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Mr. MOORHEAD. Mr. Weller.
STATEMENT OF MICHAEL WELLER, PLAYWRITE, SCREENWRITER, AND MEMBER, WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA, EAST
Mr. Weller. I have got my remarks beginning with good morning, Mr. Chairman — I think it is afternoon now
Mr. MoORHEAD. Not quite.
Mr. Weller [continuing]. Members of the subcommittee, and thank you for sponsoring this hearing on legislation which, in my view, cuts to the heart of our system. That may sound like pretty big talk, but in my few minutes here I hope to suggest a reason why it isn't.
I am not Harrison Ford. I am not Sylvester Stallone. I am not even Tom Cruise, alas. What I am is one of the legion of folks who gives them things to say and stories to act in. My name is Michael Weller.
I am a writer, and I wear two hats. Wearing one, I write movie scripts; and I do this under the protection of the Writers Guild of America East. With the other hat, I write plays for the stage. This work is protected by the Dramatists Guild of America, on whose governing board I serve.
I have had luck wearing both hats. My plays have won awards and have been performed all over, here and abroad — most frequently, "Moonchildren," "Loose Ends," "Fishing," "Spoils of War." And several films I have worked on are held in high esteem — "Hair" and "Ragtime" in particular. I even won an Academy Award nomination. In other words, as writers go, I am a happy camper and a very lucky one.
The term writer has become so commonplace and the word artist so carelessly flung about in recent years, it might be worth a few seconds of your time for me to describe what I actually do.
I am a craftsperson, an artisan, a fabricator. I make things. Exactly the way a leather worker makes belts or a furniture maker makes a chair, I make stories. Instead of leather or wood, my medium is words. I shape them, cut them, polish and trim until I have made a story that feels interesting, durable and true.
We are here today to discuss the fate of what I make. I will address my main remarks to H.R. 989, the Copyright Term Extension Act, but I would also like to state my position and the position of the Writers Guild of America East on H.R. 1734 and H.R. 1248, the Film Preservation and the Film Disclosure Act.
I support any effort to protect my work and my colleagues' work from mutilation by future owners and exploiters.
I mentioned that I have written the screenplay of a film called "Hair." Let me relate briefly how the film came about.
It was because of the passion of one man, the director Milos Forman, a Czech. While living under a Communist regime, he visited New York. He was young, adventurous and penniless and ended up sleeping for several nights in Central Park where he was befriended by a bunch of people called hippies. The anarchy of those few nights, the joy, the friendship, effected him profoundly.
When he made the film "Hair" years later, it was his way of celebrating the spirit of freedom he felt that night, of sending a message home to his fellow countrymen still living behind the Iron