Burt Kearns

Burt Kearns is an American television and film producer, writer, director, journalist and author, known for his influential work in reality television and his controversial 1999 tabloid television memoir, Tabloid Baby.^[1]

Television and film production

Writer & Producer

Through 2013, Kearns was producing and directing the nonfiction feature film, El Viaje Musical de Ezekiel Montanez: The Chris Montez Story, which was previewed as a work-in-progress on August 15, 2009 at the 35th annual Fest for Beatles Fans in Chicago,^[2] November 21, 2009 at the Paso Robles Digital Film Festival^[3] and May 14, 2010 at the Pacific Palisades Film Festival.^[4]

Kearns is executive producer of the truTV reality television competition series, Guinness World Records Unleashed, which premiered on November 7, 2013, and was co-executive producer of its first season, Guinness World Records Gone Wild, which premiered on February 7, 2013. He was executive producer and showrunner of the truTV reality documentary series, Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura. He joined the series as co-executive producer during the first (2009-2010) season ^[5] and took the helm for the second season, which debuted in October 15, 2010^[6] and Season Three, premiering November 7, 2012.^[7]

He was executive producer and showrunner of Speed (TV channel) hit series, Dumbest Stuff on Wheels, which debuted on August 3, 2011, and introduced its second season on January 25, 2012, and co-executive producer of the 2011 Syfy series, Legend Quest.^[8] Kearns was consultant and co-executive producer of Shadow Operations: The Mars Project,^[9] a truTV documentary special about the work of Project Camelot, which debuted on November 7, 2012.

Kearns produced the documentary films Death of a Beatle (2000) and Bin Laden’s Escape (2005) (with Parco Productions). Directed and produced the documentary, Boxing: A Different Look for Showtime and Hollywood Animal Crusaders (featuring John Travolta, Cher, Don Johnson & Esai Morales) for Animal Planet. Co-producer of the HBO documentary Panic, starring Kim Basinger. Producer of Fox Television special, When Good Pets Go Bad 2, and executive producer of the syndicated series, Strange Universe.

Frozen Pictures

In 2000, Kearns formed the production company Frozen Television (later Frozen Pictures) with veteran producer Brett Hudson, formerly of the Hudson Brothers. Kearns has written and produced many television shows and series under the Frozen banner, including the documentary series Adults Only: The Secret History of The Other Hollywood and The Secret History of Rock ‘n’ Roll with Gene Simmons for Court TV, All the Presidents' Movies,^[10] narrated by Martin Sheen for Bravo, the Showtime late night series My First Time, and episodes of the Court TV series, Mugshots.^[11]

He directed and produced the 2008 Frozen Pictures documentary musical film, The Seventh Python, about the career and influence of Monty Python collaborator and Bonzo Dog Band member Neil Innes, and directed and produced Basketball Man,^[12] the 2007 Frozen Pictures documentary film that featured basketball stars and legends telling the story of the life and legacy of the game's inventor, Dr. James Naismith. (During the production of Basketball Man, Kearns conducted Boston Celtics legend Red Auerbach's last interview.)^[13]

Was also creator, producer and director of Frozen Pictures' The Michael Lohan Reality Project,^[14] and American Dunkleman,^[15][16][17] both of which became viral sensations when their pitch tapes were released on the Internet.

Kearns received international attention,^[18] including front page stories in the New York Times^[19] and USA Today^[20] for his controversial Saintmychal.com website and documentary project that chronicled and inherently promoted the canonization of 9/11 hero Rev. Mychal Judge.

Cloud 9

Kearns wrote and produced the 20th Century Fox movie, Cloud 9 (starring Burt Reynolds), along with Hudson and Academy Award winner Albert S. Ruddy.^[21] The film was released on DVD by 20th Century Home Entertainment on January 3, 2006.^[22]

Tabloid Baby

Left tabloid television and began writing Tabloid Baby in 1996.

A combination memoir, mea culpa and exposé, the book was published in November 1999 by Hambleton-Hill's Celebrity Books imprint, and became an immediate sensation.

The book was praised by Mike Wallace of CBS News' 60 Minutes as "sad, funny, undeniably authentic" and by tabloid television host Maury Povich as "the Bible."

Kearns embarked on a cross-country signing tour after network news bosses reacted to his revelations about the television industry by canceling many of his scheduled television appearances.^[23][24]

Early career

Graduated from Fairfield University; became a reporter and editor for newspapers in southern Connecticut and Westchester, New York. After John Lennon's assassination on December 8, 1980, he moved to Manhattan, where he worked for neighborhood newspapers including the East Side Express and the Chelsea-Clinton News, and later at the assignment desk and as newswriter and show producer at WNEW-TV's Ten O'Clock News. Kearns became a producer and writer for such New York City news operations as WNBC-TV's News 4 New York and CBS News' Nightwatch and CBS Morning News.^[25] He also moonlighted as a writer for Spin magazine.^{[26][27][28][29]}

Hired by Rupert Murdoch's 20th Century Fox as managing editor of the nightly tabloid television series, A Current Affair in the late 1980s, he helped develop and expand the tabloid television genre. In 1990, Kearns accompanied executive producer and genre inventor Peter Brennan to Hollywood, where, as managing editor and producer of Hard Copy (1990–1993) and Premier Story (1994), he was an influential figure in the heyday of tabloid television.^[30][31][32]

Awards

Winner of 2009 Las Vegas Film Festival Golden Ace Award for The Seventh Python.^[33]

Personal life

Kearns returned to tabloid journalism in 2005, working once again with mentor Peter Brennan, as consulting producer to short-lived revival of A Current Affair. Kearns is married to television producer and journalist Alison Holloway.^[34]

Sources

• New York Times
• New York Times article
• "Bad Boy TV," Salon.com
• Tabloid Baby review, L.A. Weekly
• USA Today
• Kearns as guest on Coast-to-Coast AM with Art Bell
• Kearns profile in Fairfield University magazine
• Interview from On The Edge with Paula Zahn
• Current Affairs: A Life on the Edge by Maury Povich and Ken Gross
• SPIN magazine Sept. 1988 article, pg 23: "k.d. lang: Canadian Cowpie"
• SPIN magazine Nov. 1988 article, pg 32: "Steve Miller: The Fat Man Sings"
• SPIN magazine March 1989 article, pg 62: "John Hiatt: Family Man"
• Elvis After Elvis: The Posthumous Career of a Living Legend by Gilbert B. Rodman (p. 39)
• Production Culture: Industrial Reflexivity and Critical Practice in Film and Television by John Thornton Caldwell
• What Liberal Media? The Truth About Bias and the News by Eric Alterman
• The Man Who Would Not Shut Up: The Rise of Bill O'Reilly by Marvin Kitman
• Mike Wallace: A Life by Peter Rader
• Say It With Feeling by Gerald Stone

References

External links

• Burt Kearns at the Internet Movie Database

Authority control VIAF: 63339957

Persondata
Name	Kearns, Burt
Alternative names
Short description	American journalist
Date of birth
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