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The History of Burrud
Productions
actually started long before Bill Burrud
founded Bill Burrud Productions in 1954. In 1913 Bill’s father, |Leland
Burrud,
began filming one of the first known travel movies titled, "Legend
of the
Wilderness." He crossed the nation with a caravan of ancient cars
and
cinema equipment.
Bill Burrud
began his love affair with Hollywood at the age of 7 when he made
his acting debut in the feature motion picture "Music in the Air."
He went on
to appear in such productions as "Captains Courageous" with Spencer
Tracy ,
"The Cowboy and the Kid" and "Idol of the Crowds" with
John Wayne.
He
grew up to serve in the Navy during World War II, and like so many
other Vets, went off in search of his
future in the post-war era. After
graduating from Harvard Business School, Bill again turned his attention
to
Hollywood.
In
1950 television was making a big splash in the entertainment arena and
Bill Burrud had an idea. He coined a new word for television … "traventure.
"
He acted upon this idea and in 1951 Los Angeles TV station KTTV purchased
Bill’s first adventure series, The Open Road. In 1954 he
founded Bill Burrud
Productions and went on to produce literally hundreds of hours of programming
in the ensuing years. The library spans 48 years of production and seven
million
feet of footage.
Bill
Burrud and Burrud Productions have made a substantial contribution
to the history of television. Productions run the gamut of
family-reality programming.
Animal World ran on all 3 networks
and New! Animal World
on the Disney Channel
for a total of 15 years. Subject matter of Burrud programs
was primarily wildlife,
oceanic exploration, adventure, action, travel, reality and comedy.
A partial list of
Burrud productions includes the series : True Adventure,
Vagabond, Wanderlust,
Islands in the Sun, Wonderful World of Women, Safari to Adventure, Treasure!
(hosted by Philip Michael Thomas), and Natural
Wonders; specials that include:
Where Did All the Animals
Go?, Seals, Whales and Dolphin Tales (hosted by
Loni Anderson), Return to Tarawa, Beyond Bizarre 1-13,
Animals are the
Funniest People (in association with Dick Clark and NBC), Shark!
The Silent
Savage (hosted by Robert Culp), and Movie Monsters
Revealed; and a number
of feature films including: Secret World of Reptiles,
Vanishing Africa, Great
American Wilderness, Amazing Apes, Mysterious Miniature World,
The Last
Ark, Devil’s Mountain, Montezuma’s Lost Gold, Strange
Wilderness, The Call
of Kilimanjaro.
Burrud
Productions has experienced a number of significant milestones in
the last
48 years. There have been awards from The Southern California Motion Picture
Council and Film Advisory Board, Hollywood Festival of World
Television, for the
best wildlife and environment series - -
the VIRA Award.
More
recently, the feature film Call of Kilimanjaro received the Silver Award at the
1997 Worldfest Charleston.
Bill Burrud
received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1977. Talk about
milestones! If you want to visit, you’ll find Bill’s star next to Elvis Presley’s star.
Bill
put his money where his mouth was in 1977 when he produced
Where Did All
the Animals Go? Produced
entirely at Burrud Productions expense, this special
raised over
$120,000 from viewers for the Bill
Burrud Anti-Poaching Fund. The money
was used to purchase and deliver a police-type helicopter and
other needed services
for Kenya’s Tsavo Park West, a prime target for
elephant poachers.
Bill’s
son, John Burrud, joined the company directly out of high school and
learned
every phase of the business from the ground up. He learned his lessons
well and
has been directing the activities of the company since becoming
President in 1985.
Bill
Burrud passed away in 1990, but the Burrud legacy is stronger than ever.
John Burrud’s leadership of Burrud Productions, Inc. will stand
the company
in good stead in this New Millennium. For example, the current production
roster includes completion of 6 new hours of programming for The Discovery
Channel, 5 hours of programming for The Learning Channel and 65 half-hours
of
children’s educational programming.
All in all, John
Burrud and his staff look forward to a busy year producing innovative
and fresh programming for the worldwide television market.
The
Company History wouldn't be complete without photographs! Please, take a
moment to visit our Photo Album.
Photo Album
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