Kiel is an alumnus of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, one of the most highly regarded and selective universities in the United States. Every student awarded admission into The Cooper Union receives a full tuition scholarship. Kiel is also a recent graduate of New York University’s Graduate Film Program where he was awarded a full tuition Dean’s Fellowship, was a Spike Lee Fellow, and served as Professor Spike Lee’s Graduate Teaching Assistant. After completing his academic coursework, Kiel was asked by Lee to serve as Directing Assistant on Lee’s professional projects. Kiel collaborated with Lee as a co-writer on Lee’s recent feature length film and first foray into video games, NBA 2K16’s Livin’ Da Dream, which sold over 4 Million copies in its first week alone. 

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Kiel’s personal filmic works are investigations of the psychological ramifications of being undervalued and marginalized in modern society. Addressing issues ranging from homelessness to homophobia, racial animosity to the erosion of women’s reproductive rights, Kiel’s films are ultimately about consequences of not caring for others. In addition to pursuing a career as a writer-director for feature films, Kiel is elated at the prospect of working in television as a writer, director, and one day, as a showrunner. 
 
Kiel’s latest film, SAMARIA, won a Directors Guild of America Student Film Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement and was a finalist in the 2015 Student Academy Awards. SAMARIA is a short film adaptation of Kiel’s feature length screenplay, EPILOGUE. EPILOGUE, which was an inaugural selection of the New Orleans Film Festival’s A.M.P.A.S. sponsored Emerging Voices Program, will very likely be Kiel’s theatrical motion picture debut.