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Kevin Burns

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For other people named Kevin Burns, see Kevin Burns (disambiguation).
Kevin Burns
Kevin Burns in 2013
Born(1955-06-18)June 18, 1955
Schenectady, New York, US
DiedSeptember 27, 2020(2020-09-27) (aged 65)
Los Angeles, California
Occupation(s)Producer, director, screenwriter
Years active1981–2020

Kevin Burns (born June 18, 1955[1] – September 27, 2020[2]) was 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.[3]

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.[3]

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 (2002) and the feature film versions of Poseidon (2006) and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.[4]

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! (about the adventures of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner's three live-in girlfriends[5]), High Maintenance 90210,[6] Hollywood Science for the National Geographic Channel, Food Paradise and Bridget's Sexiest Beaches (both for the Travel Channel) 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 Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy. Four years later, he was again selected by Lucas to produce and direct, Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed,[7] a feature-length documentary which premiered on The History Channel and went on to earn three Emmy Award nominations. Other specials include Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman, 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 Angels & Demons: Decoded in 2009.

Since 2010, Burns and his company Prometheus Entertainment have produced The History Channel TV series Ancient Aliens, America's Book of Secrets,[8] 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.

Death

Burns died on September 27, 2020 of cardiac arrest at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.[2]

Awards and nominations

Primetime Emmy Awards

Daytime Emmy Awards

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

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)

International Monitor Awards

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

Student Academy Awards, US

  • Won: Documentary, I Remember Barbra (1981)

Filmography

Film Year Credited as Notes
Director Producer Writer
"I Remember Barbra" 1981 Yes Yes No
"In Our Hands" 1982 No Yes No
"Meet Bertice" 1993 No Yes No
"Alien Nation: Dark Horizon" 1994 No Yes No uncredited
"Biography" 1995-2005 Yes Yes Yes director 1995-1997 writer 1996-1997
"The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen" 1995 Yes Yes Yes
"Alien Nation: Body and Soul" 1995 No Yes No uncredited
"A Hollywood Christmas" 1996 Yes Yes Yes
"Alien Nation: Millennium" 1996 No Yes No
"Rodgers & Hammerstein: The Sound of Movies" 1996 Yes Yes No
"Monster Mania" 1997 Yes Yes No
"Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults" 1997 No Yes No
"Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults " 1997 Yes Yes No
"Twentieth Century-Fox: The First 50 Years" 1997 Yes Yes Yes
"Hollywood Aliens & Monsters" 1997 Yes No No
"Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood" 1998 No Yes No
"Beyond Titanic" 1998 No Yes No
"Behind the Planet of the Apes" 1998 Yes Yes Yes
"Lost in Space Forever" 1998 Yes Yes Yes
"Hugh Hefner: American Playboy Revisited" 1998 Yes No No
"TV Guide Looks at Cops" 1998 Yes No No
"TV Guide Looks at Christmas" 1998 Yes No No
"Famous Families" 1998 No Yes No 17 episodes
"The Bunny Years" 1999 No Yes No
"Who Knew ?" 1999 No Yes No
"Bride of Monster Mania" 1999 No Yes No
"Attack of the 50 Foot Monster Mania" 1999 No Yes No
"Hollywood's Hot Wheels" 1999 No Yes No
"Hollywood Screen Tests" 1999 No Yes No
"Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 2" 1999 No Yes No
"Hollywood at Your Feet: The Story of the Chinese Theatre Footprints" 2000 No Yes No
"The Fly Papers: The Buzz on Hollywood's Scariest Insect" 2000 No Yes No
"Twentieth Century Fox: The Blockbuster Years" 2000 Yes Yes Yes
"Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The Early Years" 2000 Yes Yes No
"Backstory" 2000 No Yes Yes producer 55 episodes writer 2 episodes
"Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood" 2001 Yes Yes Yes
"Marilyn Monroe: The Final Days" 2001 No Yes No
"The Omen Legacy" 2001 No Yes No
"History vs. Hollywood" 2001 No Yes No 16 episodes
"The Time Tunnel" 2002 No Yes No
"Inside The Playboy Mansion" 2002 Yes Yes Yes
"Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The 1970s" 2002 No Yes No
"The Alien Saga" 2002 No Yes No
"Monsterama" 2003 No Yes No 24episodes
"Hell Up in Hollywood: Soul Cinema and the 1970s" 2003 No Yes No
"50 Greatest TV Animals" 2003 No Yes No
"Halloween: A Cut Above the Rest" 2003 No Yes No
"Sex at 24 Frames Per Second: The Ultimate Journey Through Sex in Cinema" 2003 No Yes No
"Playboy's 50th Anniversary Celebration" 2003 No Yes No
"Monsterama: Munsters Collectibles" 2003 No No Yes
"Monsterama: Aurora Model Kits" 2003 No No Yes
"The Robinsons: Lost in Space" 2004 No Yes No
"Just the Facts" 2004 No Yes Yes
"50 Greatest Movie Animals" 2004 No Yes No
"Love Hollywood Style" 2004 No Yes No
"Animal Icons" 2004 No Yes No 17 episodes
"Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy" 2004 Yes Yes No
"Ultimate Super Heroes" 2005 No Yes No
"Ultimate Super Villains" 2005 No Yes No
"Ultimate Super Vixens" 2005 No Yes No
"The Girls Next Door" 2005-2009 No Yes No
"Poseidon" 2006 No Yes No
"Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman" 2006 Yes Yes No
"The Science of Superman" 2006 No Yes No
"Hollywood Science" 2006 No Yes No 5 episodes
"High Maintenance 90210" 2007 No Yes No 6 episodes
"Spider-Man Tech" 2007 No Yes No
"Star Wars Tech" 2007 No Yes No
"Star Warriors" 2007 Yes Yes No
"Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed" 2007 Yes Yes Yes
"Food Paradise" 2007-2013 No Yes No 52 episodes
"Indiana Jones and the Ultimate Quest" 2008 Yes Yes No
"Batman Unmasked" 2008 No Yes No
"Batman Tech" 2008 No Yes No
"Vegas Revolution" 2008 No Yes No 6 episodes
"The Valkyrie Legacy" 2008 Yes Yes No
"Kendra" 2008-2011 No Yes No
"Ladies or Gentlemen" 2008 Yes Yes No
"The Face is Familiar" 2009 Yes Yes No
"Angels & Demons: Decoded" 2009 No Yes No
"Bridget's Sexiest Beaches" 2009 No Yes No
"Holly's World" 2009-2011 No Yes No 19 episodes
"The President's Book of Secrets" 2010 No Yes No
"Ancient Aliens" 2010-present No Yes No
"Hef's Runaway Bride" 2011 No Yes No
"Civilization: Lost" 2011 No Yes No
"How Playboy Changed the World" 2012 Yes Yes No
"The Godfather Legacy" 2012 Yes Yes No
"America's Book of Secrets" 2012-2013 No Yes No 33 episodes
"Birth/Mothers" 2012 No Yes No
"Kendra on Top" 2012-2017 No Yes No
"Bible Secrets Revealed" 2013-2014 No Yes No 6 episodes
"Target: Earth" 2013 No Yes No
"Secret Societies of Hollywood" 2013 No Yes No 5 episodes
"In Search of Aliens" 2013 No Yes No 10 episodes
"The Curse of Oak Island" 2014-present No Yes No
"Cesar Millan: Love My Pit Bull" 2014 No Yes No
"Blood and Glory: The Civil War in Color" 2015 No Yes No
"The Secret Life of: America's Tallest Buildings" 2017 No Yes No
"Vanished" 2017 No Yes No
"The Tesla Files" 2018 No Yes No
"The Curse of Civil War Gold" 2018 No Yes No
"Lost in Space" 2018 No Yes No

References

  1. ^ Filmreference.com
  2. ^ a b Evan, Greg (September 28, 2020). "Kevin Burns Dies: 'Ancient Aliens' Creator, 'Lost In Space' Reboot Co-Producer Was 65". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Kevin Burns Biography". Archived from the original on 2007-12-13. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
  4. ^ Fleming, Michael (September 24, 2004). "'Fox 2000 dives into 'Voyage': Haythe set to sail script on 'Sea'". Variety. Retrieved November 16, 2007.
  5. ^ "'The Girls Next Door' DVD For Release in January". Buddytv.com. October 17, 2007. Retrieved November 16, 2007.
  6. ^ "E! gets 'High Maintenance'". Variety. December 13, 2006. Retrieved November 16, 2007.
  7. ^ Ball, Ryan (May 3, 2007). "History Channel Reveals Star Wars Legacy". animationmagazine.net. Retrieved November 16, 2007.
  8. ^ "America's Book of Secrets", IMDb.
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