Bill Gardner oversees the acquisition, development and production of historical, cultural, current and world events, natural history and science programming for the PBS Primetime schedule as Vice President, Programming and Development.

Before joining PBS, Mr. Gardner was executive producer at Discovery Studios, where he developed projects in the reality, lifestyle and science genres. He also oversaw national productions including Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl and served as show runner on Science Channel’s Human Nature with Dan Riskin.

Prior to Discovery, he spent over a decade in the independent production world as director, producer, writer and show runner on programs for multiple networks, including Digging for the Truth on the History Channel, Treasure Quest and Solving History on Discovery, CNN Presents and Explorer for National Geographic.

Mr. Gardner has produced in over 30 countries, including spending two months embedded with US Special Forces investigating the looting of the Baghdad museum. During this time he was also the first Westerner allowed to film inside the holy Shi’i Shrines of Hussein and Abbas in Karbala. 

Before entering television, Mr. Gardner performed anthropological fieldwork among Arab expatriates in the United States, in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon and among Muslim Sufi mystics in Marrakech, Morocco, as well as in the world of crack cocaine addiction in the US Virgin Islands. He is a member of the board of CINE and has a Masters Degree in cultural anthropology.

Speaking on: Luncheon Roundtables (12:30pm-1:45pm)