Entrepreneur

Ken Burns Talks About Leadership, Productivity and Achieving Immortality Through Storytelling

With his latest opus due out this month and a half-dozen more films on the way, the director and historian Ken Burns has learned a lot about how to manage big teams through even bigger projects.
Source: Tim Llewellyn

Award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns is responsible for such genre-defining and genre- defying documentary series as The Civil War, Baseball, and Jazz, to name a few. As he and collaborator Lynn Novick prepare to debut their new 10-part documentary film series The Vietnam War on September 17 on PBS stations nationwide, we spoke with the tireless documentarian about leadership, productivity, managing gigantic projects and how to achieve immortality through storytelling.

Related: 7 Telltale Signs That You Have a Leader's Mindset

So you just finished this incredible documentary about Vietnam. Are you already thinking of the next three documentaries down the road? 

Sorry to say, in a kind of admission of foolishness, I’m thinking usually about 13 or 14 films ahead. I’m now working on six or seven at the same time, which is insane. A lot of that has to was more than 10 years in the making. 

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Entrepreneur

Entrepreneur2 min read
Pack These for Your Next Trip
Here’s how to travel lightly, stay hydrated, and cut down on single-use plastic: Just pack the CamelBak MultiBev [$52; camelbak.com]. The full thermos can keep 22 ounces of water chilled for hours—but the real genius is the lower portion, which screw
Entrepreneur12 min readCorporate Finance
Charities Are Getting Down to Business
Six years ago, Michelle Brown (pictured above) met with a major funder of her literacy nonprofit. She’d been counting on them to renew their grant, and there was no reason they shouldn’t. But as the meeting began, she had that sickening, slow-motion
Entrepreneur2 min read
Which Fridge Would You Eat From?
Will people buy cheap food to help save the planet? The answer is yes—and no. This was the idea behind Flashfood, an app-based marketplace that aims to divert food away from landfills, and to families in need. It collects food nearing its best-by dat

Related Books & Audiobooks