The Story of Carson Vance

I didn’t grow up around filmmaking.

I grew up in a small town in West Virginia where most people were focused on sports, hard work, and service. For most of my life, sports were everything to me. I spent years training, competing, and pushing myself on the field, and like a lot of kids in small towns, that was the path I thought I would stay on.

But life has a way of changing direction when you least expect it.

After my second ACL tear, I was forced to step away from sports completely. It was a difficult moment for me because so much of my identity had been tied to athletics. Suddenly, the thing I had poured years of energy into was no longer an option, and I had to figure out what came next.

That moment forced me to explore new interests and hobbies — things I had never really considered before.

That’s when I picked up a camera.

At first, it was just curiosity. I wanted to learn something new and find a creative outlet. But the more I filmed and experimented, the more I realized there was something special about storytelling through video. It allowed me to capture moments, document people, and tell stories in a way that felt meaningful.

What started as a simple hobby quickly turned into something much bigger.

Filmmaking gave me a new perspective on the world around me. I began noticing the stories everywhere — the small businesses, the artists, the creators, the people building things in their communities. These were stories that often went unnoticed, but they mattered.

Around the same time, I also committed to serving my country and joined the United States Air Force. Serving has taught me discipline, leadership, and the importance of purpose — lessons that carry over into everything I do, including filmmaking.

Over time, the idea for Wayfarer Studios began to take shape.

I realized that I didn’t just want to make videos. I wanted to document the people who were building things — the creators, entrepreneurs, artists, and leaders who were shaping their communities.

That vision is what led me to start Wayfarer Studios.

Today, the mission is simple: tell the stories behind the work.

Whether it’s documenting creative collaborations, filming projects, or launching the documentary series The Builders of West Virginia, the goal remains the same — to capture the process behind what people are building and share those stories with others.

Looking back, it’s strange to think that an injury that once felt like the end of something ended up opening the door to an entirely new path.

Sometimes the things that force us to slow down are the same things that push us toward what we’re meant to do.

And for me, that path led to a camera and a passion for telling stories.