CFM News
THE CREATIVE COALITION AND LIBERATED ARTISTS PRESENT A PANEL DISCUSSION ON ADAM RIFKIN’S “LOOK”.
Article and photos by Suzanne Philips
Every time you step foot outside, a camera somewhere is recording your every move. An average American is captured on film up to 200 times a day – all without being aware of a thing.
Robin Bronk, Creative Coalition executive director
This is the basis of
writer/director Adam Rifkin’s (SMALL SOLIDERS, MOUSEHUNT) new film LOOK. The
film, shot entirely from the point of view of security cameras, documents
what people do when they don’t know that they are being watched.
The
Creative Coalition and Liberated Artists, a group of actors, writers,
directors, etc., sponsored a luncheon panel discussion during the 2007 AFI
Fest to discuss if the pervasive use of security cameras is an invasion of
privacy or a security necessity.
Moderated by MSNBC political analyst Lawrence O’Donnell, Jr., the panel
featured writer/director Adam Rifkin, Producers Brad Wyman and Barry
Schuler, Creative Coalition executive director Robin Bronk, Actors Tim Daly
and Richard Schiff and Jeff Marquart, Executive Vice President of Gavin de
Becker & Associates and a representative from the ACLU. Also in attendance
were LOOK stars Jamie McShane, Jennifer Fontaine, Kimberly Quinn and Rhys
Coiro.
Jamie McShane
ADAM RIFKIN: I got a ticket at a
red light camera and when the photo came in the mail, it was so clear. I
felt odd about it, almost violated. I started paying attention to where
cameras were when I went out. There were way more than I ever thought. I
wanted to spark a debate about being watched by cameras. Sometimes it can be
a good thing, sometimes bad.
RICHARD SCHIFF (Actor, “The West
Wing”): Being photographed and emails being read (by computer programs that
track email and website use) takes away the sense that we live in a free
society for me. If you take away the human element of negotiating ways out
of situations – negotiating and working your way out of situations is a very
basic human interaction.
TIM DALY (Actor, “Wings”): All of this stuff makes me really nervous. As
I look around the room today you can see audio recorders, digital cameras,
video recorders….When human beings see something on TV it becomes real to
them. It kind of backfired on us. This film LOOK makes audiences think about
the things we could have done that might have embarrassed on and might have
been captured on video.
ACLU Rep: There is very little evidence that the enormous amount of money
spent on cameras is actually helping to catch criminals or prevent crime. It
has been shown that increased police presence actually does more to
discourage crime.
JEFF MARQUART (Gavin de Becker & Assoc.): Most of the videos that turn out
to be the most controversial are usually captured by individuals, not police
or governmental agencies. Most people have video comers in their homes right
now. How are we going to manage the social questions and debates that arise
about individuals videotaping?
ADAM RIFKIN: In order for this film to work, we really needed to cast actors
who were less well known to make it believable. Lots of big name actors
actually called and wanted to do this film and we had to turn them down. All
of the actors have some credits to their name (Rhys Coiro is a semi-regular
on “Entourage” and Jamie McCabe has done episodes of both “CSI”and “CSI:Miami”),
but they are still not well known enough to take you out of the realism of
the film.
When people come out of the film…if they went in saying “There are too many cameras” I want them to be able to say “See this confirms what I was saying”, and if they went in thinking “There aren’t enough cameras” I want them to be able to say the same thing.
Rhys Coiro
This unique film is generating a lot of buzz already, so check it out for
yourself when the film opens on December 14, 2007. Get more info at
www.look-themovie.com.