Burnie Burns Interview

I can vividly remember my friends and I watching the entire first season of Red vs. Blue in one night in high school (we were incredibly popular). I remember thinking, "Who makes this? How are these people so naturally funny? What is the creative process behind this like? How much more Mountain Dew can I drink tonight before it becomes a problem?"

With the exception of the last one, all of my questions were answered last Monday, Oct. 17. The interview with Burnie Burns, Rooster Teeth's creator, was an incredibly interesting insight into what a creative, intelligent and funny person can accomplish if they are passionate about what they do.

Setting out to become an independent filmmaker of sorts, Burns cited Robert Rodriguez's El Mariachi as one of his main inspirations. This is important to note because it demonstrates just how passionate Burns is about his work. Fellow Texan Robert Rodriguez used insane methods to ensure his movie was on budget. In fact, Rodriguez even sold his own body for medical experiments to fund his movie.

Another interesting thing about Burns is that he knows his medium extremely well. During his interview, he kept mentioning how the Internet has brought down "mountains" for filmmakers like himself. He said 250 people seeing your work in a room used to be awesome. Now, however, if only 250 watch your video online, something has gone terribly wrong.

Burns demonstrated how businesses can work in the Information Age if the leaders are knowledgeable about their platform and who they need to collaborate with. Rooster Teeth has had several offers to move to television, but Burns knows his product is best fit online.

Burns also surrounds himself with witty and Internet-savvy people who are passionate about what they do to ensure the best product possible. These people create music, design scene backgrounds and provide voice talent for his company.

In summary, it is refreshing to know that intelligent, humorous and creative people still have the opportunity to create their own business model and see their ideas all the way through with people that inspire them.