Adam Orton was born in Houston, TX and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He developed a love for cinema at an early age and began making films on the family camcorder. A passion for music also developed alongside his filmmaking, and he soon began writing music for his films. Orton eventually moved to Chicago to study film at Columbia College Chicago where his student short, "The Old Man's Road", shot on 16mm black and white reversal film, was selected as a winner of the audience choice award at Columbia's Take 1 student film festival. In 2011, he was selected to join the highly coveted directing practicum as director of the short film "An Honest Life."He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree (summa cum laude) in Film Directing from Columbia College Chicago and lives in Chicago with his wife (2013).