Burnie Burns

Burnie Burns
Burns at VidCon in 2014
Born
Michael Justin Burns

(1973-01-18) January 18, 1973 (age 51)
Rochester, New York, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Texas, Austin (BA)
OccupationExecutive Producer at Rooster Teeth (Formerly)
Years active1997–present
Spouses
  • Jordan Burns
    ​
    ​
    (m. 2000; div. 2011)​
  • ​
    (m. 2019)​
Children4
Websitewww.burnie.com

Michael Justin "Burnie" Burns (born January 18, 1973) is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian, host, and director previously based in Austin, Texas. He was a co-founder, former chief executive officer, and former chief creative officer of Rooster Teeth. He is noted for his contributions in machinima, a form of film-making that uses video game technology in its production,[1] and also works with animation and live action.[2] Burns is also known for his work in the hosting and podcasting field.

In April 2003, Burns, along with several friends and co-workers, created the machinima series Red vs. Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles. Filmed using the video game Halo, Red vs. Blue was acclaimed for its humor and originality, making Burns an Internet celebrity.[3] His success allowed him to co-found the production company Rooster Teeth.[4] After the immediate popularity of Red vs. Blue, Burns attracted the attention of video game company Electronic Arts, who asked him to create a promotional series using their upcoming game, The Sims 2. The result was The Strangerhood. Burns also premiered P.A.N.I.C.S., a mini-series that utilizes the F.E.A.R. game engine. In 2016, Burns starred in the science fiction comedy film Lazer Team and its sequel the following year, both of which he co-wrote.

As one of the innovators in the field of machinima, he has made guest appearances at the Penny Arcade Expo, San Diego Comic-Con, Sundance and The Sydney Film Festival.[3][5][6] For his work on Immersion (2010), a live action series that tests video game tropes in the real world, and The Gauntlet (2013), Rooster Teeth's reality game show, he has been nominated for two IAWTV awards in the "Best Host of a Web Series (Pre-Recorded)" category.[7] He was named one of the "Top 25 Digital Stars" by The Hollywood Reporter in 2015.[8] Alongside longtime-business partner Matt Hullum, he was named one of Variety's top Digital Entertainment Execs to Watch in 2018.[9]

  1. ^ "Theater: Red Vs. Blue". Wall Street Journal. April 9, 2004. [dead link‍]
  2. ^ "Teeth Introduces Captain Dynamic To City of Heroes". Kotaku Australia. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
  3. ^ a b "ONA Austin: Producing Great Video for the Web". Online News Association. April 23, 2012. Retrieved May 6, 2012.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference UniversityofTexas was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cowell, Jesse (March 31, 2010). "Jeskid TV Episode 61". Retrieved May 20, 2011.
  6. ^ "Rooster Teeth's Burnie Burns Talks Machinima at Sydney Film Festival". Kotaku.com. May 20, 2008. Archived from the original on October 24, 2009. Retrieved May 6, 2012.
  7. ^ "International Academy of Web Television Announces Nominees for the Inaugural IAWTV Awards". IAWTV. December 14, 2011. Archived from the original on May 30, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
  8. ^ "THR's Top 25 Digital Stars". The Hollywood Reporter. July 10, 2015. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  9. ^ Variety Staff. "Digital Entertainment Impact Report: Execs to Watch in 2018". Variety. Retrieved January 10, 2018.