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Mark Burnett (born 17 July, 1960) is a British-born USA-based television producer with dual UK and USA citizenship[citation needed]. He is known for introducing reality television as a genre to the USA after meeting UK producer Charlie Parsons who had come up with the idea of the TV show Survivor. Burnett produced the USA version of the series Survivor and the Eco-Challenge adventure race. His eponymous production company setup The Apprentice, The Restaurant, The Casino, Rock Star, Combat Missions and The Contender. His new game show Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? premiered on FOX in February of 2007. He is collaborating with Steven Spielberg on a FOX show titled On the Lot premiering in May 2007 which will grant one out of 16 contestants an exclusive Hollywood deal with DreamWorks and Spielberg.[1]
Burnett is also producing a pirate expedition reality series to debut on CBS in summer of 2007 tentatively called Pirates.[2]
BiographyMark Burnett was born an only child in London, United Kingdom. From 1978 to 1982 he served with the British Army in Northern Ireland and took part in the Falklands War. In 1982, Burnett moved to Los Angeles, USA, and for the next decade held a variety of jobs, including a nanny in Beverly Hills and selling t-shirts in Venice Beach. In 1991, after reading an article on the Raid Gauloises, Burnett purchased the rights from its creator Gerald Fusil, and eventually launched the Eco-Challenge in 1995. In 1998, Burnett purchased the American rights to Survivor.
PersonalHe's partner is Northern Ireland-born actress Roma Downey. As of November 2003, they were engaged.[4] He has two sons, James and Cameron, from a previous marriage. He holds dual USA and UK citizenship.[citation needed] CriticismsIn February 2001, Survivor contestant Stacey Stillman filed a lawsuit against Burnett and CBS alleging that he had persuaded two Survivor contestants to vote her off.[5] While Sean Kenniff denied being coerced,[5] Dirk Been corroborated her claims stating that he did feel his vote had been "influenced" by Burnett in a deposition taken under oath.[6] Mark Burnett has also received criticism for "reenacting" scenes with actor "stand ins" which he claims were used to increase production value and did not effect the outcome. [7] More recently, Mark Burnett has been sued for $6 million by screenwriter Sharlene Sullivan who alleges that he stole the idea for the show "Rockstar". She claims colleagues working with Burnett showed enthusiasm for the idea and met with her for lunch and later advised her to drop the idea, only to steal it from her later. [8] References
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