From Elon’s editing suites to “The Daily Show” and “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” award-winning producer Nick Dyer ‘11 has followed audiences across platforms. As head of digital programming and development at Ampersand, he now develops series designed to live where viewers already watch.
Nick Dyer ‘11 ended his five-year run at “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” with Jimmy Fallon locked inside a glass box.
A five-minute clock was counting down. Fallon’s challenge was to lift Thor’s hammer before time ran out. MrBeast watched from outside the box, and Chris Hemsworth arrived as Thor to smash the glass and save the day.
The setup was ridiculous by design. Dyer and his team had started with a simple question: What kind of challenge could bring together MrBeast’s oversized videos, Hemsworth’s history as Thor and Fallon’s willingness to play along?
For Dyer, the segment worked because it did more than copy something popular online. It gave “The Tonight Show” its own way into the joke.
“We never really did trendy content just because everyone else was doing it,” Dyer said. “What is our spin on it? What is our story? How can we subvert people’s expectations?”
Dyer has been asking versions of those questions since his time at Elon. He arrived on campus already interested in broadcast, having focused his college search on communications programs. As a broadcast and new media major, he learned how an idea moved from a script to a finished piece.
Professors Staci Saltz and Thomas Nelson gave him room to work across writing, videography, photography, editing and directing. In the studio and in the field, he learned how to build a project “soup to nuts.”
“They really allowed me to flex my creative muscles,” Dyer said. “I learned all aspects of media production and strategy. That was pretty formative for me.”
He graduated in 2011 as digital video was beginning to change the television business. Dyer started in digital operations at TV Land, then moved to Comedy Central, producing online content for programs including “South Park,” “Key & Peele” and “Nathan For You.”
The platforms were still developing their identities as places to watch video, which gave Dyer room to test ideas and learn what worked. He credits his early progress to an eagerness to take on assignments beyond his job description.
“I never said no to an opportunity,” Dyer said. “I had a drive to continue to push the envelope, learn more and become better every day.”
In 2015, he joined the team building the digital presence of “The Daily Show” as Trevor Noah became host. The group had the chance to establish a new voice, try original formats and respond to the news with the speed of an online newsroom.
One of those formats was “Between the Scenes,” which captured Noah talking with the studio audience during commercial breaks. Dyer helped launch and produce the digital series, and the team won a 2017 Creative Arts Emmy Award for outstanding short-form variety series.
The series grew from a culture in which writers, producers, correspondents and members of the digital team could all shape an idea. Dyer remembers Trevor Noah telling the staff that a good idea could come from anyone, whether it came from an intern, a writer or a producer.
“A great idea really can come from anywhere and anyone,” Dyer said. “Share, bounce things off each other and engage with your team. Through collaboration, the best ideas will come.”
That lesson followed him to “The Tonight Show” in 2021. Dyer joined as head of digital while the show was still navigating pandemic-era production and remote guests. As performers and live audiences returned to Studio 6B, he began expanding the show’s digital originals, videos made specifically for people watching online rather than repackaged television clips.
His team worked with nearly every part of the show. They collaborated with writers, segment producers, talent bookers, NBC press, marketing, and the larger staff and crew at the show to turn an appearance into something that could connect beyond the television broadcast.
Dyer approached each idea “fan first.” Before the cameras rolled, he wanted the team to understand the audience, the guest and the platform where the video would land. A TikTok video should feel natural on TikTok, he said, but it should still sound and look like “The Tonight Show.”
During Dyer’s tenure, he said, the show’s following across digital platforms grew from just over 50 million to more than 100 million. The show generated 50 billion views during his five years there. He points to those numbers as a team accomplishment, shared by Fallon and the people working across the production.
Leading that growth also changed how Dyer viewed his own role. He began paying closer attention to what each person on his team could become instead of limiting people to the jobs they had been hired to do. Delegating decisions and tasks gave younger producers room to grow and freed him to keep learning.
By the time he left the show in February 2026, Dyer felt confident that the team could continue without him. That made the timing right for another shift.
He joined Ampersand, the production company founded by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, as head of digital programming and development. The move has taken him from building digital extensions of established television programs to developing series from their earliest ideas. His current work includes “Celebrity Substitute”, a YouTube series where some of the world’s most recognizable stars step in as teachers for unsuspecting public school students.
Dyer sees that move as part of television’s future. A series no longer needs to begin with a network time slot and find an online audience later. It can start on YouTube and reach viewers directly, without asking them to change their habits.
“A show is only good if people watch it,” Dyer said. “I want to meet people where they already are.”
The screens and platforms keep changing. His reason for making the work has remained simple: to give people something that brings them joy or laughter.
For Elon students hoping to enter the industry, Dyer’s advice is equally direct. Do not wait for perfect equipment, the perfect idea or the most recognizable company name. He remembers carrying a BlackBerry as a student; today, students have a 4K camera in their pockets and an immediate way to share what they make.
“Just start making things,” Dyer said. “Start creating. You’ve got to start somewhere. Make things that you’re passionate about, and let your passion guide you.”