Ken Burns

 Burns started his filmmaking career for the BBC, Italian television and other broadcasters. After finishing a couple of documentary shorts in 1977, he began adapting David McCullough's novel The Great Bridge. Burns created a distinct documentary style which allowed him to "cut rapidly from one image to another in an ebb and flow and then enhancing the quality of the images by using 'first-hand' narration that was derived from contemporary writings and read by the best screen and stage actors". In 1981, Burns made Brooklyn Bridge which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary. The film also received the Academy Award for Best Documentary. Burns was again nominated for The Statue of Liberty (1985). Burns frequently works alongside Geoffrey C. Ward, author and historian. They've worked together on documentaries such as The Civil War, Jazz, Baseball and more, and the 10-part television series The Vietnam War (aired September 2017).