When I was seventeen Burnett joined the British Army. Before long, he became a section commander of the Parachute Regiment. Burnett did active duty in Northern Ireland and the Falkland Islands, and left the army in 1982.
Not sure what to do after the service, Burnett decided to take a post as a military adviser in Central America. When he landed in Los Angeles in 1982, on his way to Central America, he decided to stay in the United States. With $ 600 in his pocket, he thought about his next move. A friend of hers who lived in Los Angeles told him about a wealthy Malibu family looking for a babysitter. Impressed by its cleaning and ironing, Burnett was hired.
The command turned babysitter he worked for two different families over the course of several years. Burnett became a lifelong friend of one of his employers, Burt, who became the young man’s mentor. Burnett soaked up all the information they could offer him. Eventually, Burt hired Burnett to sell insurance. During the 1980s, Burnett sold insurance in California.
In the early 1990s, the English immigrant who had come to the United States with a few hundred dollars he had made his first million.
In February 1991, Burnett found his inspiration. While leafing through the Los Angeles Times He came across an article describing a French adventure competition called the Raid Gauloises. Every year, five people from different countries competed in an exotic location for two weeks.
Burnett felt he had to prepare for Eco-Challenge. Burnett assembled an American team, the first US team to compete in the Raid Gauloises. And in 1995 Burnett was ready to launch his own idea. He formed a team, used every penny he had, and pitched the idea to various television networks. On April 25, 1995, the first Eco-Challenge was held in Utah, and broadcast on MTV. The show later migrated to the Discovery Channel and then the US Network.
Mark Burnett is an inspirational story. From soldier to nanny, from salesman to producer, he is a true man of vision.
Burnett produced eight more Eco-Challenges, which took place in exotic locations one after another. Eco-Challenge was nominated multiple times for Emmy Awards and has received many honors, including a 1996 Emmy for Sports.
Inspired by the success of the Eco-Challenge, Burnett geared up to produce another series based on the competition. Survivor was actually the brainchild of British producer Charlie Parsons. Burnett bought the rights to Parsons in 1998. It took Burnett a few years to convince the networks, until CBS took over the project.
Six thousand people applied for the opportunity to be dropped off on a remote island in order to compete for food, shelter, and the million dollar prize.
Survivor was an immediate and scandalous success. On August 23, 2000, more than fifty million people tuned in to watch the series finale. Series winner Richard Hatch became an instant celebrity, producer Mark Burnett became a billionaire, Y Survivor went down in pop culture history as the most successful reality show of all time.
Burnett went on to create a series of Survivor sequels and specials, and while none reached the heights of the original, each drew a record number of viewers.
In addition to its popularity with the public, Survivor received critical acclaim and was nominated for fourteen Emmy Awards, winning two.
Burnett hadn’t finished the reality show wave yet. In 2003, he took his cameras to Oahu, Hawaii, and introduced viewers to the world of surfing at the professional Boarding House: North Shore. In 2004, however, Burnett moved from the island jungles to the concrete jungle with The Apprentice. And, once again, he won the lottery.
Following the success of The Apprentice, Burnett established himself as the guru, the titan, the king of reality TV.
Burnett is also producing The Contender, along with actor and director Sylvester Stallone. The goal of the show is a nationwide search for the next boxing superstar.
In 2004, forty million people were watching the shows produced by Mark Burnett. He is also a best-selling author, motivational speaker, and is one of the 101 most influential people in the entertainment world. In his spare time he is active in a number of charities and is a world-class athlete.
In his personal life, Mark Burnett’s first marriage was to Diana, with whom he had two children, James and Cameron. The couple divorced in December 2003.
In January 2004, Mark began dating actress Roma Downey, and in November 2006, with his children in Zihuatanejo, Mexico, he proposed to her. They were married on April 28, 2007 at his home in Malibu. He currently lives in Malibu, California with his three children.