2025-12-02T17:29:48.661Z
Ken Burns agreed to let Apple use his photo panning style in iMovie for $1 million worth of equipment.
Steve Jobs proposed naming the Mac feature after Burns’ filmmaking technique, and he initially said no.
The feature is still present on Apple devices today.
Ken Burns almost told Steve Jobs no to naming a popular iMovie feature after him.
The documentary filmmaker received a call from Jobs, inviting him to visit Apple’s headquarters in 2002. Burns initially didn’t believe it was really Jobs on the other end of the line. However, the call was real, and the pair met in Silicon Valley to discuss a new feature that would come to Mac computers the following year.
Jobs proposed that the feature, introduced with iMovie 3, would be called “The Ken Burns Effect,” named after Burns’ famous style of panning and zooming in on photos. Burns, a self-proclaimed Luddite, said no at first.
“I said, ‘I don’t do commercial endorsements,’ and he said, ‘What?'” Burns said in an interview with GQ, published Monday.
Despite his initial reluctance, Jobs and Burns worked out a deal that led to Apple handing over $1 million worth of computer equipment and software, which Burns said he mostly donated.
“I do admit that one or two computers stayed,” Burns said. He said he didn’t work with computers before the deal was struck.
While his signature style is typically used in his historical documentary work to bring photos to life, Burns highlighted how it is now also used to preserve memories of weddings, bar mitzvahs, and vacations on iPhones.
“It’s a kind of a wonderful but still superficial version of a very elaborate attempt on our part to try to wake up the past and make an image that is not alive come alive,” Burns said.
