Ken Burns

One of America's Greatest Filmmakers

Ken Burns , keynote speaker
Ken Burns , keynote speaker Ken Burns: On Story Ken Burns , keynote speaker
Ken Burns is without a doubt one of America's most exceptional filmmakers. But he is also one of our great public speakers—a passionate and insightful auteur who reminds us of the timeless lessons of history and the enduring importance of the United States in the course of human events.
Highlights "the most accomplished documentary filmmaker of his generation"
- The New York Times
Book Speaker

Ken Burns' films—which include Baseball, Jazz and The Civil War—explore the history of America, and illuminate vistas of understanding, appreciation and empathy in the millions of people who watch them. His latest film, The War, tells the story of World War II through the personal accounts of nearly 40 men and women from four uniquely American towns. On film, Burns' ability to bring a new perspective to American history is well-known. His work has won dozens of major awards, and two Oscar nominations.

Burns' 1990 series, The Civil War, attracted over 40 million viewers to PBS and won over 40 awards, including two Emmys and a Peabody. His next major series, Baseball, also attracted over 40 million viewers and was called by Time "an instructive window into our national psyche." Burns completed his American Trilogy with Jazz. Some of his other films, from his thirty years of producing and directing, include Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson and Brooklyn Bridge. Burns plans to continue his work well into the 2020s.
Speech Topics 1. Ken's Story
  • An Evening with Ken Burns

    Any one of Ken Burns' films contains multitudes, and, on stage, he carefully selects the most relevant and fascinating examples of human courage, dignity and achievement he has chronicled. He can discuss any facet of his famous American trilogy. He can reveal the leadership models in the story of Lewis and Clark, or delve into the often contradictory but historically significant lives of figures such as Jack Johnson, Susan B. Anthony or Mark Twain.

    Whether discussing Thomas Jefferson or celebrating the common soldier in WWII, Burns addresses what we share in common, not what divides us. The effect of listening to him speak is not unlike that of watching one of his films: you are wholly immersed in a masterfully told story and, when it's over, you leave with a new sense of the history that shaped us, and of all it has made possible today.

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