Adam Rifkin

Adam Rifkin (born December 31, 1966), sometimes credited as Rif Coogan, is an American filmmaker and actor. His career ranges from broad family comedies to dark and gritty urban dramas. He is best known for writing family-friendly comedies like Mouse Hunt and 2007's Underdog. Most recently, Rifkin directed The Last Movie Star (2017). Early life and education A native of Chicago, Illinois, Rifkin graduated from the Chicago Academy for the Arts in 1984, after which he moved to Los Angeles. He attended the University of Southern California for one year before dropping out. He then began writing scripts and collaborating with Brad Wyman. Career As a screenwriter, Rifkin has written several family-friendly movies. He wrote Knucklehead for WWE Studios, starring WWE star Big Show, Underdog for Walt Disney Animation Studios, Zoom, starring Tim Allen and two films for DreamWorks, Mouse Hunt and Small Soldiers. Continuing in the family film genre, he wrote the big screen version of He-Man for John Woo and 20th Century Fox. He also wrote the unused draft of Planet of the Apes in 1988. Rifkin's film The Dark Backward was named one of the top ten films of its year by The New York Post. He was then the director responsible for New Line Cinema's Detroit Rock City.