BEHIND THE CAMERA
Pandemic prompts actor to work as a producer and director
Adam S. Ford has always had a hand in the creative world.
For 20-plus years, he was a sound engineer and toured with bands.
He was often asked to lend his voice to albums and narration.
As he explored voice work as a career, it was suggested that he should study acting for film.
By 2013, he was volunteering at night on film sets, while maintaining a full-time job.
“In 2017, I shifted as a full-time actor, while working part time in an office,” Ford says. “In 2019, I quit the office job, and film and TV work has become my life.”
Ford moved to Albuquerque from Denver in December, and he had only enough time to find a place to live before he had to leave the state for another production. He moved to Albuquerque when he was signed to Presley Talent and joined the Screen Actors Guild.
He quickly had to work on a project that took him out of New Mexico.
As he bounced back and forth
between projects, he slowly began to settle into his digs in Albuquerque. Then the pandemic hit.
It was than that Ford began to pivot to more voice-over work, as well as directing and producing.
“I sat on my hands for two weeks, and I lost my mind,” Ford says of the industry shutdown. “I went to the other side of the camera.”
Ford worked with Bohdi Rader on revising the “Inherited Earth” script to become a union film. The film is produced by Creepy TV.
Because the production was to take place during the pandemic, there had to be health guidelines to keep everyone safe.
“We helped them create SAG rules on our set under their guidance,” he says. “They issued us a picture number, and we got the short film finished.”
Ford looks for projects that will challenge him.
“Funny thing, it has to do with my aesthetic,” he says. “It’s the way I’m portrayed on film. The roles I get cast in, I either kill somebody or get killed. It’s fun to do, because I do it so frequently. I usually want something more than just being the bad guy.”
Ford recently appeared in the Netflix docudrama “The Social Dilemma.”
He also has narrated documentaries and has done voice characters for video games.
“In video games, I get to approach that character acting, and it’s really fun,” he says. “There are three types of voice narration: industrial, commercial and character. Each one has elements that I enjoy. Each one is a challenge.”
Ford’s father was an Air Force officer, and he bounced around a lot.
He came of age in the border town of Del Rio, Texas.
“I developed my personality there,” he says. “I worked with horses. Looking back, I was exposed to so many different cultures, music and food because we moved around a lot — everywhere from Mexico to Moscow. I bring that experience to the table as an actor, and it helps me. As an actor, I need to bring as much life experience to the table.”
In his short time in New Mexico, Ford has already teamed up with other filmmakers and joined the group Gentleman Bastards, created by Dan Mathis.
The company has produced dozens of short films and music videos. Now, with multiple filmmakers and producers involved, the company is continuing to grow by maintaining its roots in independent film, but it’s moving into more feature-length productions. It consists of Mathis, Rader, Joshua N. Melendez and Ford.
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