Adam Rifkin is one of those men in Hollywood who seem to be everywhere all the time. He is a director, producer, writer and sometimes actor. As a screenwriter, his biggest successes are “Mousehunt” and “Small Soldiers.” As a director, his biggest hit is “Detroit Rock City.” His latest release on DVD (May 5) is the award-winning movie “Look.” Released in theaters in 2007, “Look” examines how security cameras are monitoring us a great deal of the time. Filmed from the point of view of security cameras, “Look” raises difficult questions about privacy and security unique to our modern post-9/11 era.

Movie ‘Tudes recently got the opportunity to catch up with Adam and ask him about “Look,” his future projects and his past successes.

MOVIE ‘TUDES: Your latest release on DVD is the award-winning film “Look.” Please tell us a little about how this film came into being.

ADAM: The idea first came to me when I got a ticket from a red-light camera. I was driving through Los Angeles and apparently I had gone through a light and was unaware of it. The ticket was mailed to me along with a photograph of me running the light, singing to the radio and making an absolutely idiotic expression on my face. Quite embarrassing. But also rather unnerving, that someone could take a picture of me without my knowledge and mail it to my house. That got me thinking, what other cameras are out there taking pictures of me without my knowledge?

I started paying attention to all the cameras that were around. Little by little, I started to realize they were everywhere. I then did a little research and discovered that the average American is captured over 200 times a day. I also learned that in 37 states it’s legal to have hidden cameras in dressing rooms and public bathrooms. The private citizen in me started to feel a little paranoid, but the filmmaker in me started to get excited. Shooting a film from the thousands of surveillance cameras in a given city started to feel like it could be a pretty cool way to tell a story. At the same time I was noticing that every feature on the news involved some sort of surveillance footage as the cornerstone of their top story. I realized this wasn’t just an interesting way to shoot a movie but also a very topical issue to explore, and the timing was propitious.

MT: “Look” was amazingly filmed entirely from security camera viewpoints. What was that like to work with as a director and for your actors?

ADAM: It was an interesting and rather unconventional way for the actors to work because the cameras were rarely seen. Since our cameras were only placed where real security cameras were or would be, they often were out of eyesight. The actors were wired with radio mics and sent off into the mall or the bank, wherever else we happened to be shooting. They couldn’t see the cameras, they couldn’t see a crew, all they’d do is start saying the lines. We never closed down a location so anybody walking by had no idea a scene was being filmed, it just seemed like real people having real conversations. It got particularly fascinating when our actors would interact with real people, especially the scene where the woman is freaking out in the mall because her kid is missing. All those people in the food court are actual mall patrons. Their reactions, or lack of reactions, to the panic was chilling.

MT: In past interviews, you have said you are on the fence about the merits about how highly monitored our society is. What is the reaction viewers have expressed to you about “Look”? Are privacy or security groups using it as a rallying symbol?

ADAM: You’re right, I have said I’m on the fence about the issue, but that’s because I feel the issue is extremely complex. There are so many examples of how surveillance cameras can be beneficial, and conversely, so many examples of camera abuses. It would be impossible to sum up if cameras are all good or all bad in one 90 minute movie. I wanted to make a compelling character drama first and foremost, and at the same time raise the issue and let the viewer form their own conclusions about what side of the fence they may fall. The fact of the matter is, the cameras are there whether we like it or not, and their numbers continue to increase. We can either kick and scream about it, or alter our behavior so we don’t get caught with our pants down. Literally!

MT: You’ve had some really big hits in your career. I would think you could kick back a little and take it easy, but you’re one of the busiest guys in Hollywood-writing, directing, producing and even acting from time to time. How do you do it? What motivates you to keep pushing so hard?

ADAM: Nobody I know who loves what they do would ever consider kicking back. To me making movies is like sex, the more I do it, the more I want to do it. I absolutely love making movies! It’s been my dream ever since I was 3 or 4 years old, why would I ever want to stop? John Houston made movies into his 80s, Woody Allen steadily cranks out a movie a year and has been doing so since the 60s! The guy is 74! And Clint Eastwood is banging out 2 movies a year and he’s almost 80! I wanna be like those guys. I wanna be making movies until they have to pry the bullhorn out of my cold dead hand.

MT: What’s up next that we can expect to see from you on the big screen?

ADAM: I wrote a movie for producer and wrestling impresario Vince McMahon called “Sucker Punch,” a comedy set in the world of bare-knuckle boxing to star WWE star Big Show. That one’s coming out through Fox. I’m also about to dive into 2 TV projects for the 2 hippest channels on television, but until those are formally announced I’m not at liberty to discuss them. I also wrote a graphic novel that just came out through Boom Studios called “Shmobots,” it’s a comedy about slacker robots.

MT: One of my best friend’s all-time favorite movies is “Small Soldiers.” She became quite excited that I was interviewing you, and I promised to pass on the following: How did you come up with the idea for “Small Soldiers,” and what was it like to see it go from your computer to the big screen?

ADAM: Your friend has excellent taste! Actually, how I came to be involved in “Small Soldiers” was a very exciting moment for me. I had just written a screenplay called “Mousehunt” that Dreamworks had bought and was in the process of putting into pre-production when I got a call from Steven Spielberg’s office saying that he wanted to meet with me.

GULP! I, of course, was nervous, but curious as to what he could possibly want to talk to little old me about. A few days later I’m sitting on the extremely comfortable couch in his enormous office when he hurries in from having just come off the set of “Jurassic Park 2.” He proceeds to pitch me an elaborate idea for a movie about 2 warring factions of toys that battle it out for toy world domination, all in the backyards of some suburban houses. Luckily for me, the meeting was being tape recorded because instead of hearing any of what he was pitching all I could keep thinking was, “Steven Spielberg’s pitching ME a movie, Steven Spielberg’s pitching ME a movie!” After he’s done pitching he asks me if I’d be interested in writing it. As if I’d say no!

Anyway, that’s how I got the job. Once I was hired, it was my task to come up with all the details of the story, create all the toy characters and weave it all into a screenplay based on Steven’s concept. Seeing a movie on that scale go from idea stage to actual movie was incredible. Especially once I started seeing the toys come to life. That was the neatest part.