Bill Gardner is an acclaimed executive producer, director, writer and global media strategist with more than 25 years shaping premium doc films, series and multiplatform storytelling across genres. The creator, commissioner or producer of multiple Emmy, Peabody, DuPont-Columbia, BAFTA, RTS and Grierson Award–winning programs, he has a deep track record of collaboration with broadcasters, streamers, NGOs and cultural institutions around the world.Before becoming a filmmaker he was a cultural anthropologist, conducting fieldwork from the Caribbean to the Middle East and North Africa- a foundation that continues to shape his character-led, emotionally resonant storytelling with global perspective.Prior to founding Ocean Rock Studios, Gardner spent more than a decade as VP of Multiplatform Programming and Head of Development for PBS guiding content strategy, development and production across History, Science, Natural History and Arts & Culture. He developed, commissioned or executive produced hundreds of hours of premium factual programming, contributing to PBS’s rise from the 12th- to the 6th-most-watched network in the United States.At the heart of Gardner’s work is a clear ethic: we are of the world, not apart from it. His storytelling situates human experience within the sweep of Earth’s ecologies, histories, and cultures— highlighting the power we hold to grasp our past and shape our present and future. Known for visual beauty and narrative ambition, his work touches audiences across broadcast, streaming, digital and cross-platform experiences.At PBS, he spearheaded the network’s landmark climate, biodiversity, and planetary-health initiative, now comprising over 200 hours of blue-chip content across linear and digital broadcast, social media, educational curricula and global public impact. He also co-created PBS Creative Voices, a fellowship program providing fully funded employment for emerging creators across the system.Gardner helped launch and oversaw the influential PBS/BBC co-production partnership with BBC Studios and BBC Factual, bringing dozens of award-winning global series to U.S. audiences and revitalizing factual formats. He also forged major partnerships with National Geographic, The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, NASA and the United Nations, and led PBS’s multiyear role as U.S. Broadcast Partner for The Earthshot Prize, Prince William’s global initiative supporting scalable environmental solutions. After leaving PBS in early 2024, he continued with The Earthshot Prize as Senior Storyteller and creative advisor.In collaboration with Netflix, Gardner developed and executive produced the 6-part series Human and executive produced the acclaimed I, Sniper for Vice TV, built around rare first-person interviews with perpetrator Lee Boyd Malvo from his prison cell. Notable arts and cultural projects include Fight the Power (with EP Chuck D), Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland, and expansive series on art, literature, and music such as Civilizations II, Basquiat- Rage to Riches and American Epic (with EPs Robert Redford and Jack White).His teams have filmed in over 100 countries, on every continent, in every ocean and even in space. During Operation Desert Storm in 2003, he spent two months embedded with U.S. Special Forces investigating the looting of Baghdad’s Iraq Museum, recovering priceless cultural treasures and becoming the first Westerner to film inside the sacred Shi’a shrines of Abbas and Hussein in Karbala.Gardner serves on multiple advisory boards and is Chairperson Emeritus of Jackson Wild Summit, the “Oscars for Nature,” the world’s leading wildlife and conservation media festival.