Programming veteran Ron Hull details his first production

Here's an interesting video interview from the collegiate News Net Nebraska with longtime pubcaster Ron Hull, a passionate advocate for cultural and historical programming who helped start American Experience. In the interview, Hull recalls his first foray into television. It was in the Army, just after the Korean War armistice was signed in 1953. While stationed in Oklahoma, Hull was approached by a general looking for someone to produce a half-hour show. "He said, 'What do you know about TV?'" Hull recalled. "I didn't even have a set." Hull went to the local library and researched scriptwriting, then called the local TV station. "I don't know what cameras can do," he told an engineer. "It's easy," was the reply. His show -- "I made it up out of whole cloth" -- featured the 87th Army band and interviews with soldiers just back from the conflict. His career went on to include 47 years at the University of Nebraska’s public TV network, as well as a stint as director of the CPB Television Program Fund. Since his retirement in 2002, adventures have kept him busy: He just returned from a tour through the Himalayas in a Toyota Landcruiser. Hull turns 80 years old in May.