Ned Hockman

Charles Nedwin "Ned" Hochman began his motion picture career as a combat cameraman during World War II with the U.S. Army Air Corps Motion Picture Production Unit. Housed in the old Hal Roach Studios, Hochman helped to photograph hundreds of training films under the supervision of unit commander Ronald Reagan. Later, Hochman would go afield to photograph the hellish fighting conditions in the Burma-China Theater of Operations, rubbing elbows with Stillwell's Raiders and photographing the first instance of medical evacuation via helicopter, deep in the Burmese jungle. Upon return to civilian life, Hochman helped to establish film production studies at the University of Oklahoma; became a charter member of the University Film and Video Association; directed Stark Fear (1962), his first and only feature-length motion picture, and became a leading proponent of luring "runaway" film productions to Oklahoma. Many working motion picture professionals (around the world, as well in Oklahoma) can trace their roots back to this man and acknowledge him as a great teacher and true friend.