Story & Lesson Highlights with Adam Walls

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Adam Walls. Check out our conversation below.

Adam, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
As a Makeup Artist working in the film and television industry, I (and the broader community of film and TV workers) have been dealing with a rapidly changing job landscape. Shifting incentives, work stoppages / strikes and projects filming overseas has led to a sharp drop off in work. This has led a lot of entertainment workers to either soul search or look for other careers. For me though, I shifted my small online storefront “Off the Walls FX” from supplying fake tattoos to a YouTube channel focused on educating makeup artists and the general public about Makeup Effects.

I’ve had the YouTube channel idea in the back of my head for almost a decade but I really didn’t pull the trigger on it until recently. Honestly, I was scared to jump into it because I love film and TV but I’d much rather be behind the camera than in front of it. Plus, I was really nervous about how people would respond to me. Is my work good enough to be a good example of how this stuff works? So far though I’ve been really happy with the feedback about the channel. At the very least, It keeps my skills sharp between film projects.

Even though I’ve gotten a positive response so far, I’m still super critical of the things that I make and the makeups that I apply. Although, maybe it’s that constant self evaluation that allows us to become better artists in the end.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Adam Walls and I’m a makeup artist working within the film and television industry. I’ve worked in this field for almost 20 years.

I started out by working for of a couple of makeup effects labs in Los Angeles and New Orleans and later transited to working full time as a makeup artist on set. Once people realized that I was trustworthy, a good worker and a good makeup artist, I very quickly found myself working on some of the largest films and TV projects being produced. I found myself on such notable projects as “Roots” and “Logan” and within a few short years, I was running second unit makeup departments for films and working internationally on projects like “Black Panther”. This all lead to more opportunities in designing makeups and taking leadership positions within makeup departments. Eventually this lead to me working on “Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3” and the “Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas Special” In which the makeup department won a Children’s and Family Emmy for the makeup work on the Christmas special.

Even with all the success, the industry has faced many challenges over the past few years. Covid shut us down for 6 months and more recently, the writers and actors strike shut us down for another 6 months. Within those two work stoppages, we’ve collectively lost a years worth of salary. Making things more difficult, once work did resume, the production companies tightened their belts, many projects moved filming overseas, and there is greater competition from other states here in the US. All of this combined means that the amount of work has shrunk drastically here in GA.

This lead me to my new project, Off the Walls FX. I started this entity back during covid as an online store front to sell fake tattoos, but it never really took off the way that I had hoped. So more recently, I took the brand and shifted it into an online channel specializing in educating makeup artists and the general public about makeup effects. I have longer form videos and tutorials on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/@OfftheWallsFX) and shorter reels on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/offthewallsfx/), TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@offthewallsfx) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/OfftheWallsFX). It’s been fun to put together so far!

Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
I guess my wife has always believed in me.

When we met in college and I had lofty dreams of working in the industry, she didn’t bat an eye. She always believed that I would make it. When you think about the entertainment industry, It’s really daunting when you start thinking to yourself, “How in the world am I going to break into this business?” I had many moments over the years where I thought that it was never going to happen. But she was always there and always supportive.

After we got married and I said that we should to move to LA, she was down. She was nervous about living in such a big city, but she went along with it. I’m really glad she did because I probably wouldn’t be doing this if she wasn’t so supportive.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
There was a moment about 10 years ago when I tried to change careers. I was working at an effects lab and we landed a job from an independent production company. At the time, it was a decent amount of work for us and I was feeling that we might finally be turning the financially struggling lab around. The lab was paid for the effects that we created but unfortunately, what we didn’t know was that the production didn’t have the money for their on set payroll. This means that when we showed up for the 8 day shoot, none of the makeup artists were paid for the on set portion of the job.

It wasn’t just the makeup department not being paid, it was also the camera crew, costumes, the AD staff, props, the art department, etc. The entire crew worked for 8 days and wasn’t paid. To add insult to injury, the effects lab that I worked for ran into a financial wall and they had to seriously downsize the company. This meant that I was out of a job.

This one-two punch hit me hard. It felt like everything I had worked for the ten years post college was a total waste. This lead me to try my hand at another career. I applied to all sorts of different jobs and I never got a response. The combination of the stress of not having a job, the depressing nature of applying to jobs and never hearing back and having a family that depended on me was immense. On top of that, we had 3 year old at home and we were expecting our second child. This led me to making a bold / desperate move in trying to land something..

I reached out to a production coordinator friend of mine in the hopes of landing a production assistant job in a production office. I had a little production office experience so I was hoping that would help. He told me that they were all crewed up but they needed some makeup effects help on the project. After a little back and forth and through a round about sort of way, I ended up interviewing with the makeup fx key and landed a full-time position on an AMC TV show. I was shocked but thrilled.

Because of that opportunity and because of that show. I met local makeup artists and established contacts in the industry that continue to pay dividends to this day. I feel so incredibly grateful for the opportunity that I was given to me and I’m so happy that I just kept plugging away at things. Sometimes it takes life giving you a little (or in this case, a big) push to get through that next door!

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Is the public version of you the real you?
I like to think my public persona is pretty close to the real me. I’m generally a positive, happy go lucky kinda guy with a goofy sense of humor. Honestly, my kids roll their eyes at my dad jokes just as much as other makeup artists on set do.

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What are you doing today that won’t pay off for 7–10 years?
I mean this YouTube channel falls into this category. I really hope that this isn’t something that takes 7-10 years to pay off but I feel that building a channel and a social media following can be a slow burn.

That being said, the one thing that I have learned over the years is that every step you take in your career leads to unexpected places. So with that in mind, I’ve gotten into the habit of putting my head down and continuing to walk forward. By the time I look up and look around, it always amazes me that I get there and get to take in the view!

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.adamgwalls.com/offthewallsfx.html
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/offthewallsfx/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfftheWallsFX
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OfftheWallsFX
• Other: For a list of products used in my videos and where to buy them, check out my Linktree: https://linktr.ee/OTWallsFX