Michael Burns

Michael Justin "Burnie" Burns is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian, host, and director. He was the co-founder and chief creative officer of Rooster Teeth Productions, and one of the producers of RWBY. He is best known for his work on Rooster Teeth's machinima series Red vs. Blue, being the original creator, writer and director of the series for it's first 10 seasons before passing the torch to Miles Luna. He also provided voice work for a few characters across Rooster Teeth's catalog, including Lopez and Church from Red Vs Blue, and Taiyang Xiao Long from RWBY. He remained intimately involved in many Rooster Teeth productions, hosting the internet game show The Gauntlet and the reality series Immersion, as well as starring in the feature film Lazer Team. He also regularly appeared on the Rooster Teeth Podcast. He is married to Rooster Teeth employee Ashley Burns, who voices Coco Adel in RWBY. The couple appeared together on Season 28 of the CBS reality television show The Amazing Race, which was nominated for an Emmy Award. On September 26, 2019, Burnie stepped down from his position as CCO along with regular work with the company, transitioning to a producer role in the newly formed Rooster Teeth Studios division, reporting to Ryan Hall. In addition, he announced that September 30, 2019 would be his final regular appearance on the Rooster Teeth Podcast. Burnie later left Rooster Teeth completely after planning to leave for a while. However, he remained on friendly terms with the company and still voices characters for them. He returned momentarily in 2023 to help develop and write the final season of Red vs Blue, Season 19, before leaving once again as the company closed down.