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Ed Burns

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This article is about the Baltimore television writer. For other people with the same name, seeEd Burns (disambiguation).
Ed Burns
BornEdward P. Burns[1]
(1946-01-29)January 29, 1946(age 78)
Baltimore,Maryland,U.S.
OccupationScreenwriter, television producer, teacher, police officer
SubjectCrime fiction,true crime
Notable worksThe Wire,The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood,Generation Kill

Edward P. Burns(born January 29, 1946) is an American screenwriter and television producer. He has worked closely with writing partnerDavid Simon.ForHBO,they have collaborated onThe Corner,The Wire,Generation Kill,The Plot Against America,andWe Own This City.Burns is a formerBaltimorepolicedetective for the homicide and narcotics divisions, and a public school teacher. He often draws upon these experiences for his writing.[2]

Biography[edit]

Burns served in theU.S. Armyinfantryduring theVietnam War.[3]He then served in the Baltimore Police Department for twenty years. When he worked in homicide, his partner was DetectiveHarry Edgerton,who would later become the basis forFrank Pembletonon the television seriesHomicide: Life on the Street.[3]

Following his retirement from the police force, Burns became a teacher in the Baltimore public school system. He has said that he stumbled into teaching with little preparation because of the intense demand for teachers in inner-city schools.[3]He taught seventh and eight grade. Psychologically, he compared the experience of teaching to the Vietnam War.[3]

He found the experience profoundly challenging because of the emotional damage that the vast majority of his students had already experienced before reaching the classroom. He saw his primary role as instilling caring behavior in his pupils.[3]He felt his major impact was in giving the children an example of an "adult who's consistent, who's always there, who always comes through with what he said, then that's a new world for them."[3]

The Corner[edit]

See also:The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood

In 1995, he co-authored, with Simon,The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood,the true account of a West Baltimore community dominated by a heavy drug market.[4]Simon credits his editor John Sterling with the notion that he observe a single drug corner.[5]It was named a Notable Book of the Year byThe New York Times.[6]An adaptation of the book, also calledThe Corner,was produced as a six-hour TVminiseriesforHBO.[7]The show received threeEmmy Awards.[7]

The Wire[edit]

See also:The Wire

Burns was a producer, writer, and co-creator (also with Simon) of the HBO seriesThe Wire.They originally set out to create a police drama loosely based on Burns's experiences working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology. He had often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter forThe Baltimore Sun.Writing against the background of current events, including institutionalizedcorporate crimeatEnronand institutional dysfunction in theCatholic Church,the show became "more of a treatise about institutions and individuals than a straight cop show."[8]

They chose to takeThe Wireto HBO because of their existing working relationship from the 2000miniseriesThe Corner.Owing to its reputation for exploring new areas, HBO was initially dubious about including a cop drama in their lineup, but eventually agreed to produce thepilot.[8][9]

The theme of institutional dysfunction was expanded across different areas of the city as the show progressed. Thesecond seasonfocused on the death of white working class America through examination of the city ports.[10]Thethird season"reflects on the nature of reform and reformers, and whether there is any possibility that political processes, long calcified, can mitigate the forces currently arrayed against individuals."[10]

Burns has called education the theme of thefourth season.The writing drew extensively on his experience as a teacher. Rather than solely focusing on the school system, the fourth season looks at schools as a porous part of the community that are affected by problems outside their boundaries. Burns states that education comes from many sources other than schools and that children can be educated by other means, including contact with the drug dealers they work for.[3]

Thefifth and final seasonfocuses on the media's coverage of crime and corruption in Baltimore, tapping into Simon's past withThe Baltimore Sun.Burns was nominated for theWriters Guild of America Awardfor Best Dramatic Series at theFebruary 2009 ceremonyfor his work on the fifth season.[11]Simon and Burns collaborated to write the series finale, "-30-".The show was nominated for several Emmys and numerous other awards.[12]

Generation Kill[edit]

Further information:Generation Kill (miniseries)

Burns traveled to Africa to film a miniseries as a producer and writer forGeneration Kill(airdates July 13 to August 24, 2008) for HBO Network. The seven-part miniseries received 10 Emmy nominations. His influence on the show stems from the year he spent in Vietnam. Burns stated that as a writer "(He) can use the universal experience of war to create a realistic scenario for the viewers."[13]

He also drew from his experience as a writer forThe Wire.Simon and Burns wrote for both shows and had similar ideas in characterization for the show. Burns stated that he wanted "To make characters into characters, not cliches. Just as we did onThe Wire."[13]

The Plot Against America[edit]

See also:The Plot Against America (miniseries)

Burns co-created the HBO miniseriesThe Plot Against Americawith Simon.[14]The six episode miniseries premiered in 2020.[15]

We Own This City[edit]

See also:We Own This City

Burns is an executive producer and writer for the HBO miniseriesWe Own This City.The series was developed by Simon andGeorge Pelecanosfrom the non-fiction book of the same name by formerThe Baltimore SunreporterJustin Fenton.The series focuses on police corruption in the Baltimore Police Department and particularly the Gun Trace Taskforce.[16]

References[edit]

  1. ^Gibson, Gail (April 13, 2004)."Ex-detective called in killers' defense".The Baltimore Sun.RetrievedAugust 20,2015.
  2. ^"The Corner: About the Author".Random House.Retrieved2006-10-03.
  3. ^abcdefg"The Wire: Q&A with Ed Burns".HBO. Archived fromthe originalon 2017-06-06.Retrieved2018-01-07.
  4. ^"The Corner: About the Book".Random House.Retrieved2006-10-03.
  5. ^Neil Drumming (2006-09-15)."High Wire Act".Entertainment Weekly.Archivedfrom the original on 2007-01-09.Retrieved2006-09-27.My editor on Homicide, John Sterling, had the idea,says Simon.He said, 'Why don't you just go to a corner in the city [and write about it]?' I think he meant just do a neighborhood story.But for Simon, who knew how many of Baltimore's intersections had become open-air drug markets, the wordcornerhad taken on a different connotation.So I picked a drug corner,he says.
  6. ^"Notable Books of the Year 1997 - Nonfiction".The New York Times.December 7, 1997.Retrieved2006-09-29.
  7. ^abMary Alice Blackwell."Fun comes down to 'The Wire'".Daily Progress. Archived fromthe originalon 2013-01-20.Retrieved2012-05-26.
  8. ^abRothkirch, Ian (Jun 29, 2002).""What drugs have not destroyed, the war on them has"".Salon.com.Archived fromthe originalon September 28, 2011.
  9. ^Alvarez, Rafael (2004).The Wire: Truth Be Told.New York:Pocket Books.pp. 18–19, 35–39.
  10. ^abRichard Vine (2005)."Totally Wired".The Guardian Unlimited.London. Archived fromthe originalon June 6, 2012.
  11. ^"2009 Writers Guild Awards Television, Radio, News, Promotional Writing, and Graphic Animation Nominees Announced".Writers Guild of America. December 8, 2008. Archived fromthe originalon 2008-12-12.Retrieved2008-12-12.
  12. ^"60th Primetime Emmy Awards".Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.Retrieved2009-03-31.
  13. ^abAndreeva, Nellie (June 1, 2007)."HBO drafts cast for 'Kill' mini".The Hollywood Reporter. Archived fromthe originalon 2007-06-03.Retrieved2007-01-06.
  14. '^Dessem, Matthew (2020-04-21)."The Plot Against Americas Showrunners on Why They Changed the Ending ".Slate Magazine.Retrieved2020-09-25.
  15. ^The Plot Against America(Drama, Thriller), Winona Ryder, Anthony Boyle, Zoe Kazan, Morgan Spector, Home Box Office (HBO), Roth/Kirschenbaum Films, 2020-03-16,retrieved2020-09-25{{citation}}:CS1 maint: others (link)
  16. ^Petski, Denise (May 19, 2021)."Jon Bernthal, Josh Charles, Jamie Hector To Star In 'We Own This City' HBO Limited Series From 'The Wire' Team".Deadline.RetrievedFebruary 16,2022.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ed_Burns&oldid=1234405704"