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EXECUTIVE BIOGRAPHY:
CRAIG “BURNIE” BURNS, OWNER, CEO

Craig “Burnie” Burns – During the early 80s, Burns ran operations for a large import/export company distributing foreign manufactured cars. He had 60 people working under him when the company sent him to Los Angeles to set up and run its port processing operations there. When Burns was offered a promotion and transfer to Indiana, he made a life-changing career move. Staying in California, he entered the video production industry, working as a production assistant and movie extra while learning the ropes.

The Early Years
Gradually, Burns added to his skill set, which came easy for him as he watched how things worked on set and educated himself in the movie, television and video production arenas, focusing primarily on the grip and lighting end of operations.

In 1998, Burns began to purchase grip and lighting gear. a practice he continues to this day. Burns explains that he saw buying gear as a way to create much-needed supplemental income at the time. His passion for the business and acquiring equipment grew with his knowledge of the industry and production needs. This strategy has worked well for Burns, who now offers several grip trucks and equipment enough to handle any size production.

Burns, the Master Contributor
In addition to his professional work, Burns is gaining recognition by the business and media industry publications community at large for his understanding of the changing climate of video production and the online needs of corporate entities.

As a result of Burns’ continued research and self-education into specialized areas of interest that relate to all his business goals, he has begun to write articles that are being well received by those in the know and those who want to be. These articles appear on his grip and lighting site at www.BurniesGripandLighting.com, where he will continue adding to his library of educational and informative works. His plan is to upload several articles each month on a variety of topics of interest not only to the lighting and video professional, but also to the online reading public at large.

Burn’s Professional Life
Currently, Burns’ grip and lighting company offers one 1-ton vans, one 2-ton grip truck, one 3-ton grip truck, one 5-ton grip truck and one 10-ton grip truck, each loaded with varying sizes of grip and lighting packages.

Burns services the entire southern California region. The business in the last year alone has expanded to include servicing the Hollywood production scene. In conjunction with an associated company, DLP Lighting Services, Burns’ company, Burnie’s Grip & Lighting, now provides all grip and lighting equipment to Curb Your Enthusiasm and the Sarah Silverman Show.

Growth has been steady for Burns and his company over the past six years. Major growth has occurred in the past two years due primarily to his dedication to providing the best client services in the industry and to his understanding of his clients’ needs. He has earned a reputation for quick turnaround on all deliverables.

On the rental side of his business, Burns’ success comes from his understanding of the basics of lighting. He is now considered an expert in the field, a go-to person for any lighting needs across southern California’s video production industry. Burns also understands the world of the corporate video and how when done right, the video has a powerful impact. As he explains it, the corporate video helps the company express their vision and message, both in functional terms and in emotional terms. This deep understanding has allowed Burns to grab such a large market share in his industry.

Corporate video has been Burns’ mainstay throughout the years, but now that the platform for that media has expanded to the point that every company, large and small, needs corporate videos with their message, branding and vision, his company is experiencing a new wave of tremendous growth, positioning him to open new companies and provide additional services to the video production community globally.

A visionary, Burns knows that any company that fails to include a video ad on its Web site (at the very least) will be outrun by its competition that includes such video presence. Burns also recognizes that these corporate clients do not have all the professional video production tools, education and resources available to them to keep up with the changing Internet climate in order to utilize the new messaging model to its fullest potential. He and other experts have identified this as the largest growth industry in his profession.