Biography

Mark Burnett is a television and film producer, author, and Chairman of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., (MGM) Television. He has garnered twelve Emmy Awards, five Producer Guild of America Awards, seven Critic's Choice Television Awards and six People's Choice Awards.

Burnett has produced more than 3,200 hours of television programming, which regularly airs in more than 70 countries worldwide. The company Burnett leads currently has five network television shows, five cable shows and a television series, including "The Voice" (NBC); "Survivor" (CBS); "Shark Tank" (ABC); and "Jamie Foxx's Beat Shazam" (FOX); "Fargo" (FX); "Vikings" (HISTORY); "Teen Wolf" (MTV); SIGNED (VH1) "Lucha Underground" (El Rey Network) and "The Handmaid's Tale" which won the 2017 Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series and broke ground for HULU to become the first streaming services to win this honor.

Burnett is one of very few producers to have had a renewed series on each of the four major networks and to have multiple series win their time slots on five nights of television in the same week.

Additionally, Burnett and his wife Roma Downey produced "The Bible" series on History Channel that was viewed by more than 100 million people in the U.S. alone. They also produced the feature film "Son of God" (20th Century Fox) that stunned the box office when it became one of the highest faith movie openings of all time. Together, Burnett and Downey have produced numerous television series including "The Women of the Bible" (Lifetime); "The Dovekeepers" (CBS); "A.D. The Bible Continues" (NBC); "Answered Prayers" (TLC). They were also executive producers on the feature films "Little Boy" for Open Road Films, "Woodlawn" for PureFlix, and "Ben-Hur" for MGM and Paramount Pictures.

The Hollywood Reporter named Burnett, #1 on their Reality TV Power List - 30 Most Powerful Sellers. TIME Magazine named Burnett one of the world's most influential people. He has won BRANDWEEK'S Marketer of the Year Award, The Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award, the PGA Norman Lear Award and the prestigious ROSE D'OR FRAPA Format Award. Burnett was inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame in 2010 and was honored with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.
- IMDb mini biography by: MGM Official Site Bio

When I arrived [in America] a friend of mine had a chauffeur job in Beverly Hills and it seemed like an easy thing, except for there were no jobs. The only position I could get was childcare. I thought I'd do it for two weeks. It was two years later before I moved on from nanny.

What I always thought growing up, which I think a lot of people feel, was that the Bible was like a rule book and - if I stepped left or right - a lightning bolt might hit me. But actually it's a love story. I'm hoping that, while 'Son of God' is an epic movie and a political thriller, it's still got this intimate, personal love story.

I don't know what 'reality TV' means, but unscripted dramas are made on a pretty large scale, with multiple helicopters and a crew of about 400.