Born on June 18, 1955 and raised in Schenectady, New York, Kevin Burns
developed his love for television and films at an early age. He also
displayed a unique and impressive talent for mimicry and drawing
cartoons and caricature. It was this love for drawing that helped
attract the attention of his childhood idol,
Fred Gwynne (of "Munsters" TV fame). After
viewing samples of Burns' early work, Gwynne began a correspondence
that helped fuel the young boy's enthusiasm and confidence.
In 1972, Burns received a National Scholastic award for art and by his
Senior year in high school, was already working as a free lance
commercial artist. His client list included IBM, General Electric and
Warren Publications.
After graduating from Niskayuna High School in 1973, Burns attended
Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. There, he majored in both
History and English Literature. Burns also served as president of one
of the college's fraternities (Delta Phi).
Graduating from Hamilton with honors in 1977, Burns eagerly enrolled in
the graduate film program at Boston University's College of
Communication. In 1981, he earned a Masters Degree with the completion
of his first film,
I Remember Barbra (1981), a
humorous and slightly irreverent documentary short which profiled
Barbra Streisand's native Brooklyn. The
film was a critical hit, and earned numerous awards - including a
Documentary Achievement Award for Student Filmmaking from the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Armed with a "Student Oscar", Burns made the rounds at the Hollywood
studios. Within a year he was signed by the William Morris Agency and
had two projects optioned and in development. Nevertheless, the
fledgling filmmaker opted to remain in Boston, where he taught courses
in undergraduate and graduate film production at both Boston University
and Emerson College.
In 1987, Burns was appointed Director of Undergraduate and Graduate
Film Production at Boston University. He was also the Director of the
Boston University Film Unit (which he had been heading since 1981), a
student staffed production company that serviced non-profit and public
service clients.
After the sudden death of his father in 1988, Burns decided the time
had come to seek his fortune in Los Angeles. Within weeks of leaving
Boston, he was offered a management position in the Creative Services
department of 20th Century Fox Domestic Television (now, Twentieth
Television). Moving to Beverly Hills, he spent the next four years
writing, producing and directing hundreds of sales marketing videos and
on-air promos for the studio.
In 1993, Burns co-founded Foxstar Productions, a TV Movie production
unit at 20th Century Fox Television. As Senior Vice President of
Production, Burns served as the co-executive producer on the first
three of what became a highly successful series of five 'Alien Nation'
MOWs (all directed by Kenneth Johnson).
Seeking to broaden Foxstar's client base and revenue potential, Burns
formed Van Ness Films, Inc. in October, 1994. As Executive Producer for
all Van Ness programs (as well as occasional writer and director),
Burns' client list soon included A&E
(Biography (1987)), AMC, The Sci-Fi
Channel, Fox Family Channel and USA Network. Within three years, Van
Ness became one of the premier producers of television for cable,
contributing nearly 65 hours of programming per year.
In 1999, Burns retired from his executive position at Foxstar (then, a
subsidiary of Fox Television Studios) in order to form Prometheus
Entertainment. As President of Prometheus, Burns continued to work
closely with Foxstar and broadened its production slate to include both
reality and scripted programming.
Also in 1999, Burns formed Synthesis Entertainment with producer 'Jon
Jashni' in an effort to administrate and develop television and film
franchises based on the works of acclaimed film and television
producer, 'Irwin Allen' (e.g., 'Lost in Space', 'The Land of the
Giants', and 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea').
In 2002, Burns and Jashni executive produced a Fox Network pilot for a
new
The Time Tunnel (2006)
series. The team also developed a two hour TV Movie/back door pilot for
a new "Lost in Space" series, based on an original story by Burns. In
2006, Burns and Jashni served as Executive Producers, along with Sheila
Allen (I), of 'Poseidon' (2006) directed by 'Wolfgang Petersen'.
In August of 2002, Burns received an Emmy Award as Executive Producer
of A&E's Biography (1987) series.
(He has, to date, personally supervised more than 150 episodes of the
critically-acclaimed series.)
In recent years, Burns has continued to produce high-profile
documentaries for television, including "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) (which
earned three Emmy nominations), 'The Valkyrie Legacy' (2008), and
'Ancient Aliens'(2009).
His recent series include,
Animal Icons (2004),
Hollywood Science (2006),
The Girls of the Playboy Mansion (2005)
and Kendra (2009)
