for the National Geographic Channel, Food Paradise and Bridget's Sexiest Beaches along with Kendra and Holly's World, both spin-offs of The Girls Next Door.
In 2002, Burns received his first of two Emmy Awards as executive producer for A&E's Biography series. That same year, he was selected by George Lucas and Lucasfilm to produce and direct the 150-minute documentary feature '. Four years later, he was again selected by Lucas to produce and direct, ', a feature-length documentary which premiered on The History Channel and went on to earn three Emmy Award nominations. Other specials include ', which Burns co-produced with Superman Returns director Bryan Singer; Spider-Man Tech; Indiana Jones and the Ultimate Quest; Batman Unmasked; Batman Tech; The Valkyrie Legacy, his second co-production with Bryan Singer; and ' in 2009.
Since 2010, Burns and his company Prometheus Entertainment have produced The History Channel TV series Ancient Aliens, America's Book of Secrets, and The Curse of Oak Island, as well as the reality TV series Kendra on Top for WEtv, and other non-fiction series and specials.
Along with his business partner Jon Jashni, Burns played an integral part in the development and creation of the Lost in Space reboot for Netflix and will serve as executive producer on the show.

Awards and nominations

Daytime Emmy Awards
DVD Exclusive Awards
International Monitor Awards
Student Academy Awards, US