TO CREATE THE AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE AS AN

INDEPENDENT AGENCY

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1974

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SELECT SUBCOMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

OF THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR,

Washington, D.C.

The select subcommittee met at 10 a.m., pursuant to recess, in room 2175, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. John Brademas (chairman of the special subcommittee) presiding.

Present: Representatives Brademas, Lehman, Peyser, Sarasin, and Badillo.

Staff present: Jack G. Duncan, counsel; Yvonne Franklin, minority legislative assistant.

Mr. BRADEMAS. The Select Subcommittee on Education of the Committee on Education and Labor will come to order to continue hearings on H.R. 17021, a bill to establish the American Film Institute as an independent agency.

The Chair wants to observe that the bill was introduced in the House with impressive bipartisan backing, and yesterday we heard from a distinguished group of witnesses, and today we look forward to hearing from a number of other authorities in this field.

We shall begin our hearing with Mr. Ed Lynch, president of the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers, Inc., New York. Mr. Lynch, the Chair hopes his colleagues will trickle in as the morning wears on.

STATEMENT OF ED LYNCH, PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT VIDEO AND FILMMAKERS, INC., NEW YORK

Mr. LYNCH. We have put together a letter statement that we felt best reflected our particular concerns about the legislation. I would like to read it, but in view of the testimony at yesterday's hearing, what I would like to do is interrupt my reading occasionally and make comments that are more pertinent than what we have been talking about rather than just to continue the letter.

Gentlemen, the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers, Inc., would like to go on record against the proposed legislation H.R. 17021, that would set up a separate funding for the American Film Institute and remove it from the funding jurisdiction of the National Endowments for the Arts.

We feel that the effect of this proposal would be to give the new institute a favored position in the field without evidence that it has the support of the people in the field.

"(4) provide technical programming assistance to exhibitors throughout the nation in order to increase the accessibility of such films to the American public;" The experience of The American Film Institute at the Kennedy Center can be shared through technical advice and programming assistance to museums and universities across the country. The AFI can provide expert technical advice which can prevent costly mistakes in building and equipping facilities. There is increasing interest in providing first-class presentations of film classics in cities around the country, and there is a demonstrated need for professional advice and assistance which The American Film Institute is especially capable of providing.

"(5) provide for the appropriate recognition of extraordinary contributions to the art of film;"

In February of next year we will present the third Lifetime Achievement Award of The American Film Institute to an artist yet to be selected but whose accomplishments will compare to the previous recipients, John Ford and James Cagney. "(6) advise and assist educational institutions and other organizations as to methods of teaching and research, including workshops, conferences, seminars, and publications, relating to the art of motion pictures and television;"

An increasing number of universities and research centers are working in this area. The American Film Institute is presently, and will to an increasing degree, work with these institutions and provide advice and information.

"(7) solicit, accept, and dispose of gifts, bequests, and devises of money, securities, and other properties of whatsoever character for the benefit of the Institute, including contributions derived from National Film Day, theater ticket sales and American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award celebrations;"

This clause enables us to carry out our obligation to raise at least one-third of our budget from private sources. National Film Day is scheduled for February 4, 1975, and we will work with the motion picture industry to see that this becomes an ever-increasing source of revenue for the Institute. On that day, half of the receipts from participating theaters all across the country will be given to The American Film Institute.

"(8) obtain grants from, and make contracts with, State, Federal, local and private agencies, organizations, institutions, and individuals;"

This enables the Institute to make application to various organizations to receive grants or to carry out work on contracts. We are presently making a particularly strong effort to obtain supplemental funding for the conservatory in California from the Arts Commission in that state.

"(9) acquire, hold, maintain, use, operate, and dispose of any physical facilities, including equipment, necessary for the administration and operation of the Institute;"

This authorizes us to maintain our facilities, including our administrative offices in the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the AFI Theater in that building. Our facility in California for the conservatory is the former Doheny estate which we hold on a long-term lease from the City of Beverly Hills at one dollar per year.

"(10) appoint and fix the compensation of a director and such other officers and employees of the Institute as may be necessary for its efficient operation. The director and such other officers and employees shall be well qualified by experience and training in films or television to perform the duties of their office."

Compensation has been set by the private Trustees, and inasmuch the Institute remains a non-government organization, with one-third of the funds coming from the private sector, the Trustees should retain the authority to set the size, duties, and compensation of the staff. The Institute's staff presently num bers 85 employees, 50 of whom serve in our Washington operation and 35 of whom serve in California. This is down from the previous total of 107, which was the Institute's highest employment level, during fiscal year 1973. Our employees include administrative and financial personnel, theater and curatorial personnel, archivists and researchers, faculty and teachers, and technical personnel such as film projectionists.

The activities we are conducting form a large order for 85 people, but we have assembled a dedicated and talented professional staff. One virtue of this legislation is that it will signal to AFI's staff that The American Film Institute is here to stay. It has been difficult to keep top quality people in the face of the uncertainty which has plagued AFI for the last several years.

With the assured existence which this legislation provides, the AFI will seek modest increases for programming to enable us to fulfill the wide ranging needs and vast potential which I have described to you. I wish to emphasize again that the grant-making to institutions which has been originated by the Public Media Panel of the Endowment should continue to be the function of that organization, and we will not be seeking funds for those purposes. We do need dependable funding for our ongoing operations and programs and increased funding for those activities which the Administration and Congress judge to be appropriate.

As to our funding, we are not proposing a great change. We presently receive nearly two million dollars annually in government funds, and the present ratio of government to private money fits in with the ratio proposed in this legislation for not more than two-thirds of AFI's funds to come from government appropriation and one-third to be raised by the private sector. We do expect to propose some new programs for next year, particularly those which we call "Outreach." Those are the programs which enable AFI to bring its special knowledge, information, expertise, and films to organizations and the general public across the country. We know we will have to justify any increase in funding, and therefore the growth and expansion of The American Film Institute will have to be related to those things that Congress thinks are justified.

In short, we seek moderate but sustained growth and, most important of all, stability.

I assure you, if The American Film Institute did not exist, we would be searching for a means to invent it. We want there to be available for the American public quality in film and television. You men and women on this Committee know better than I that you cannot legislate quality in the arts. But you can create by legislation an institution which is devoted to nurturing quality by preserving and enlarging the appreciation of the great achievements of the past so that they may be a model for artists of the future; and at the same time encouraging that institution to provide training and opportunity for new professional people who can create, in their own way, and communicate to the American public.

The American Film Institute is such an institution, and it stands ready to continue to serve that function with the passage of this legislation.

EXHIBIT TO THE STATEMENT OF GEORGE STEVENS, JR., DIRECTOR, THE AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE

Under its proposed new structure as a nonprofit corporation, The American Film Institute would carry out activities which were assigned it when it was created by the National Endowment for the Arts in 1967. These activities are focused on the advancement of the art of motion pictures and television in the United States. The Institute functions as a national organization established for that purpose.

This summary describes the existing program and the planned activities of the AFI during FY 1975. The Institute's activities are grouped in three major program areas: Public Programs; Preservation, Research and Documentation; and Education and Training.

(1) PUBLIC PROGRAMS

The public programs of the Institute are those activities which relate most directly to the American public:

(A) Film Exhibitions

(B) Publications and Membership Services

(C) National Events and Fundraising

(D) Filmmaking Services

(A) Film Exhibitions

AFI Theater. The American Film Institute Theater in the Kennedy Center is the centerpiece of the Institute's public exhibition program. The theater is a unique facility which presents 400 different films a year (encompassing a wide variety of classic and contemporary works) to the general public and to AFI members. This 224-seat theater opened on April 3, 1973. Its construction was financed privately, primarily by a major gift from Jack L. Warner. The concept of repertory programing at the AFI Theater makes it comparable to a "national gallery of film." In addition to showing films which exemplify the broad history of artistic achievement, there are special educational programs for children;

historical series aimed primarily at college students; lectures by film artists, and, during the tourist season, special daytime programs are offered. Presentation of this program requires a curatorial staff as well as theater operating staff. Ticket prices are kept low to enable the broadest possible public participation and special fundraising programs help reduce the differential between income and expenditures.

The AFI Theater at the Kennedy Center serves as a laboratory and model of film exhibition programs and techniques for other localities.

Regional and Local Exhibitions. A collaborative program with museums and similar institutions across the nation has been in its formative stages since 1973. The Institute organizes touring programs and provides advice and assistance to film programing institutions in twelve cities. This network will be enlarged to include other localities and during the coming year the Institute will plan a special Bicentennial project which will involve a national celebration of the best films in the history of American filmmaking.

Fans of the AFI. The Fans of The American Film Institute was formed primarily as a support and fundraising unit. It is composed of interested volunteers in the Washington area who, in addition to organizing fundraising events, put on special educational programs for school children. This volunteer concept will raise at least $50,000 in FY 75 and serves as an example of volunteer effort for similar institutions in other cities.

(B) Publications and Membership

Publications and membership services provide a channel of communications with the general public. AFI's publications are primarily drawn from the actual programs of the Institute and serve to disseminate the research and knowledge accumulated in the various programs. Membership is available to the public at $15 a year and members are entitled to receive AFI publications and to attend the AFI Theater at reduced prices. There are presently approximately 6,000 members of the AFI.

Unfortunately, because of insufficient funding, the AFI has been forced this year to suspend the publication of its noteworthy periodical, the AFI Report. The Report was a quarterly which provided professional, as well as scholarly, articles and information on the film and television scenes. It is hoped that with a stabilization of the AFI's financial condition, the Institute will, again, be enabled to publish the Report with the same measure of equality attained in the past.

In 1975 the Institute will continue to publish:

(a) Dialogue on Film, a series of interviews with leading film artists from around the world, based on the seminars at the Center for Advanced Film Studies. Ten issues will be produced and sent to university film and television schools as well as to the AFI membership.

(b) AFI News will be published monthly providing general information about the Institute and about current developments in the film and television industries. Two new book projects are scheduled for the coming year: The Television and Film Annual will provide complete data on the year's activity in film and television in the United States; Who's Who in Film and Television will provide a much needed source of biography data on individuals engaged in professional or scholarly work in the media of film and television. Commercial publishers will share costs on both these publications.

(C) National Events and Fundraising

Three continuing annual public events which provide private funds for the Institute in FY 75 are organized by the Institute staff with heavy involvement on the part of Trustees:

(a) Award Dinner. The third annual Life Achievement Award Dinner will be held to honor an individual for a lifetime of accomplishment in film or television. This is becoming one of the prestigious national awards in the field and it is organized by a volunteer committee of California Trustees and advisors supported by the AFI staff. The dinner will hopefully generate approximately $150.000 in donations for AFI. The first award dinner in 1973 paid tribute to the great American director, John Ford. James Cagney was honored in 1974.

(b) Television Special. The Institute will produce a 11⁄2 hour television special on the Life Achievement Award Dinner for prime time broadcast on CBS. The Institute's seven-year option contract with CBS calls for payment of $330.000 in 1975, with escalation to $450,000 in 1979. Leading entertainment industry

figures such as Charlton Heston, Danny Kaye, John Wayne, and Jack Lemmon donate their services to the AFI television special, bringing about a substantial savings in costs. That the Dinner special has become a bona fide "media event" is demonstrated by a survey published in a recent issue of Variety. That poll shows that during the period from September 1, 1973 to August 31, 1974 the Dinner special honoring James Cagney attracted the ninth largest audience of the three hundred sixty-three prime time programs evaluated. Among the eight programs which out-drew the AFI special were three World Series Games, the Academy Awards program, the Miss America Pageant, the showing of the movie Airport, and the Waltons Thanksgiving Story.

(e) National Film Day. The second annual National Film Day will take place on February 4, 1975. National Film Day is a major collaboration which began in 1973 among participating theater owners and distributors, who provide 50 percent of their boxoffice revenue on Film Day to AFI as a contribution to its work. The President of the United States and governors and mayors from many parts of the country issued proclamations for the first Film Day, and the Institute anticipates an ever growing participation from the industry in this annual event. Revenue from the first Film Day was $85,000 and we project that FY 75 income will more than double that amount. In the first year over 4,000 theaters participated.

(D) Filmmaking Services

Filmmaking services refers to the Institute's capability in producing or contracting for such films as are appropriate to its function. The Institute is currently engaged in planning and research for a major Bicentennial film for showing in the Bicentennial year at the Kennedy Center and other localities.

(2) PRESERVATION, RESEARCH, AND DOCUMENTATION

One of the original reasons for the founding of The American Film Institute was to establish a point of national collaboration for the preservation of film materials of artistic and historical value. Related to it are projects of research and documentation on film and television.

(A) Motion Picture and Television Preservation

Motion Picture Preservation. The preservation of motion pictures is a major conservation project. The Institute established and coordinated a national program in 1967; and, in collaboration with the Library of Congress and other motion pictures archives and libraries, substantial progress has been made. One result is the AFI Collection in the Library of Congress consisting of over 12,500 films valued at $71.9 million. To help coordinate this effort the Institute helped establish the AFI Archives Advisory Committee. The Institute seeks out and accepts films of artisic or historic importance and makes grants to other institutes for the transfer of nitrate films to permanent acetate film.

Television Preservation. The Institute is presently setting up the structure for coordinating the preservation of television material under a plan similar to that for motion pictures. The Institute will, once again, coordinate its operational activities in this field with other interested institutions.

Artifacts. As part of its preservation program, the Institute has acquired a small number of historical artifacts which were in danger of destruction or loss. Some of these are on display in the Kennedy Center.

The Institute will continue to collect as many of these artifacts as it can handle and at the same time investigate the long-term needs in preserving the important artifacts of the history of film.

(B) Motion Picture and Television Research

The American Film Institute Catalog. The American Film Institute Catalog is a research project to assemble complete data on all motion pictures made in the United States. This project has been funded on a matching grant basis by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The first volume of this catalog Feature Films 1921–1930, has been published. It is a 1653-page, two-book set and contains exhaustive data on 6606 films. Feature Films 1911-1920 and Feature Films 1961-1970 are presently being researched and compiled on a computer for publication under the NEH contract.

Oral History Program. The Oral History Program is funded by L. B. Mayer Foundation at a level of $50,000 per year. Grants are made in two categories: Oral History and Research Associateships. The oral histories are extended interviews with film figures of historical importance and more than 40 of these have