Oscar Winning Filmmaker Oliver Stone To Direct 30-Second Anti-War TV Commercial

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Oliver Stone will direct a TV commercial as part of a campaign by MoveOn.org and VoteVets.org to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq. <br/><br/>The Oscar-winning director and Vietnam veteran

Friday, April 20th 2007, 3:48 pm

By: News On 6

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Oliver Stone will direct a TV commercial as part of a campaign by MoveOn.org and VoteVets.org to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq.

The Oscar-winning director and Vietnam veteran will direct a 30-second spot that will air in about three weeks on national TV. It will feature a U.S. veteran of the Iraq war or the family of a veteran discussing the war's impact.

``They're giving it from their personal experience, either being on the ground or being at home waiting for their mother, father, husband to come home,'' MoveOn.org spokesman Alex Howe said Friday.

Stone, 60, is donating his services, Howe said.

``We have leaders in Washington who say they're `supporting our troops' _ but the people who suffer most from their policies are the troops themselves,'' Stone said in a statement Thursday.

``I decided to participate in this project because, as a veteran, I know that America needs to listen to our servicemen and women. They've been there and they know what's really going on. They need to be part of this debate.''

The soldier or family in the commercial will be chosen from some 20 finalists by MoveOn.org members in an online vote. Video interviews of the finalists will appear on MoveOn.org's Web site and on YouTube.

``Stories from veterans and family members have poured in over the past few years and we wanted to provide a platform where they could speak directly to the American people and policymakers,'' said Nita Chaudhary, a MoveOn.org campaigner.

Stone won best director Oscars for ``Born on the Fourth of July'' and ``Platoon.'' He won a screenwriting Oscar for ``Midnight Express.''