Kevin Burns was born on June 18, 1955, in Schenectady, New York. Raised in the same city, he developed a passion for television and films at an early age. Burns also demonstrated a unique talent for mimicry and drawing cartoons and caricatures, which caught the attention of his childhood idol, Fred Gwynne.
By his senior year in high school, Burns was already working as a freelance commercial artist, with clients including IBM, General Electric, and Warren Publications. He graduated from Niskayuna High School in 1973 and attended Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, where he majored in both History and English Literature.
After graduating from Hamilton College in 1977, Burns enrolled in the graduate film program at Boston University's College of Communication, where he earned a Master's Degree in 1981. His first film, "I Remember Barbra," 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.
Burns taught courses in undergraduate and graduate film production at Boston University and Emerson College before being appointed Director of Undergraduate and Graduate Film Production at Boston University in 1987. He also served as the Director of the Boston University Film Unit, a student-staffed production company that serviced non-profit and public service clients.
After his father's sudden death in 1988, Burns moved to Los Angeles, where he was offered a management position in the Creative Services department of 20th Century Fox Domestic Television. 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, where he served as Senior Vice President of Production and co-executive producer on several successful series. In 1994, he formed Van Ness Films, Inc., which became one of the premier producers of television for cable, contributing nearly 65 hours of programming per year.
Burns retired from his executive position at Foxstar in 1999 to form Prometheus Entertainment, where he continued to work closely with Foxstar and broadened its production slate to include both reality and scripted programming. He also formed Synthesis Entertainment with producer Jon Jashni to develop and produce television and film franchises based on the works of acclaimed film and television producer Irwin Allen.
Burns has received numerous awards for his work, including an Emmy Award for his work on A&E's Biography series. He has also produced several high-profile documentaries, including "Empire of Dreams: the Story of the Star Wars Trilogy," "Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman," and "Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed."
