Building on the inspiration of master film-makers Quentin Tarantino and David Zucker, Adam Will is embarking on his own film career. He’s already produced a couple of creative short films and has several in production.
Adam just graduated from Southern Methodist University (SMU) with a Bachelor of Arts in Cinema/Television. He was one of only three students in his field to receive the Meadows School of the Arts Honors for Scholarly Achievement. Recipients are honored based on grade point average and professor selection for outstanding achievement.
He joined Axiom as an intern following his high school graduation in June 2006 and we were so impressed we asked him back again after his freshman year at SMU. Adam got to exercise his creative energy with a major role in the creation of a “day in the life” video about our great, Great Dane mascot, Ruling Duke.
“Axiom afforded me the first opportunity to work closely within my field,” said Adam. “My two summers at Axiom gave me a competitive edge in school because I was actually working with professionals and using the latest tools and techniques to cut up animations. They had enough confidence in me to put to work on some pretty complex client animation projects.”
Growing up in a very left-brained family, Adam was drawn to the artistic inspiration and support of his grandfather. While working in tourism, his grandfather stoked his own artistic fires by teaching art classes, including Adam whenever he could.
From the start, Adam expressed his creativity through film and video. He used an old family video camera to film his first movies, short comedic videos that assignments for his high school Spanish class. And his passion for film has only deepened.
After his sophomore year, Adam took an internship with VT2, a Houston-based video studio where he gained valuable experience as a production assistant. “At VT2 I got to do everything from filing to rigging lights to being a general set gopher,” Adam recalled. “I actually got to work on a Wendy’s commercial, and a music video for a local rapper, where I was production assistant and stage manager.”
His third internship took him to Los Angeles (LA) to work with Fox Sports’ Fuel TV, a channel devoted to action sports including skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding, among other extreme sports. “Living and working in LA was a real eye-opener, we only thought Houston traffic was bad. Traffic aside, it was incredible participating in the production multiple TV shows,” said Adam.
Adam shot his first short film using his Dad’s 16mm Bolex camera, circa 1960, on a really tight budget (just $2,000), starring one of his friends. His next film, “Number One Fan,” is nearly complete. This time out, he worked with a slightly larger budget and professional actors. Check out the trailer up top.
Now graduated with honors with solid internship experience on his resume, Adam is in the process of moving to LA this summer to pursue his dream full-time. He is already interviewing with a variety of companies.
Adam still visits Houston and he drops in to keep us posted on his progress. With his creative energy drawing him ever closer to his dream, the Axiom team can’t wait to say, “We knew him when.”
