Nicholas Dyer ’11, senior producer for the late-night Comedy Central program, was honored with colleagues on Sept. 9 at the Creative Arts Emmy Award show in Los Angeles.
For the past two years, the online content produced by Nicholas Dyer ’11 and the digital expansion team at “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” has garnered countless clicks, likes and shares. Now the team must start tracking a new figure: Emmy wins.
The Sept. 9 show, which was devoted primarily to unscripted, variety and documentary programming, was the first of two Creative Arts Emmys shows this year.
“I wasn’t nervous, but I couldn’t tell you what was said during the acceptance speech or how long we were on stage,” he said. “It all felt so surreal; definitely one the crazier moments of my career.”
While “The Daily Show” has a long history of Emmy success, it is the first time the digital expansion team and Dyer’s collaborative works have received television’s highest honor. It was also the first Emmy award for host Trevor Noah, a point of pride for Dyer.
“For me, the highlight of the night was being recognized for all of our hard work over the past two years,” Dyer said. “We have a big team and a lot of work goes into producing the show day in and day out. Trevor and the entire digital expansion team at ‘The Daily Show’ are some of the most talented people in the business.”
Propelled by these creative minds, the comedy show has continued to stand out in a crowded late-night space. “We’re the most engaging late-night show online (total engagement on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and people are really starting to take notice,” Dyer said. “We’re building off of our past successes and continue to lead the conversation online.”
Other television critics and organizations have also taken notice of the show’s successful multiplatform efforts. In addition to the Emmy Award, the program won a 2017 Shorty Award, presented at an annual show that honors the best content creators and producers on social media. The team’s entry, “The Daily Show: When was America Great,” was recognized in the “Best Use of Humor” category.
“When I started working for ‘The Daily Show,’ we were a new team on a new show with a new host. We were experimenting with a variety of formats and strategies, while also trying to figure out the voice of the show,” Dyer said. “A big part of my job back then was making sure we were producing and putting out the best content from each episode to introduce Trevor to the world. Now that we’re two years and over 300 episodes in, we’ve become more of a newsroom that operates like a comedy show. We’ve expanded our production and we’re creating original content on every platform as news breaks and events unfold.”
Since his Elon graduation, Dyer hasn’t been afraid to change course and challenge himself. Following a year at Lenoir-Rhyne University as a multimedia producer, he worked in digital operations for TV Land in New York City, before landing at Comedy Central. Prior to “The Daily Show,” Dyer produced digital content for some of the channel’s most prominent shows, including “South Park,” “Tosh.0” and “Nathan For You.”
“My advice for current students looking to break into the entertainment industry is to focus on finding job opportunities that are out of your comfort zone,” he said. “Experience is the most important ingredient for a successful career, even more so than landing that big flashy job right after graduation.”
As for Elon, Dyer credits his alma mater for providing him numerous outlets to explore his creativity, including directing, producing, writing, filming and editing.
“Elon provided me the opportunity to learn every aspect of the entertainment industry,” he said. “My time at Elon really helped shape who I am today, and I have Elon to thank for giving me a foundation to succeed.”