Filmmaker ken burns biography wikipedia

Ken burns daughters

Kenneth Lauren Burns [ 1 ] born July 29, is an American filmmaker known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture. Burns's academic family moved frequently. Burns's mother was found to have breast cancer when he was three, and she died when he was 11, [ 4 ] a circumstance that he said helped shape his career; he credited his psychologist father-in-law, Gerald Stechler, [ 8 ] with a significant insight: "He told me that my whole work was an attempt to make people long gone come back alive.

Upon receiving an 8 mm film movie camera for his 17th birthday, he shot a documentary about an Ann Arbor factory. Burns worked in a record store to pay his tuition. He describes Liebling as his "principal mentor. The company's name was borrowed from Mayes's hometown of Florence , Massachusetts. Another Hampshire College student, Buddy Squires, was invited to succeed Mayes as a founding member one year later.

Hott did not actually matriculate at Hampshire, but worked on films there. Each member works independently, but releases content under the shared name of Florentine Films. Burns's oldest child, Sarah , is also an employee of the company as of Burns initially worked as a cinematographer for the BBC , Italian television, and others.