Chris Burgard was born in Mequon, Wisconsin, the son of a police officer and a cowgirl. He graduated from Dominican High School in White Fish Bay, Wisconsin where he was captain of the ski team, a football halfback, a member of the jazz band, a singer and an actor in musicals.
He later graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Theater Arts. While dating a ballerina, Burgard decided to take up ballet dancing and after a scholarship with the Ruth Page Chicago Ballet, he was good enough to become a company member with the Savannah, Duluth, and Long Beach Ballet companies. He moved to California in 1985, determined to become a filmmaker. He started his motion picture career as Mathew Broderick’s dance double in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” As an actor, he also appeared in commercials, the TV series “Tour of Duty” and “Growing Pains,” the films “Twice Dead,” “84 Charlie Mopic” and the HBO pilot, “Lessons Learned.”
While making his living as a Hollywood stuntman riding bulls on the rodeo circuit, Burgard made his directorial debut on the cult horror film “The Ruining,” which featured Wings Hauser and Patrick Warburton. The film was picked up and distributed by Troma.
After starting Little Bonanza Productions with his wife, Lisa, in 2002, he later partnered with producer Jennifer Champagne and editor Todd Sheridan Perry to create "Border," an investigative documentary on the state of our southern border with Mexico.
Dissatisfied with second-hand media coverage, Burgard and his camera team journeyed down to the U.S. Mexican border and, over a period of several months, interviewed Border Patrol agents, illegal immigrants, Minutemen, politicians, representatives of the ACLU and local ranchers to make a realistic assessment of just how porous our border had become.
The result is a fascinating and startling look into the world of illegal immigration, and, according to the New York Times, “a terrifying glimpse of…horrors too numerous to mention.” As Scott Gordon mentioned in The Onion’s AV Club, “Maybe it will take people like Chris Burgard to redeem the American political documentary.”
www.bordermovie.com
Chris Burgard
Human Decency and Hollywood: The Voice of America
by Chris BurgardI work in Hollywood and many in my industry consider my views to be pretty radical. I blame my father and the values that he instilled in me: Never hit a woman and protect your children.
Over the past few years, throughout this country I have heard the same thing from audiences over and over, “Why doesn’t Hollywood make the kind of movies that we want to see? Why don’t movies represent our values?”
This is an outstanding opportunity for lessons learned. To everyone outside of this community, I implore you to take a long and hard look at the people who are standing up for Roman Polanski. The stars. The studio heads. Many of these people are the powers that be who green-light projects. These are the people that we pitch to. These are the people who decide whether or not our films get distribution. These are the people who decide what product should be available to you and your children. (more…)
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The War on Propaganda
by Chris Burgard“The essence of propaganda consists in winning people over to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in the end they succumb to it utterly and can never escape from it.” Joseph Goebbels
There is no shame in artists receiving monetary compensation to sell ideas, products or a presidential agenda. When everything is transparent and contracted aboveboard, this is called advertising. When this process is whispered into being, strategized and set into motion from the shadows of government and from behind closed doors, it is propaganda.
From Sun Tzu to Psy Ops, propaganda has won wars, toppled cultures and changed civilizations. As a self-identified enlightened and educated culture, we thought ourselves beyond such base manipulation. We were wrong.
Where were the voices of dissent on the NEA conference call when so called “artists” were asked to further the President’s agenda?
I have danced ballets and I have done commercials; one side art, the other side business. What side were the NEA recipients on? (more…)
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9/12: The Revolution Has Begun
by Chris BurgardWhat began on the border in 2005 has spread to DC and every state in the union. The Revolution isn’t coming, it is here. Call it the Constitution Revolution. The genie is out of the bottle and there will be no putting her back in.
I spent all day yesterday up and down Pennsylvania Avenue with people from all over the Union. One guy I met had 45 autographs on his t-shirt from people from 45 states. He only needed 5 more to make it a day.
![IMG_1307[1]](http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/files/2009/09/IMG_13071.jpg "IMG_1307[1]")
The mainstream media has reported the rally as anti-Obama or anti-government, both are partially true, but I believe that pro-Constitution would be much more accurate. Pro-Constitution and polite. This was more than a peaceful demonstration. I never heard so many excuse mes and thankyous in my life, and not a drop of litter to be found. (more…)
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Honoring September 11th: Frank
by Chris BurgardFrank Munoz was a good guy. When he was a teenager, he worked hard to straighten his life out. He went to school. He got married. He got a job. He took good care of his mom.
Frank Munoz died on the 73rd floor of The Second Tower on Sept. 11, 2001.
For days after 9/11, his family searched the hospitals because some sick person put his name on a fake Internet survivor list.
I didn’t cry for him until two years later when my wife and I stood at the edge of Ground Zero.
Afterwards, Lisa and I wanted to get a burger. A block away, we walked into a bar called O’Hara’s. On 9/11, O’Hara’s had their windows knocked out and the building was covered in debris. (more…)
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Honduras: A Truth Stranger Than Fiction?
by Chris BurgardImagine an America in the not too distant future:
President Obama has entered into a special trade pact with Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. Once the treaty is signed doctors and teachers from Cuba and Nicaragua offer their services to help the American “poor.” As soon as they enter the United States and become embedded in the countryside, they immediately begin organizing and indoctrinating the “poor” as to how oppressed they are and how they are entitled to the same lifestyle, privileges and properties that the “rich” enjoy.
Honduran President Roberto Micheletti and Chris Burgard
The “rich” are now defined as anyone who has more than two bedrooms in their home. In this imaginary, future America, President Obama owns several mansions across the nation, yet he declares that it is the patriotic duty of every “rich” homeowner to turn their 3rd and 4th bedrooms over to the “poor.”
President Obama raises the minimum wage by 60% percent. The “poor” hail him as their champion. Unable to meet the federal minimum wage requirement, thousands of small businesses close. Overnight 7,740,000 Americans lose their jobs. The American economy slumps even further. (more…)
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The Real Meaning of the 4th of July is Revolution
by Chris BurgardTwo hundred and thirty-three years ago, fifty six of our forefathers signed their names to the Declaration of Independence. They brought forth a new nation conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
They started a war. My ancestor, Francis Lightfoot Lee was one of those men. They started the revolution that birthed this nation.
Now we are engaged at a crossroads of history, testing whether the leaders of this nation so conceived and dedicated, still hold those same truths and ideals to be self-evident.
Iranian citizens have taken to the streets of their cities in the pursuit of freedom and liberty. They sought, and deserved, their own revolution. The Iranian government murdered and persecuted them for it. Our government voted present. (more…)
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Troopathon 2009: ‘I was just doing my job.’
by Chris BurgardThank you.
My buddy Dave came back from Iraq without his leg. He was willing to die to keep my family and the rest of America safe. I can never thank him enough for his sacrifice. All he ever says is: “I was just doing my job.”
Just doing my job? My kids sleep safely every night because hundreds of thousands of men and women like Dave stand watch for us every night.
Last week a bunch of us helped out at “Operation Gratitude.” Operation Gratitude puts together care packages for the troops. They are approaching the 500,000 package mark. They aren’t just sending gifts. They are sending their love and appreciation to those who would protect us. It was an honor to be a part of their project. I wish that I could bottle the emotion and love that was in that building and share it with every serviceman, women and veteran in America. To you guys over there, we love and appreciate what you are doing for us, to our core. To us at home, if you love our troops, please let them know. (more…)
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Iran at a Crossroad: Mr. President, Where Are You?
by Chris BurgardAfter Friday’s Iranian Presidential election, Mohammad Asgari allegedly released results showing that the Iranian government used new software to rig the results in favor of Ahmadinejad. After a mysterious car accident, Mr. Asgari is now dead.
Mohammad Asgari worked for the Iranian Interior Ministry to protect the security of their IT network. Officially President Ahmadinejad received two thirds of the vote with around 24.5 million votes, while his closest rival, Mir Hassein Mousavi, received over 13 million votes. According to figures leaked by Asgari, President Ahmadinejad came in third.
Hundreds of thousands of Iranians are in the streets demanding liberty. Officially 37 have been killed: shot in the streets and in their dorm rooms. Iranians are standing up to the Mullahs. They are standing up for freedom and they are being killed.
These are not people who were promised a day in the park for a free rock concert, sausages and beer. These are people who are risking everything to go against an evil theocracy. It is no longer simply a matter of candidates, the Mullahs are in real danger of losing their power, and they know it. (more…)
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Dear Mr. President, Please Don’t Kill My Kids
by Chris BurgardOn Dec. 12, 1974, my grandparents were driving home when a vehicle traveling 50 miles per hour hit them. On March 17, 2002, I was driving home when a vehicle driving traveling 50 miles per hour hit me.
My grandparents were killed instantly. I lived. My grandparents were driving an AMC Gremlin. I was driving a Dodge 3500 diesel dually pickup truck.
AMC is now out of business. Dodge Trucks are still selling well. The free market decided that we didn’t need AMC Gremlins.
I still drive a Dodge dually. We factor in safety versus miles per gallon on every automobile purchase that my wife and I make. Devo could not have said it better: “Freedom of Choice…It’s what you want!” Freedom to choose is a basic American right. Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness are guaranteed to me and 299,999,999 other Americans by the Constitution. (more…)
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The Russians, Arabs, Drug Cartels and our Southern Border
by Chris BurgardOn June 3rd Sara Carter and the Washington Times reported, “Al-Qaeda Eyes Anthrax Attack On U.S from Mexico.” The story is based on an Al-Qaeda recruitment video first broadcast back in February on Al Jazeera. In it, Kuwaiti dissident Abdullah al-Nafisi tells a roomful of people that Al-Qaeda is currently casing the U.S. border with Mexico to see how they could smuggle weapons through border tunnels and into the U.S. (Relax fellas, you don’t need to crawl through tunnels. I can show you whole unguarded roads that go across the river and into the U.S. … unless you really like crawling.)
[Click to enlarge]
Border Ranchers and Texas Law Enforcement have been warning of such a threat for years. For a long while now, ranchers and sheriffs have been reporting incidents of Middle Eastern human smuggling. For some Texas ranchers, stumbling upon Somalis, Eritreans, Bangladeshis or Iraqis is no longer surprising. Zapata County Sheriff Sigfried Gonzales had to reach out to the Israeli Mossad in order to identify Jihadist mercenary patches that were sewn into the inside of clothing recovered in the Texas brush. (more…)
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Swine Flu, Fences and Farces
by Chris BurgardI just saw Sen. Joe Lieberman on Fox News. He wanted to explore the possibility of closing off the Southern Border with Mexico as a safety precaution while the US got a handle on the Swine Flu situation. The World Health Organization had just upped the health threat to 5 out of a possible 6. Vice President Joe Biden was on national television telling America that he would not let his family travel on an airplane. However, the Obama administration would not even entertain the idea of discussing border closure.
Could that possibly have anything to do with the fact that today Chuck Schumer, Harry Reid, Patrick Leahy and President Obama are steaming full speed ahead with a new push for comprehensive immigration reform? Sen. Lieberman expressed his hope that DHS Secretary Napolitano would at least keep the idea on her radar if the situation turned into a pandemic. (more…)
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Cyber Attacks and Our Southern Border
by Chris Burgard
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that computer spies have broken into the Pentagon’s $300 billion Joint Strike Fighter program – the Defense Department’s costliest weapons program ever – according to current and former government officials, familiar with the attacks. Former US officials say the attacks originated in China, although they are difficult to track.
Perhaps this doesn’t qualify as an open act of war, but it would be hard to term it “friendly espionage.”
At the same time the Pentagon is fending off cyber attacks from China, Texas ranchers are experiencing the continuing flow of human trafficking from mainland China. (more…)
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Dear Mr. President: Send Us Your Junk and the Texans Will Stand Tall!
by Chris BurgardThe first time you face armed, foreign troops on American soil, something inside you changes. You experience a cold, hard sensation deep in your core. There is an internal shift as the reality sinks in that despite having the strongest military in the world, there are Americans who are not safe on their home soil.
Obama and Mexican President Calderón
I experienced that shift on a cold October night in 2005, when, at a distance of approximately 21 yards, we filmed armed, uniformed soldiers escorting a mule train into the United States.
Guardsmen from Tennessee experienced it in the same location 15 months later when soldiers from Mexico advanced on their observation post. The foreign troops twice attempted to flank the Guardsmen. The Guardsmen were twice ordered to observe and fall back until reinforcements arrived. (more…)
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We the People Will Power this Country
by Chris BurgardThe nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’ – Ronald Reagan.
My ancestor Francis Lightfoot Lee, signed his name on the Declaration of Independence. Let me tell you what – I pay a lot more in taxes than Uncle Francis ever did. If he’s up there in Heaven looking down on all of us American taxpaying citizens, he’s probably thinking, “What the hell are you guys doing? This kind of taxation without representation is not what we intended. This is not why we made America. This isn’t the legacy that we wanted to leave for our children.”
On my Dad’s side, Great Grandpa Frank was a farmer who lived in an enclave of Germans and Jews in Odessa, Russia. He fled Russia and came to America in order to escape the Communists. I know Grandpa Frank is up there watching us even now….and he’s probably thinking: “Gott in Himmel. Vas es los?” (more…)
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Adrianna Powell and the Power of Grassroots Film
by Chris Burgard
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.” — John Adams
My dad was a cop who believed that too often the difference between an inmate and a productive citizen was merely a lack of guidance, motivation and opportunity. Dad spent the last ten years of his life creating law enforcement programs targeted towards troubled and at risk youth. He often said, “If I can reach them now, I won’t have to arrest them later.”
Four years ago Sheriff Arvin West assigned Sgt. Robert Wilson, Special Operations Officer for Hudspeth County Sheriff’s Department, to handle the annual Drug Awareness program for the county schools. Let me tell you, my dad would have been Sgt. Wilson’s biggest fan. (more…)
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Call Me Chris
by Chris BurgardThey call me Chris.
When I first came to Hollywood as a ballet dancer in 1985, it felt good. This town was a breath of fresh air. This was a town where all things were possible and no one was too weird. You could sit down in any bar or any coffee house and have the coolest conversations with the most interesting people till closing time. Creativity was king and differing views were encouraged. So I thought. So I still hope.
See, even when I wore tights for a living I still believed in God and I still owned guns. Back then I thought that just made me an American. Twenty-three years later, and after I made the film: “Border,” I discovered that it makes me one of “them”: one of the few minorities in Hollywood that still face discrimination….the ideologues that dare not speak their name……a conservative!! Trust me when I tell you that I get more dirty looks walking into a Hollywood party in Wranglers and a cowboy hat than I did when I was jete’ing my way across the deep South. (more…)
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