Valley, Nebraska, native Kyle Wullschleger is in Eagle Creek, Oregon, renovating his version of an idyllic dream home. He’s been flying back and forth from New York City to the small rural town for the past two years when his demanding career as a cinematographer allows.
This idyllic home comes with goats. The self-described “animal lover” rescued 15 of them, and they are scattered across the eight-acre property.
“My neighbor kind of talked me into it when I moved out here,” Wullschleger admitted. “He does the same thing. He's connected to a rescue organization, and he has, like, 30-something goats. He’s an animal lover, and I was so pleased to move next to somebody else that loves animals.”
Wullschleger’s love of animals started early, and by the time he was in high school, he’d landed an internship at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo with aspirations of being a zookeeper. Although it evolved into a part-time job, he eventually realized he didn’t want a career that involved shoveling manure half the day.
“You’re kind of an animal janitor,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t want to take away from the other parts of what it is, but it’s so much cleaning.”
Drawing from his passion for nature documentaries like “Wild Kingdom” and National Geographic films, Wullschleger pivoted and decided to focus on filmmaking and photography. His initial experience came from an unexpected place: Omaha Public Power District.
“A friend of a friend also worked in that department, and he was like, ‘Yeah, they have internships available,’” he remembered. “And I think at the time, it was like a $15 an hour journalism internship. So in 2008, it was just like, ‘Oh, wow, this is amazing.’”
Wullschleger was tasked with writing stories about promotions and other internal events happening at OPPD. One day, he expressed interest in filming a story to the company’s communications director, Gary Williams, who happily obliged. The first attempt was a resounding success, and several more followed.
“They pulled a budget together for us,” he explained. “We got cameras and an editing station and turned their internal news into a video weekly. They allowed my friend Django and I to make comedy videos about making green power choices based on the Sonic commercials at the time.”
From there, Wullschleger started working with Bill Sitzmann and Scott Drickey at Minorwhite Studios, a digital photography studio, which led to a stint with Drickey's film production company Torchwerks from 2009 to 2012.
But the universe had bigger plans. After a six-month pit-stop in Boston, Wullschleger relocated to New York City, where his career truly began to take shape. Now with credits on television shows—such as “Broad City,” “Saturday Night Live,” “Chopped,” “Russian Doll,” and, more recently, the Hulu series “Only Murders in the Building” starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez—Wullschleger is a seasoned cinematographer. But getting to do camera work on “Saturday Night Live” felt like a pivotal moment.
“It was unbelievable,” he said. “The first skit I got to work on was ‘The Beygency’ about Beyoncé fans. When you go to New York, it matters so much to people that I’m calm, kind, and inquisitive. They enjoyed working with me.
“I think I’m good at my job, but often I’m a good hang. A big part of my job is to utilize all those wonderful skills my parents gave me from Omaha of being kind.”
By nurturing those relationships, Wullschleger often finds himself in the same room with some of his heroes—including Martin and Short, two comedic geniuses renowned for their illustrious careers.
“Because I was working as a camera operator on season two and building those relationships, both Steve and Martin were really comfortable with me. Selena, too,” he said. “When I transferred over for season three to be the director of photography, it was pretty seamless.”
At 37 years old, Wullschleger is likely looking at a long, fruitful future, although he’s already accomplished so much in over a decade.
“I’m super proud of the work that I’ve done in comedy,” he said. “I think sometimes when you are a director of photography, when you’re a cinematographer, I think a lot of people want to be working on Christopher Nolan films and working with those big directors. I would love to do that as well, but at the same time, I’m so, so happy to be exactly where I am.”
Until “Only Murders in the Building” begins filming season five in January, Wullschleger will take care of his 15 goats and whatever other animals are roaming the grounds of his Oregon home—which may or may not include scooping up some poop.
For more information, visit imdb.com.
This article originally appeared in the January/February 2025 issue of Omaha Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
