Burnie Burns

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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

podcasting
field.

In April 2003, Burns, along with several friends and co-workers, created 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

San Diego Comic-Con International, 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]

Early life

Burns being interviewed by TSTV in 2012 about his time at University of Texas and his career since

Burns was born in the

Southwest Memorial Hospital.[11]

After high school, he was accepted at the

K29HW-D, Texas Student Television. During his time with TSTV, he founded Sneak Peek, the longest-running student television program in the world,[14] in which he reviewed films and conducted interviews with guests such as Adam Sandler.[15]

Burns went on to become the president of the tech support company teleNetwork Partners, and eventually broke out to form his independent company Rooster Teeth.[16]

Career

First film and viral video: 1997–2002

In his final year of university, Burns was intent on making a movie.

non-linear editor Burns himself built.[18]
That same system was used in his early videos, including their first viral hit.

Burns became frustrated with the difficult distribution process and the film only screened in a few festivals. They turned down an offer of about $25,000 to buy because they "wanted to hold onto the story."[18] A few VHS copies of The Schedule exist in Burns's possession. Soon after, the trio parted ways. Heyman and Hullum went to Los Angeles, while Burns accepted a position at a local tech support company.

There, he met his co-workers and future Red vs. Blue collaborators Geoff Ramsey and Gus Sorola. In June 2002, Burns teamed up with his colleagues to create their first viral video, a Mac Gamer Switch parody.[19]

That moment is probably the single most important moment in the history of this company. Even more so than when we put the first video of Red vs. Blue online. That's when we developed a lot of the early strategies... that's why to this day we still have a website, we still have our own presence on there, which we think is an important part of what we do."[20]

Burns attributes "two vectors that came together, the movie guys and the tech guys," as being a catalyst for their success.[21]

Red vs. Blue: 2003–present

Burnie Burns at RTX 2017 convention in Austin, Texas during the "Red vs Blue" panel discussion

Burns joined Geoff Ramsey and Gus Sorola in one of their many Internet ventures, drunkgamers.com creating voiceover-enhanced gameplay videos for the website. The trio were giant enthusiasts of the 2001

first episode was released on April 1, 2003. The series is primarily produced using the machinima technique of synchronizing video footage from a game to pre-recorded dialogue and other audio.[23]

Burns initially envisioned Red vs. Blue to be short, but the series grew beyond his expectations. Burns and Ramsey had preconceived a list of jokes for which they allocated six to eight episodes. By

season 1, Burns estimated a series of 22 episodes; however, driven by the series' popularity, he realized that there was more potential story than could be covered in that length,[26] and was able to conceive an extension of the season 1 plot. Burns and the whole production team eventually quit their jobs and began to work full-time on the series; to generate revenue they created an online store to sell T-shirts.[16]

After the first season of Red vs. Blue, Burns became a celebrity in the machinima community. As the director, writer, and lead actor of the series, he was the driving force behind the series. His series earned three awards at the

2003 Machinima Film Festival – Best Picture, Best Writing, and Best Independent Machinima Film – and was nominated for three others.[27]

The series completed its original five season 100-episode run on June 28, 2007, collectively known as the

Vic until 2021 when Lopez was recast with Eddy Rivas taking over the role. In 2023, it was announced Burns would return to write the show's final season with longtime business partner Matt Hullum also returning as director, planned to air in 2024.[28]

The Strangerhood and PANICS: 2004–2006

In 2004, 13 months after the first season of Red vs. Blue had finished airing, Burns and Matt Hullum created the comedy web series The Strangerhood. The series uses the same machinima technique used to film Red vs. Blue.

The idea for the series came from the

2005 Machinima Film Festival.[34]

The following year Burns and Rooster Teeth created the comic science fiction machinima mini-series P.A.N.I.C.S. based on and filmed using the video game F.E.A.R. developed by Monolith Productions, who asked them to produce the series for the Director's Edition of the game. The series consists of five episodes.[35]

The story centers on a newcomer to Bravo Team, a special military group formed to battle supernatural enemies. As the series begins, Bravo Team has been sent into a military facility at night to investigate the reports of paranormal activity from within. This is a parody of the main scenario used in F.E.A.R.

Return to live-action, Captain Dynamic and RT Shorts: 2009

Burns first returned to live-action with Captain Dynamic a mini-series to promote the online game City of Heroes.[36] It was based around a team of writers hired to use the new in-game content creation tools to promote the title character, Captain Dynamic, the 'worst superhero in the world'. Directed by Matt Hullum and written by Burns, the series starred Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies, who is a long time friend.

The series was well received by fans, which led him and

Vine
.

Hosting and producing work: 2008–2015

Burns in the Rooster Teeth office in Austin, Texas in 2008

On December 29, 2008 Burns co-hosted the inaugural episode of the Drunk Tank audio podcast, alongside his Rooster Teeth co-workers Geoff Ramsey and Gus Sorola. The podcast consists largely of comedic commentary on the

Zune Marketplace
and their website. It has since become one of the more popular features of the site, at one point becoming the #1 most downloaded podcast on iTunes, as well as a featured podcast in the iTunes Store. New episodes have been released regularly every Wednesday since April 10, 2009, with occasional special episodes or multiple releases in one week.

In September 2011, the podcast was renamed The Rooster Teeth Podcast. The show has since become available in video form and Burns continues to make regular appearances. On January 7, the podcast won "Best Gaming Podcast" at the 8th Annual Podcast Awards.[37] The Rooster Teeth Podcast has recently adapted a new style of doing podcasts in which they live stream to "sponsors" on their website, in video, the night before the release of the audio podcast on iTunes and their site. The sponsor live stream is then later available 1 day on the Rooster website and 2 days later on YouTube.

Burns began co-hosting Immersion alongside

multiplayer video games would negatively affect the performance of real soldiers. Burns joked in The Rooster Teeth Podcast that the series started as an "elaborate way for [them] to do fun stuff and get paid for it".[38] Geoff Ramsey and Gus Sorola were the test subjects throughout the first season. Gavin Free and Michael Jones (of Achievement Hunter
) served as the test subjects for the second season.

On Halloween 2012, a partnership between Rooster Teeth and

The Voice
. The first season was hosted by Ali Baker and Burns. Season two was hosted by Burns and Joel Heyman and began on September 7, 2013.

The pilot episode of Million Dollars, But... premiered on May 21, 2015, with the series continuing on July 9, 2015. The ongoing series is frequently co-hosted by Burns and Gavin Free, with another special guest taking part. Each person has to come up with a typically difficult scenario, for example one where the person has to date Adolf Hitler for a year — which the cast comically re-enact — for which they will be given a million dollars.

His producing work includes executive producing the 2012 documentary film

Mojang, the creators of the popular video game Minecraft. In 2013, he began executive producing the anime-influenced[40] web series RWBY, created by Rooster Teeth employee Monty Oum. A second season premiered in 2014. Oum died on February 1, 2015.[41] A third season of the show premiered on October 24, 2015.[42] In 2014, Burns served as executive producer on the show X-Ray and Vav, a cartoon web series starring two Achievement Hunter employees (a video gaming division of Rooster Teeth) Gavin Free and Ray Narvaez, Jr. In 2016, Burns and Gavin Free hosted the documentary World's Greatest Head Massage: An ASMR Journey.[43]

Lazer Team and other film projects: 2015–2019

Burns with director Matt Hullum and co-star Alan Ritchson at the premiere of Lazer Team

In June 2014, Rooster Teeth launched a

highest funded film campaign on Indiegogo with over $2.4 million collected.[47]

Burns explained during the campaign that as it makes more money, the film's budget scales up. "The initial budget for talent was based on making the movie on the bare minimum with us throwing in the remainder of the expected budget. For instance, that meant using talent almost exclusively from in-house. As the budget grows, so do our opportunities to approach all kinds of talent. The same applies to Visual FX, quality of props and costuming, lighting, crew, etc."[48] Burns co-wrote, co-produces, and co-stars in the film as Hagan. It was released in January 2016, making it among the first titles that Rooster Teeth's parent company, Fullscreen, will be distributing in its newly launched feature film division.[49]

Burns appeared in the 2015 short film, Hit, as Officer Harris and the sports comedy-drama

YouTube Red series 12 Deadly Days from Blumhouse Television.[52]

Post Roosterteeth and Morning Somewhere: 2019–Present

In September, 2019, Burns involvement within Roosterteeth became one of executive producer, withdrawing from on camera appearances focusing on larger projects behind the scenes.[citation needed]

In June 2020, Burns officially left Roosterteeth, announcing on his blog a focus on his family alongside a move abroad.[53]

On December 26th, 2023, after a period of withdrawal from the public eye, Burns launched the daily podcast Morning Somewhere, co-hosted with wife Ashley Burns in their home in Scotland.

Other work

Burns has participated in two episodes of the improvisational comedy game show @midnight.[54] In 2015, Burns took part in twenty-eighth season of The Amazing Race with his then-fiancée, Ashley Jenkins, coming in fourth place.[55][56] In 2017, Burns made a brief cameo in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia as a bar patron with no lines. In September 2017, alongside Jenkins, he co-hosted the inaugural Purpose Awards, an expansion from the Streamy Awards.[57]

Personal life

He married Jordan Burns in August 2000 and divorced in December 2011. Burns became engaged to The Know host Ashley Jenkins in early 2016.[58] They married in June 2019.[59]

Burns has three sons and one daughter.[60][61][62]

He mainly resided in Austin, Texas, after briefly spending time in Los Angeles, California.[63] When Burns announced his resignation from Rooster Teeth on June 11, 2020, he also announced he was moving away from the United States.[64] He has since moved away from public life and has kept his family’s current location private, until December 27, 2023 when he revealed on a podcast that they moved to Scotland.

Rooster Teeth maintains a first-look deal on his projects.[64]

He is a member of the International Academy of Web Television.[65]

Filmography

Web

Year Title Role Notes
2003–present Red vs. Blue Church, Lopez, Vic, O'Malley, Red Zealot, Lorenzo (voices) Also creator, writer, director and producer
2004–2006, 2015 The Strangerhood Griggs, Tovar (voices) Also co-creator, writer, director and producer
2005 P.A.N.I.C.S. Bravo 1, Alpha Team Commander (voices) Also producer
2008 Supreme Surrender — Writer and producer
2009 Captain Dynamic — Creator, writer and producer
2009–present Rooster Teeth Shorts Himself Also co-creator, writer and producer
2010–present Immersion Himself (host)
2011–present
Rooster Teeth Animated Adventures
 Himself (voice)
2012–2013 The Gauntlet Himself (host)
2012 A Simple Walk Into Mordor — Executive producer
2013 Video Game High School Board Member Episode: "Welcome to Varsity"
2013 Chris Hardwick's All-Star Celebrity Bowling Himself Episode: "Nerdist vs. Rooster Teeth"
2013–present RWBY Taiyang Xiao Long, Detective #1 (voices) Also executive producer
2014
YouTubers React
 Himself 2 episodes
2014 Ten Little Roosters Burnie Also executive producer
2014–2015 X-Ray and Vav — Executive producer
2015–present Million Dollars, But... Himself (host)
2015 Rooster Teeth Entertainment System Guest Also executive producer
2016 Death Battle Epsilon (voice) Episode: "The Meta VS Agent Carolina"
2016
Day 5
 — Creator and executive producer
2016 Crunch Time Special Agent Also executive producer[66]
2017–2018; 2021 RWBY Chibi Taiyang Xiao Long (voice)[67] Also executive producer
2017 The Eleven Little Roosters Burnardo Burnadicci Also executive producer
2018 Nomad of Nowhere — Producer
2021 RWBY: Fairy Tales Taiyang Xiao Long (voice) Episode: The Warrior in the Woods
2022 RWBY: Ice Queendom Taiyang Xiao Long (voice) English dub

Film

Year Title Roles Notes
1997 The Schedule — Co-director, writer and producer
2011 O Brave New World Himself Documentary
2012 Minecraft: The Story of Mojang — Documentary
Executive producer
2015 Hit Officer Harris Short film
2015 The Outfield Theo Rasmussen
2015 Reunited Newscaster #1 Short film
2015 Lazer Team Hagan Also co-writer and producer
2016
Slash
 Mr. Snow
2016 Connected — Documentary
Executive producer
2016 The Meme Machine Himself Documentary
Also executive producer
2016 Why Him? Himself
2017 The Tattooist — Documentary
Executive producer
2017 Haus of Pain — Documentary
Executive producer
2017 Lazer Team 2 Hagan Also co-writer and producer
2018 Blood Fest — Executive producer
2019
A Heist With Markiplier
 		— Executive producer

Television

Year Title Roles Notes
1994 Sneak Peak Himself (host)
2007 Code Monkeys Blue Leader (voice) Episode: "Super Prison Breakout"
2014, 2016 @midnight Himself 2 episodes
2016 The Amazing Race Himself (Contestant) Season 28
2017 It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Paddy's Pub Customer Episode: "The Gang Tends Bar"

Video games

Year Title Role
2007 Halo 3 Additional Voices

References

  1. ^ "Theater: Red Vs. Blue". Wall Street Journal. April 9, 2004. [dead link]
  2. ^ "Teeth Introduces Captain Dynamic To City of Heroes". Kotaku.com.au. 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. ^ a b Weldon, McKenzie. "Burnie Burns Kicks Off Mass Comm Week". The University Star. Archived from the original on December 11, 2012. Retrieved May 6, 2012.
  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. 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.
  10. ^ "Rooster Teeth Podcast No. 82". Rooster Teeth Productions. October 6, 2010. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  11. ^ a b "Rooster Teeth Podcast No. 167". Rooster Teeth Productions. May 23, 2012. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  12. ^ Rooster Teeth (August 3, 2017). "Geoff the Hermit - RT Podcast #447". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
  13. ^ "Rooster Teeth Podcast No. 145". Rooster Teeth Productions. December 12, 2011. Archived from the original on March 20, 2012. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  14. ^ Edson, Miranda (December 21, 2011). "TSTV February Newsletter 2012". TSTV. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  15. ^ "Burnie Burns Interviews Adam Sandler for Happy Gilmore". TSTV. February 20, 2012. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  16. ^ a b "Pioneering a Media Evolution". Founding Austin. November 28, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  17. ^ "Rooster Teeth Podcast No. 107". Rooster Teeth Productions. March 30, 2011. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
  18. ^ a b Johnson, Eric. "Meet the guy who figured out how to make money from web video before YouTube did". recode. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  19. ^ "Mac Gamer Switch Parody". Rooster Teeth Productions. December 3, 2004. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  20. ^ "Rooster Teeth Podcast No. 107". Rooster Teeth Productions. March 30, 2011. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  21. ^ Brian "SketchFactor" Jarrard (July 3, 2003). "Red vs. Blue : The Interview". Bungie. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  22. episode 2
  23. ^ Konow 2005, 2
  24. episode 4
  25. ^ Rigney, Ryan. "How Rooster Teeth Won the Internet With Red vs. Blue". Wired.
  26. ^ Waters 2003
  27. ^ "Machinima Awards 2003 Results". Machinima.com. Machinima, Inc. October 26, 2003. Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved April 15, 2006.
  28. ^ "RTX 2023: Red vs. Blue is Back for the Last Time".
  29. ^ Kosak, 1–2; Thompson, 5.
  30. ^ Williams.
  31. ^ Saldaña.
  32. ^ Burns, et al., 2006, Audio Commentary, Strangerhood Studios episode 6.
  33. ^ a b Machinima Theater.
  34. ^ Mackie Winners Announced!.
  35. ^ "Machinima Pros Make A Living Playing 'Halo' — With Their Feet". MTV.
  36. ^ Fahey, Mike (March 6, 2009). "Rooster Teeth Introduces Captain Dynamic To City Of Heroes". Kotaku.com. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  37. ^ "2012 Winners and Nominees". PodcastAwards.com. January 7, 2012. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
  38. ^ Burns, The Rooster Teeth Podcast episode 89
  39. ^ Hanley, Bronagh (October 31, 2012). "Blip Studios and Rooster Teeth Premiere Reality Gamer Competition Series THE GAUNTLET". MarketWatch. Archived from the original on December 26, 2012.
  40. ^ "Crunchyroll – FEATURE: Inside Rooster Teeth's "RWBY"". Crunchyroll. Archived from the original on February 11, 2019. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
  41. ^ McSpadden, Kevin (February 2, 2015). "Rooster Teeth Animator Monty Oum Dead at 33". Time. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  42. ^ Brouwer, Bree (October 23, 2015). "Rooster Teeth Releases 'RWBY: Volume 3' Trailer Ahead Of October 24 Debut". Tubefilter. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  43. ^ Kizu, Kyle (July 8, 2016). "'World's Greatest Head Massage' Review: Rooster Teeth's ASMR Documentary Is a Rich, Infectiously Fun Journey". IndieWire. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  44. ^ Hurst, Samantha (June 7, 2014). "Rooster Teeth's "Lazer Team" Blats Past $650,000 Goal in Just 24 Hours". Crowdfund Insider. Crowded Media Group. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  45. ^ Jaworski, Michelle (June 9, 2014). "Rooster Teeth raises over $1 million for feature film in 3 days". The Daily Dot. Retrieved July 21, 2014.
  46. ^ Gutelle, Sam (June 9, 2014). "Rooster Teeth Indiegogo Campaign Raises $1,000,000 In Three Days". Tubefilter. Retrieved July 21, 2014.
  47. ^ Busch, Anita (July 7, 2014). "Indiegogo Record for Film Campaign: 'Lazer Team' Wins With $2.4M". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  48. ^ Burns, Burnie (June 11, 2014). "IndieGoGo FAQ". Rooster Teeth. Archived from the original on June 11, 2014. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
  49. ^ Jarvey, Natalie (January 23, 2015). "Sundance: YouTube Network Fullscreen Launches Film Division (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
  50. ^ Coyote, Fancy. "Sundance: HIT by Fancy Coyote". The Hollywood Reporter. Kickstarter. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  51. ^ Spangler, Todd. "'The Outfield' Starring Nash Grier, Cameron Dallas Hits No. 1 on Apple iTunes Drama Chart". Variety. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  52. ^ Jarvey, Natalie (December 6, 2016). "YouTube Red to Stream Horror Comedy '12 Deadly Days' From Blumhouse TV". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  53. ^ "gg new map". burnie.com. Archived from the original on June 11, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  54. ^ "@Midnight (a Guest Stars & Air Dates Guide)". epguides.com.
  55. ^ "Meet The Cast Of The Amazing Race, Season 28". CBS. November 11, 2015. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  56. ^ Wigler, Josh (May 10, 2016). "Rooster Teeth's Burnie Burns And Ashley Jenkins Reflect on The Amazing Race". Parade. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  57. ^ Weiss, Geoff (September 28, 2017). "Inaugural Purpose Awards Recognize Lizzie Velasquez, Ford, Meals On Wheels, More". TubeFilter. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  58. ^ Burns, Burnie (February 26, 2016). "GusSorolaVERIFIED comments on Well, this is interesting". Reddit. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  59. ^ Burns, Ashley (June 7, 2020). "Our motto has always been, "same team," and 1 year ago today we ran away together to make our commitment to each other official. I don't want to get ahead of myself or anything, but let's shoot for at least one more year. Love you, @burnie. Happy anniversary". Twitter. Archived from the original on September 5, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
  60. ^ "Rooster Teeth Debuts 'Game Kids' Channel For Family-Friendly Shows". Tubefilter. December 1, 2014. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
  61. ^ Jenkins, Ashley [@AshleyJ] (August 28, 2019). "We did it! He's here. Home safe with our beautiful baby boy, born August 25, 2019" (Tweet). Retrieved August 29, 2019 – via Twitter.
  62. ^ Ashley Burns [@ashleyburns] (January 2, 2023). "New Year New (mini) me" (Tweet). Retrieved January 4, 2023 – via Twitter.
  63. ^ Rooster Teeth (May 19, 2017). "Burnie Vlog: How I Stay Motivated - Rooster Teeth". Archived from the original on December 21, 2021 – via YouTube.
  64. ^ a b Spangler, Todd (June 11, 2020). "Burnie Burns Exits Rooster Teeth, Plans to Move Out of the U.S." Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  65. ^ Rhodes, Paula (January 28, 2012). "2012 IAWTV Awards Winner Interview for Best Animated Series: Red vs. Blue". IAWTV. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  66. ^ Gaudiosi, John. "How These YouTube Content Creators Just Changed Hollywood". Fortune. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  67. ^ "Episode 4 - Dad Jokes". Rooster Teeth. June 3, 2017. Retrieved June 3, 2017.

Works cited

External links

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