Latest in Ken Burns

The Better Angels Society, the Library of Congress and the Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation said Tuesday they have established the Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film, an award to recognize exemplary accomplishment in historical documentaries. Submission are open now through June 1 for the honor…

Ken Burns could not come to TCA to tout his new documentary for PBS, Country Music, so frequent collaborator/writer/producer Dayton Duncan stood in for him. He described Burns’s process: “We chase every rabbit down every rabbit hole…That’s what reporting is. I’m a reporter who now talks about stories that are 100…

PBS has previewed some of its 2019 launches at the Television Critics Association Press Tour. Here’s the rundown: *** Ken Burns’s Country Music will premiere Sept. 15. The 16-Hour documentary chronicles the history of the genre, from the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers and Bob Wills to Hank Williams, Johnny Cash…

Editor’s note: This story originally ran on June 6. Beginning their collaboration with 1990’s The Civil War, Ken Burns and Lynn Novick have since co-directed projects including The War, Baseball and Prohibition. Their latest series, The Vietnam War, was recognized with Emmy nomination…

Ken Burns Presents The Gene: An Intimate History, a three-hour documentary executive produced by Burns, will premiere over three nights in Spring 2020, PBS announced this morning at TCA. Barak Goodman-directed Woodstock will premiere on PBS in 2019, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the historic three-day…

Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s 10-part documentary series, The Vietnam War, takes a sweeping look at the first war that came into America's living rooms.  While many stories have been told about the war, Burns said his series takes a different approach than other projects that come to mind. "It was important for us to…

Geoffrey C. Ward, whose 150 hours of documentary writing on PBS include on Ken Burns’ The Civil War, Baseball, The West, Jazz and most recently WGA-nominated The Vietnam War, will be awarded the WGA East’s Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Career Achievement. The honor will be bestowed February 11 at the New York ceremony…

Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's documentary The Vietnam War averaged 6.7 million viewers across its 10 nights in Live+7 stats, PBS said today. The epic docu enjoyed a reach of just under 34 million. These ratings results mean The Vietnam War is the second-highest-rated Burns/Novick film of the past two decades, following T…

“First off, I just want to thank Ken Burns for making me feel like the laziest motherf*ck on the planet," Dan Fogelman said accepting the TV Critics Association Award for Best New Program for his NBC series This Is Us. Burns had just been awarded the association's Career Achievement Award for an extensive body of…

The Handmaid’s Tale, Hulu’s dystopian drama about women as state property in totalitarian America, was crowned Program of the Year and feted for Outstanding Achievement in Drama, FX’s Atlanta snagged nods for best comedy and best comedy acting, and Leah Remini’s look at Scientology took the best reality TV series…

"We try super-hard not to put our thumbs on the scale to promote an agenda, political or otherwise," Ken Burns said of his 10-part documentary series The Vietnam War,  which he made with producing partner Lynn Novick, featuring testimony from about 80 witnesses including Americans who fought in the war, those who…

PBS announced this morning that Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon are producing and directing a two-part, four-hour documentary about boxer/civil rights figure Muhammad Ali.  Production began a year ago in early 2016, and the filmmakers anticipate a broadcast premiere in 2021 on PBS. In the announcement, Burns…