Topic: Kevin Burns

Kevin Burns (born June 18, 1955) is an 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.

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 both a master's degree in film from Boston University's College of Communication and a Student Academy Award for his first film, I Remember Barbra (a humorous documentary short which profiled Barbra Streisand's impact on her former Brooklyn, New York neighbors). 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.

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.