Creator Stories: Featuring Kyle Gardner
As a senior in high school, Kyle Gardner was injured and couldn’t play contact sports. So he found the second best option: becoming a key stakeholder across social media accounts and creating content for teams instead.
Kyle found a camera in his house that he used to take pictures of the soccer team, and made basic score graphics using an app, both of which he would post after games. By the time basketball season rolled around, he started to take his content more seriously by learning Final Cut Pro and Photoshop. He started posting game recap videos and mini-documentaries about players, leading to a huge increase in attendance. The basketball team sold out most games, and there were even a few games where students had to be held outside because there weren’t enough seats left in the gym.
Soon after, Kyle freelanced for Excel Sports Management and shot pre-draft content for future NBA players including Mikal Bridges. Through this experience, Kyle learned how to network and develop relationships with both athletes and agents — all while still in high school.
A year later, Kyle found himself at the 2019 ESPYs on a field with Saquon Barkley and Sterling Shepard. He was there capturing content for Vayner Sports, and was admittedly starstruck considering he had both Barkley and Shepard’s jerseys in his closet. Afterwards, Barkley ended up giving Kyle his phone number, leading to Kyle filming and photographing several of his and Shepard’s workouts during the pandemic. Kyle created enough viral content from these sessions that he began to work for the NFL as a Live Content Correspondent (LCC).
At the NFL, Kyle pitched a series called “Behind the Fit”, which followed an NFL player picking their outfit for game day. He ultimately directed and filmed an episode featuring Barkley and his stylist Joshua McPhearson, and hopes to expand the series to more athletes next season. Similarly, he worked with Tom Brady upon the release of a new shirt for his company Brady Brand. Kyle would love to shoot more in the fashion space to continuing combining his interests in sports and fashion.
Kyle’s advice to fellow creators is to network as much as possible and never be afraid to shoot your shot. All of his jobs, internships, and opportunities came from messaging someone on Instagram, so always reach out, because the worst someone can say is no.
Currently, Kyle is working as a LCC for MLB. He is also filming a myriad of other projects, including a feature-length documentary that has been in production for a few years and a YouTube Reality TV show with Real Housewives star Bethenny Frankel.
Check out Kyle’s work and his social accounts below:
