Erik Ewers has been working with Ken Burns and supervising editor Paul Barnes since 1990, getting his start as an apprentice editor on Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio. A communications major at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Erik got his opportunity when Paul bought his aunt and uncle’s house: “I was thrown into the purchase and sales agreement – Paul wanted the window treatments and carpets, and my aunt and uncle wanted their nephew to be given an opportunity. They got my foot in the door, and it was up to me to keep it there.”

Erik has kept his foot in Ken’s door for almost 21 straight years, working in some capacity on almost every single one of Ken’s films since The Civil War: as an associate film editor on Baseball; a music producer and head of Florentine’s sound department for Thomas Jefferson; a co-editor on Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery; editor on Episodes Four and Seven of Jazz; editor on Mark Twain; editor on Horatio’s Drive: America’s First Road Trip; editor on Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson; picture and sound editor on Episodes Two, Three and Six of The War; picture and sound editor on The National Parks; editor on Episode Two of The Tenth Inning of Baseball; picture and sound editor on Episode Two of Prohibition; and picture and sound editor on Episodes Three and Five or The Age of the Roosevelts, still in production

With Ken’s support, Erik has also started a production company of his own called YourStory Productions (www.yourstoryfilms.com), where he creates films, advertising, and promotional videos for the general public in a similar documentary film style.

Acknowledgments:
1997:  National ACE Award Nominee, Lewis and Clark, Outstanding Editing
2001:  Emmy Award Nominee, Jazz, Dedicated to Chaos, Outstanding Editing
2004:  Emmy Award Nominee, Unforgivable Blackness, Outstanding Sound Editing
2004:  Emmy Award, Unforgivable Blackness, Outstanding Non-Fiction Program Series
2008:  Emmy Award Recipient, The War, Outstanding Sound Effects Editing
2010:  Emmy Award Nominee, The National Parks, Outstanding Sound Effects Editing
2010:  Emmy Award, The National Parks, Outstanding Non-Fiction Program Series