Full Sail Stories

Andrew Karr is a lifelong wrestling fan whose video production career took him from the ring to WWE, and now to a blossoming freelance business. The Digital Cinematography and Creative Writing MFA grad started wrestling on the independent circuit straight out of high school, but after several years and multiple injuries – including breaking his neck – Andrew decided to move behind the camera. After spending almost 10 years creating video content for WWE, he’s running his own production company, AKVideo, and working on everything from content for a startup wrestling company to a YouTube ghost-hunting show and beyond.

Andrew had already started filming local wrestling content in his home state of Delaware by the time injuries forced him out of the ring. Despite his existing video production experience, he couldn’t always get hired without a full bachelor’s degree. He enrolled in Full Sail’s online Digital Cinematography program to take his work to the next level, and the equipment he received in his Project LaunchBox helped him get started right away.

“Once I got my camera kit and everything from Full Sail, I was able to actually freelance for real. So I started filming weddings and for youth sports games because I had the gear,” Andrew says.

After moving to Orlando to be closer to Full Sail, Andrew started interning at the university for WWE’s weekly NXT show, which led to a temp job at the WWE Performance Center. He filmed tryouts, edited vignettes, set up shoots and events, and worked on PC Live, the center’s in-house TV series. Once the Performance Center’s Content and Innovation Lab opened, Andrew was hired in a full-time role to help create content for a new Performance Center YouTube channel.

“At every NXT show, I would interview wrestlers and film with them before and after their match, do a lot of B-roll stuff, and then create little three- to four-minute videos for the YouTube channel to build the awareness of, ‘Hey, this is what NXT is. These are the superstars of the future.’ And 90% of those wrestlers I filmed are now on the main stage of WWE,” he says.

From there, Andrew moved up the ranks and was hired as a Producer, where he traveled with Raw and SmackDown to create digital content for WWE’s main YouTube channel, the WWE Network, and Peacock. He also directed and produced a documentary that aired on Peacock called The Comeback about wrestler Tegan Nox’s journey as she bounced back from multiple knee injuries.

“I was like, ‘Tegan gets injured twice in a row. Every time she starts to reach the pinnacle, something happens. There's a story there.’ So I went to Wales with her and just filmed with her a bunch, filmed her family, filmed her surgery, filmed all this stuff. And then put together a whole doc based on her comeback, which was a great story,” Andrew recalls.

In addition to his production work, Andrew also filled in occasionally as a ring announcer. At the end of his time at WWE, Andrew got to do something that many wrestling fans only dream of: He ring announced at a WrestleMania event in 2025.

“They have matches at WWE World at WrestleMania, and I was able to announce for two matches for that last year. It was a cool experience to go out on,” he says.

Today, Andrew is building on the connections he made during his career at WWE and running his own production company, AKVideo. One of his current projects is Chamber of Horrors, a YouTube ghost-hunting show starring former WWE stars Scarlett Bordeaux and Shotzi Blackheart.

“Scarlett and Shotzi pitched a paranormal show and started it at WWE, and I was the main guy they wanted to work with on it. But once we all left WWE, Scarlett still wanted to do it. So they started their own YouTube channel, and I work with them on filming and editing [Chamber of Horrors]… We’re at more than 100,000 subscribers after only a year.”

Andrew’s also there for other WWE talent that might need a hand with videos – he shoots and edits vignettes and character pieces for their social branding and other projects – and he currently works as an Editor, Cinematographer, and Producer for several wrestling companies and a talent agency.

As Andrew continues to build his business, he relies on a quality that he’s mastered both in the ring and behind the camera: the art of the hustle.

“I love the hustle, I love the grind, I love being able to stay busy… So [my advice to students is] just always hustle. Don't turn down things just because you may not feel 100% comfortable with it… Just do it because you never know what's going to come from it.”