He was the President of Ad Hominem Enterprises, a production company he shared with Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor.
He was a founding member of Rysher Entertainment[6]—a fledgling film and television company which soon after scored a notable success with the hit syndicated TV show, Saved By The Bell.
[7] The enormous profits that show provided were immediately plowed into a small film slate, primarily for HBO.
Rysher was then bought by Cox Communications and provided with the resources to make a full slate of theatrical films.
Some of the most notable were, Primal Fear, Private Parts, Kiss the Girls, The Saint, Kingpin, Big Night, and Hard Eight.
At Ad Hominem the trio made several films including The Savages, and Oscar nominated The Descendants, starring George Clooney.
[9] Burke spent 7 months in Honolulu while making The Descendants and fell in love with Hawaii's history, culture and people.
Green Book went on to be a hit worldwide and was named best picture of the year by the academy, Golden Globes, Producers Guild and many critics organizations.