Kevin Burns

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Kevin Burns
Born	June 18, 1955 (1955-06-18) (age 52) Schenectady, New York, U.S.

Kevin Burns (born June 18, 1955^[1]) is an Emmy Award-winning American television and film producer, director, and screenwriter. His work can be seen on FOX, A&E, National Geographic Channel, E!, Animal Planet, AMC, Bravo, and The History Channel.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Career 2 Filmography 2.1 Producer 2.2 Director 2.3 Writer 3 Awards and nominations 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

A film and television fan since childhood, Burns grew up in Niskayuna, New York and graduated cum laude from Hamilton College in 1977. In 1981 he received a master's degree in film from Boston University's College of Communication. 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, PSAs, 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.^[2]

[edit] 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 VP of Foxstar, Burns founded Van Ness Films, a non-fiction and documentary production unit. That same year, he met Jon Jashni, a FOX film executive who shared Burns' interest in the works of legendary Hollywood producer, Irwin Allen.^[2] In 1999, Burns and Jashni formed Synthesis Entertainment and began developing and producing remakes and sequels of the Allen properties, most notably the feature film versions of Poseidon (2006) and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (scheduled for release in 2010).^[3]

As president of Prometheus Entertainment (also formed in 1999), Burns continued to create and produce film and television programming, most notably, the reality show The Girls Next Door on E! (about the adventures of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner's three live-in girlfriends)^[4], and Hollywood Science for the National Geographic Channel.^[5]

His recent projects include High Maintenance 90210^[6], Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed^[7], Spider-Man Tech^[8], and an updated version of the television series The Time Tunnel.^[9]

In 2003, Burns received his first of two Emmy Awards as executive Producer for A&E's Biography series.^[10] That same year, he was tapped by George Lucas and Lucasfilm to produce and direct the 150 minute documentary feature, Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy.^[11] In 2005, he teamed up with Superman Returns director Bryan Singer to produce and direct Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Producer

• I Remember Barbra (1981)
• In Our Hands (1982)
• Meet Bertice (1993)
• Alien Nation: Dark Horizon (Uncredited, 1994)
• Biography (167 episodes, 1995-2005)
• The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen (1995)
• Alien Nation: Body and Soul (Uncredited, 1995)
• A Hollywood Christmas (1996)
• Alien Nation: Millennium (Uncredited, 1996)
• Rodgers & Hammerstein: The Sound of Movies (1996)
• Monster Mania (1997)
• Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults (1997)
• Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults (1997)
• Twentieth Century-Fox: The First 50 Years (1915-1965) (1997)
• Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood (1915-1970) (1998)
• Beyond Titanic (1998)
• Behind the Planet of the Apes (1998)
• Lost in Space Forever (1998)
• The Bunny Years (1999)
• Who Knew ? (1999)
• Bride of Monster Mania (1999)
• Attack of the 50 Foot Monster Mania (1999)
• Hollywood's Hot Wheels (1999)
• Hollywood Screen Tests (1999)
• Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 2 (1999)
• Famous Families (17 episodes, 1998-1999)
• Hollywood at Your Feet: The Story of the Chinese Theatre Footprints (2000)
• The Fly Papers: The Buzz on Hollywood's Scariest Insect (2000)
• Twentieth Century Fox: The Blockbuster Years (1965-2000) (2000)
• Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The Early Years (1955-1970) (2000)
• Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood (2001)
• Marilyn Monroe: The Final Days (2001)
• The Omen Legacy (2001)
• The Time Tunnel (2002)
• History vs. Hollywood (16 episodes, 2001-2002)
• Inside the Playboy Mansion (2002)
• Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The 1970s (2002)
• The Alien Saga (2002)
• Monsterama (24 episodes)(2003)
• Hell Up in Hollywood: Soul Cinema and the 1970s (2003)
• 50 Greatest TV Animals (2003)
• Halloween: A Cut Above the Rest (2003)
• Sex at 24 Frames Per Second: The Ultimate Journey Through Sex in Cinema (2003)
• Playboy's 50th Anniversary Celebration (2003)
• The Robinsons: Lost in Space (2004)
• Just the Facts (2004)
• 50 Greatest Movie Animals (2004)
• Love Hollywood Style (2004)
• Animal Icons (17 episodes, 2004)
• Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy (2004)
• Backstory (55 episodes, 2000-2005)
• Ultimate Super Heroes (2005)
• Ultimate Super Villains (2005)
• Ultimate Super Vixens (2005)
• Poseidon (2006)
• Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman (2006)
• The Science of Superman (2006)
• Hollywood Science (5 episodes, 2006)
• High Maintenance 90210 (6 episodes, 2007)
• Spider-Man Tech (2007)
• Star Wars Tech (2007)
• Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed (2007)
• Star Warriors (2007)
• The Girls Next Door (78 episodes, 2005-2008)
• Food Paradise (10 episodes, 2007-2008)
• Batman Unmasked (2008)
• Batman Tech (2008)
• Ladies or Gentlemen (2008)
• Indiana Jones and the Ultimate Quest (2008)

[edit] Director

• I Remember Barbra (1981)
• The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen (1995)
• Hugh Hefner: American Playboy (1996)
• A Hollywood Christmas (1996)
• Rodgers & Hammerstein: The Sound of Movies (1996)
• Monster Mania (1997)
• Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults (1997)
• 20th Century-Fox: The First 50 Years (1997)
• Biography (7 episodes, 1995-1997)
• Hollywood Aliens & Monsters (1997)
• TV Guide Looks at Cops (1998)
• TV Guide Looks at Christmas (1998)
• Behind the Planet of the Apes (1998)
• Lost in Space Forever (1998)
• Twentieth Century Fox: The Blockbuster Years (2000)
• Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The Early Years (1955-1970) (2000)
• Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood (2001)
• Playboy: Inside the Playboy Mansion (2002)
• Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy (2004)
• Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman (2006)
• Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed (2007)

[edit] Writer

• The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen (1995)
• A Hollywood Christmas (1996)
• Monster Mania (1997)
• Twentieth Century-Fox: The First 50 Years (1997)
• Biography (3 episodes, 1996-1997)
• Behind the Planet of the Apes (1998)
• Lost in Space Forever (1998)
• Twentieth Century Fox: The Blockbuster Years (2000)
• Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood (2001)
• Backstory (2 episodes, 2000-2001)
• Playboy: Inside the Playboy Mansion (2002)
• Monsterama: Munsters Collectibles (2003)
• Monsterama: Aurora Model Kits (2003)
• Just the Facts (2004)
• Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed (2007)

[edit] Awards and nominations

Primetime Emmy Awards

• Nominated: Outstanding Cultural Music-Dance Program, Rodgers & Hammerstein: The Sound of Movies (1996)
• Won: Outstanding Non-Fiction Series (Informational), Biography (2002)
• Nominated: Outstanding Nonfiction Series, Biography (2006)
• Nominated: Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming, Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed (2007)
• Nominated: Outstanding Nonfiction Special, Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed (2007)
• Nominated: Outstanding Nonfiction Series, Biography (2007)
• Nominated: Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming, Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed (2007)

DVD Exclusive Awards

• Nominated: Best New, Enhanced or Reconstructed Movie Scenes, Marilyn Monroe: The Final Days (2001)
• Won: Best Original Retrospective Documentary, *Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood (2001)
• Won: Best Behind the Scenes Program (New for DVD), 'Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy (2005)

Daytime Emmy Awards

• Won: Outstanding Special Class Special, Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The 1970s (2003)

International Monitor Awards

• Won: Documentaries - Director, Hollywood Aliens & Monsters (1998)

Student Academy Awards, USA

• Won: Documentary, I Remember Barbra (1981)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Kevin Burns at the Internet Movie Database
• Kevin Burns at TV.com

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