#002: My Adventure with the American Revolution Series by Ken Burns (and meeting him in person)

Watched the 6-part PBS Documentary on the American Revolution by Ken Burns. I also met him in person at the Telluride Film Festival last year, at the launch event of this series. This is the story.

In September 2025 my wife and I attended the Telluride Film Festival—an annual tradition always full of excitement and adventure. We never enter with a plan, outside of knowing we’ll watch the outdoor movie on Saturday night. The main goal is to keep our plans open in terms of what we’ll watch until we arrive and review the physical program.

I love the entire experience, as it always brings a sense of adventure and discovery. 2025 was even more special. We reviewed the program and saw that Ken Burns was in town, launching The American Revolution series. I instantly knew that was the film I wanted to see most. I thought it would surely be in line with his other greats such as the Civil War series, Thomas Jefferson series, and many others.

Speaking of Thomas Jefferson, just a few weeks after our experience in Telluride, we visited Monticello in Virginia. I had a chance to tour Jefferson’s home and it turned out that Ken Burns was also there in 2025, so that was another point of connection between this experience and the overall adventure. It’s weird how things come together. You can hear the tour guide in this video as he mentions how Ken Burns was in attendance at the July 4th celebrations that year.

Anyway, I love watching Ken Burns’ documentaries because they always educate and reveal things in way a history buff like me can’t get out of a thick book. In fact, the historians who write the books I read are usually featured for much of his documentaries, explaining battles, figures, and locations in detail. I could spend a decade reading dozens of their books and would never get to the overall level of combined understanding that these long documentary series provide visually.

Random idea - maybe AI will allow us to put books into a chat, and generate a Ken Burns style documentary, but we’re not there yet!

I definitely didn’t expect that I’d meet Ken Burns—a producer who has influenced me quite a bit through his documentaries over the past few decades. One of which was the National Parks: America’s Best Idea documentary, which partly inspired my passion for touring our national parks.

But that’s what happened. After fly fishing a local river that morning, we coordinated our entire plan that Saturday around waiting in line to be the first group allowed entrance into the Masonic Hall Theatre (calm down conspiracy theorists). We stood in the baking high-elevation sun for about an hour, then finally the velvet ropes were removed, and we were allowed in. Thus began our adventurous ascent up the creaky, Victorian-era stairwell.

As we walked into the musty theater, I began thinking, “wait, he might actually be here. I hope I can meet him.” Sure enough, before they played Part 3 of the 6-part series, up walked Ken Burns to the front, and he began educating us about the behind the scenes dynamics of the documentary IN PERSON. Very cool experience.

Here’s his edited intro:

After the documentary ended, I needed to make a restroom stop. As I was about to open the door, I heard a group walking behind me. I turned around and saw it was him. This was my opportunity. I introduced myself and called my wife over.

The gist of our conversation:

“Hi Mr. Burns - I’m Dane, thank you for the film today and all your others. Especially the one on the National Parks.” as I shook his hand.

He kindly responded, “Thanks, nice to meet you!”

I went on, “In fact, my wife and I…” as I waved her into to the conversation, “we have visited over 55 National Parks so far.”

“That’s great!…” he proceeded to explain how a colleague of his who worked on that series was also in his group that day.

I kept going, “we were supposed to visit Isle Royale this year but didn’t reserve the boat ride in time so we’ll get it next year,” as I looked down in park logistics shame.

He chuckled and responded joyfully with a brief story on how there is an island within island on the island of Isle Royale. He also took me off guard when he pronounced it “Royal” (as in Royal-ty) after I pronounced it, “Royale” (ROY-AL). I resisted the temptation to debate pronunciation. I was probably wrong anyway—after all, he did the documentary.

Anyway, long story short, I called me wife over, introduced her, and then she snapped a photo of us together, after I took off my hat and looked like I just woke up from a long nap. Here it is:

Full Circle Moment - Watching the Series

So of course when I saw the full series was recently released, I couldn’t wait to watch it. Last week I subscribed to PBS Documentary channel on Amazon Prime, in order to watch the full American Revolution series. I wasn’t disappointed.

The stories inside the series are eye-opening, and at times it felt like I was there in the 1770’s during the revolution with George Washington designing schemes to take back New York from the Brits. I felt like I was an eyewitness to the battles, and at times wondered how we ended up winning when we had such a disadvantage.

There were even admissions by the historians that without some form of providence, it seemed physically impossible for us to win that war. It made me think of my American roots, and about the lives lost in the fight for establishing the United States.

It also made me think about leadership, and strategy, and enemies. It made me think about our country’s situation today. It made me think about how they survived without North Face jackets or today’s warm-weather gear. For example, my wife has these electric hand-warmers that we bring to outdoor events. How did they survive without those, I pondered.

But there was Washington’s army, in sub-20 degree temps in the humid northeast, crossing the Delaware River and watching their fellow soldiers literally freeze to death, before winning a decisive battle near Trenton that turned the tide…in New Jersey of all places.

Did I mention that I was born and raised in New Jersey? That made things all the more relevant as I glued into this epic saga. I wondered if they stopped for pizza during their campaign? Kidding. But seriously, there were reports that the soldiers went without food or pay for long periods, making the victorious results of the war even more improbable.

Needless to say, Ken Burns did it again. I was glued to the screen. He got me thinking. He led me on the path of discovery. And this time it was even more special as the meeting in Telluride enhanced my experience all the more.

It seems that when I least plan events, that’s when adventures and discoveries that last a lifetime are more likely to occur. Maybe my own personal revolution is to try and control outcomes less, and be open to adventure more.