When this straight-forward engineering series about abandoned structures first came across Kyle’s desk, the internal mandate was to restructure it in a way to imbue it with mystery. To transform this series into the break-out hit that it went on to become, Kyle worked closely with the producers to redevelop the series concept and overall execution… thus creating compelling mysteries and heightening the dramatic stakes of each abandoned facility. Under Kyle’s direction, Mysteries of the Abandoned became the #1 series on the network… and went on to air on the flagship network Discovery.

Kyle served as the liaison between the production company and Discovery’s broadcast engineers, supervising all technical aspects of transmissions from the broadcast trucks through to the edits. On the creative side, Kyle oversaw five live feeds and ran nine crash edits in a terrifyingly tight time frame. With about 10 minutes before air, we got this in-depth science special—replete with numerous science discoveries made that day—to the broadcast center for its 9pm airing on the night of the 2017 eclipse. This beat PBS’s competitor doc to air, and became the network’s highest rated special of the year.

As is the case with many shows, the difficulty with this concept was “why?” As cool and intriguing as urban exploration is (especially at this truly haunting place), Chernobyl is “old news.” So, Kyle worked very closely with the production company to develop a new angle on this disaster for the talent to investigate: namely, the possibility that the USSR had covert plans to develop Chernobyl into a nuclear weapons facility. With this new approach, the talent had a genuine cause to revisit and explore this wasteland. And the evidence and perspective discovered was not just compelling, it was truly mind-blowing.

As Jimmy Fallon’s “pet scientist” on The Tonight Show, Kevin Delaney was a quirky science and entertainment talent waiting to happen. And in slow-motion cinematographer Darren Dyk, Kyle found an equally unconventional sidekick whose stunning camerawork revealed the fascinating science behind Kevin’s kooky science demos. Under Kyle’s direction, the series surpassed ratings expectations, went on to be renewed, and earned a CableFax nomination.

Like many first series, Alaska Mega Machines had huge potential: great access to compelling characters and unusual machines tackling the landscape in a place that viewers love… Alaska. But the problem lied in the stakes. The work was all “routine” for the characters, and thus lacked a sense of importance. So, Kyle closely worked with the production company to determine and articulate how and why these machines made a difference to the local communities they served. And the result was a series that surpassed ratings expectations.