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Burnie Burns | |
|---|---|
 Burns atVidCon in 2014 | |
| Born | Michael Justin Burns (1973-01-18)January 18, 1973 (age 52) Rochester, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Texas, Austin(BA) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1997–present |
| Title | Co-founder and Executive Producer atRooster Teeth (2003–2022) |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 4 |
| Website | www |
Michael Justin "Burnie"Burns (born January 18, 1973) is an American actor, writer, director and media proprietor fromAustin, Texas. He was a co-founder, formerchief executive officer, and formerchief creative officer ofRooster Teeth. He is noted for his contributions inmachinima, a form of filmmaking 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 andpodcasting field.
In April 2003, Burns, along with several friends and co-workers, created themachinima seriesRed vs. Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles. Filmed using the video gameHalo,Red vs. Blue was acclaimed for its humor and originality, making Burns anInternet celebrity.[3] His success allowed him to co-found the production companyRooster Teeth.[4] After the immediate popularity ofRed vs. Blue, Burns attracted the attention of video game companyElectronic Arts, who asked him to create a promotional series using their upcoming game,The Sims 2. The result wasThe Strangerhood. Burns also premieredP.A.N.I.C.S., a mini-series that utilizes theF.E.A.R. game engine. In 2016, Burns starred in the science fiction comedy filmLazer Team andits 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 thePenny Arcade Expo,San Diego Comic-Con,Sundance andThe Sydney Film Festival.[3][5][6] For his work onImmersion (2010), a live action series that tests video game tropes in the real world, andThe Gauntlet (2013), Rooster Teeth's reality game show, he has been nominated for twoIAWTV awards in the "Best Host of a Web Series (Pre-Recorded)" category.[7] He was named one of the "Top 25 Digital Stars" byThe Hollywood Reporter in 2015.[8] Alongside longtime-business partnerMatt Hullum, he was named one ofVariety's top Digital Entertainment Execs to Watch in 2018.[9]
Burns was born in theRochester, New York, area and grew up inHouston, Texas.[10] His father was a physics professor who worked on theDesertron Super Collider. He is of one quarterFrench-Canadian descent.[11] The nickname "Burnie" was given to him by anAlief Elsik High School senior to separate him from the many Michaels in his class. Burns's determination to pursue a medical career led him to become a member ofHOSA. Half of his senior year consisted of clinical rotations atSouthwest Memorial Hospital.[11]
After high school, he was accepted at theUniversity of Notre Dame but, unable to afford the tuition, he chose to attendThe University of Texas at Austin, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science.[12][4][13] While there, Burns got his start in video production by volunteering atK29HW-D, Texas Student Television. During his time with TSTV, he foundedSneak Peek, the longest-running student television program in the world,[14] in which he reviewed films and conducted interviews with guests such asAdam 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]
In his final year of university, Burns was intent on making a movie.Joel Heyman andMatt Hullum, who were roommates at the time, agreed to help, with the former agreeing to star and the latter helping write, produce and direct. They shotThe Schedule (1997) over a three-month period on16mm film for $9,000.[17] It took 10 months to edit on anon-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 fewVHS copies ofThe 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 futureRed vs. Blue collaboratorsGeoff Ramsey andGus Sorola. In June 2002, Burns teamed up with his colleagues to create their first viral video, aMac 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 ofRed 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]
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 2001first-person shooter video gameHalo: Combat Evolved, leading them to discuss whether an automobile in the game known as a Warthog looks like apuma. Burns has said that this discussion was "the spark for the whole series".[22] Seeing potential for a full story, Burns created atrailer forRed vs. Blue, which was released September 5, 2002 on thedrunkgamers website, but it was largely ignored, and, for unrelated reasons,drunkgamers soon closed. Four months later,Computer Gaming World contacted Ramsey for permission to include a differentdrunkgamers video in a CD to be distributed with the magazine. Ramsey granted permission, but he and Burns felt that they needed a website to take advantage of the exposure fromComputer Gaming World. They therefore resurrectedRed vs. Blue and re-released the trailer to coincide with theComputer Gaming World issue. Burns founded the production companyRooster Teeth to produce the show with Sorola, Ramsey,Matt Hullum andJoel Heyman. Thefirst episode was released on April 1, 2003. The series is primarily produced using themachinima technique of synchronizing video footage from a game to pre-recorded dialogue and other audio.[23]
Burns initially envisionedRed 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. Byepisode 8, however, they realized that the series had fleshed out more than expected; they had covered only about one third of their original list.[24] At the same time, the show received the attention of major websites such asSlashdot,Penny Arcade, andFark, leading to thousands of views.[25] Later inseason 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 ofRed 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 the2003 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 theBlood Gulch Chronicles. Subsequent seasons were re-tooled withThe Recollection Trilogy for seasons 6–8 (Reconstruction,Recreation, andRevelation), andThe Freelancer Saga for seasons 9 and 10. Since season eleven, which premiered on June 14, 2013, Burns handed directorial and head writing duties to Miles Luna to shift his focus onto other projects. He still provided voice work for characters such as Church,Lopez andVic 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]
In 2004, 13 months after the first season ofRed vs. Blue had finished airing, Burns andMatt Hullum created the comedy web seriesThe Strangerhood. The series uses the samemachinima technique used to filmRed vs. Blue.
The idea for the series came from theE3gaming convention where Burns and his Rooster Teeth partners were introduced to thelife simulation gameThe Sims 2 and realized that the game would be suitable for a series that parodiedreality television. The game's publisherElectronic Arts allowed them to continue with the project.[29] The series centers on eight strangers who awake one day unaware of where they are or how they arrived there.[30] Its first season of 17 episodes completed on April 27, 2006.[31] In 2005, the group collaborated withPaul Marino[32] onStrangerhood Studios, aspin-off commissioned by theIndependent Film Channel.[33] This spin-off was the first machinima series to be commissioned for broadcast[33] and won an award for Best Editing at the2005 Machinima Film Festival.[34]
The following year Burns and Rooster Teeth created the comic science fiction machinima mini-seriesP.A.N.I.C.S. based on and filmed using the video gameF.E.A.R. developed byMonolith 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 inF.E.A.R.
Burns first returned to live-action withCaptain Dynamic a mini-series to promote the online gameCity 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 byMatt Hullum and written by Burns, the series starredEd Robertson of theBarenaked Ladies, who is a long time friend.
The series was well received by fans, which led him andRooster Teeth to begin producing a new live-action series, titledRooster Teeth Shorts (also referred to asRT Shorts), asketch comedy which parodies life at their offices. The series features the staff of Rooster Teeth, including Burns, who all play caricatures of themselves, as well as occasional appearances from voice actors from some of their machinima series. The first season ran for twenty episodes and five seasons have since followed, as well as six-second mini episodes released exclusively through the video sharing serviceVine.
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On December 29, 2008 Burns co-hosted the inaugural episode of theDrunk Tank audio podcast, alongside his Rooster Teeth co-workers Geoff Ramsey and Gus Sorola. The podcast consists largely of comedic commentary on thepopular culture of the week, including video games, recent news, website features, sports and upcoming projects and is available for download throughiTunes,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 renamedThe 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 AnnualPodcast 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-hostingImmersion alongsideGriffon Ramsey in 2010. The show tests the concepts of video games in real life, such as whether theheckling that sometimes occurs inmultiplayer video games would negatively affect the performance of real soldiers. Burns joked inThe 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 thetest subjects throughout the first season.Gavin Free andMichael Jones (ofAchievement Hunter) served as the test subjects for the second season.
On Halloween 2012, a partnership between Rooster Teeth andBlip was announced, with the premiere of their new 10-episode, reality game competition series sponsored byGEICO.[39]The Gauntlet follows gamers from around the United States competing in contests of skills, concentration, agility and stamina, inspired by reality competitionsWipeout andThe 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 ofMillion 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 dateAdolf 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 filmMinecraft: The Story of Mojang, about the Swedish video game developerMojang, the creators of the popular video gameMinecraft. In 2013, he began executive producing theanime-influenced[40] web seriesRWBY, created by Rooster Teeth employeeMonty 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 showX-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 documentaryWorld's Greatest Head Massage: An ASMR Journey.[43]
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In June 2014, Rooster Teeth launched acrowdfunding campaign for the filmLazer Team onIndiegogo. The fundraiser reached its $650,000 goal in under 10 hours and broke Indiegogo's record for the fastest film campaign to reach $700,000.[44][45] Within three days,Lazer Team broke $1 million.[46] As of 2015[update],Lazer Team held the record for thehighest 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-dramaThe Outfield.[50][51] Burns appeared in theYouTube Red series12 Deadly Days from Blumhouse Television.[52]
In September 2019, Burns' involvement within Rooster Teeth 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 Rooster Teeth, announcing on his blog a focus on his family alongside a move abroad.[53]
On December 26, 2023, after a period of withdrawal from the public eye, Burns launched the daily podcastMorning Somewhere, co-hosted with wife Ashley Burns in their home in Scotland.
On February 5, 2025, Burns announced he had acquired the Rooster Teeth brand and its remaining intellectual properties through his company Box Canyon Productions.[54] On August 7, 2025, the Rooster Teeth site was relaunched, as announced on hisMorning Somewhere podcast.[55]
Burns has participated in two episodes of the improvisational comedy game show@midnight.[56] In 2015, Burns took part intwenty-eighth season ofThe Amazing Race with his then-fiancée,Ashley Jenkins, coming in fourth place.[57][58] In 2017, Burns made a brief cameo inIt'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 theStreamy Awards.[59]
He married Jordan Burns in August 2000 and divorced in December 2011. Burns became engaged toThe Know hostAshley Jenkins in early 2016.[60] They married in June 2019.[61]
Burns has three sons and one daughter.[62][63][64]
He mainly resided inAustin, Texas, after briefly spending time inLos Angeles,California.[65] When Burns announced his resignation from Rooster Teeth on June 11, 2020, he also announced he was moving away from the United States.[66] 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 had maintained afirst-look deal on his projects.[66]
He is a member of theInternational Academy of Web Television.[67]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003–2020 | 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 |
| 2016–2019 | Camp Camp | — | Executive producer; season 1–4 |
| 2016 | Crunch Time | Special Agent | Also executive producer[68] |
| 2017–2018; 2021 | RWBY Chibi | Taiyang Xiao Long (voice)[69] | 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 |
| 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 |
| 2024 | Red vs. Blue: Restoration | Epsilon (voice) | Also writer |
| 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" |
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Halo 3 | Additional Voices |
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