Arts Council outlines cuts plan

26 October 2010 Last updated at 07:25 ET

Arts Council England (ACE) has outlined a four-year plan to cut spending, with a 7% first-year reduction for regularly funded organisations.

ACE's budget is being cut by �100m between 2011 and 2015 as part of the government's Spending Review.

Regularly-funded bodies will be subject to cuts of 15% in real terms across the four years.

The body's fund which supports touring and audience development, is to be cut by 64%.

Chair Dame Liz Forgan said they were "severe cuts".

She added they were worsened by the fact that the majority of them are being implemented in the first two years.

Cultural bodies including the Welsh National Opera currently receive ACE funding to assist their tours across the entire UK, but it has not yet been determined how the cuts will be allocated.

Regularly-funded organisations are being asked to take on more responsibility in the field of audiences and touring.

Other areas that will see their budgets cut under the new proposals include money to promote the arts in schools as well as Arts and Business which will be no longer funded from 2012.

Colin Tweedy, the body's chief executive, called it an "extraordinary and potentially very damaging decision".

But ACE insists that working with children and young people will remain an "absolute priority".

Alistair Spalding, chief executive of the Sadler's Wells dance company said the cuts meant that planned building improvements would be postponed.

"I think it's going to be up to large organisations to help smaller organisations as much as they can," he added.

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Hobbit talks end without decision

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Thousands gathered to demonstrate against the moving of the film to another country

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Crisis talks between New Zealand's prime minister and Hollywood studio executives have ended with no decision on where The Hobbit will be filmed.

There is deadlock with Warner Bros over whether the Lord of the Rings prequels should be shot in the country.

Last month, acting unions threatened to boycott the films in a row over wages - damaging relations with Warner Bros.

It follows protests by thousands of New Zealanders against possible plans to move production of the films elsewhere.

Prime Minister John Key met 10 Warner Bros executives, including New Line Cinema boss Toby Emmerich, at his official residence in Wellington.

He said the talks were constructive, but the likelihood of the films remaining in New Zealand was still no greater than 50-50.

Mr Key said the sticking point was "unquestionably" the uncertainty in industrial relations.

"They [the executives] have a lot of goodwill towards New Zealand, but there's no question that the industrial action caused concern on their side.

"If it wasn't for the industrial action, they [Warner Bros] were good to go," he was quoted by the New Zealand Herald as saying.

He said the talks would reconvene later and that he expects a decision in the next 24 to 36 hours.

In a studio statement issued last week, Warner Bros said that the action by the acting unions had "forced us to consider other filming locations for the first time".

The three Lord of the Rings movies, which were all filmed in New Zealand, earned billions of dollars at the box office.

Filming on the two-part prequel is set to begin in February after it was finally given the go-ahead. British actor Martin Freeman was confirmed in the lead role of Bilbo Baggins.

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Gibson dropped from Hangover two

22 October 2010 Last updated at 03:29 ET

Mel Gibson has missed out on a cameo role in the sequel to the hit comedy The Hangover after objections from cast and crew, its director has said.

Todd Phillips said in a statement that he planned to cast him as a tattoo artist but did not have "the full support of my entire cast and crew".

Phillips said he and studio Warner Bros thought "Mel would have been great".

The decision follows the release of recordings of Gibson, 54, apparently threatening his ex-girlfriend.

"I realize film-making is a collaborative effort and this decision ultimately did not have the full support of my entire cast and crew," Phillips said.

A representative for Gibson made no comment.

Extortion allegation

The original Hangover film, about a stag party that goes awry in Las Vegas, took more than $467m (�297m) globally.

The sequel, due out next year, will reunite Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Justin Bartha.

Los Angeles police are investigating Gibson on suspicion of domestic abuse against ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, the mother of his one-year-old daughter.

Ms Grigorieva, meanwhile, is being investigated over claims that she tried to extort money from Gibson.

Neither have been charged.

On Thursday, a judge ruled that detectives could have unlimited access to Ms Grigorieva's computer.

She had sought a ruling to limit access to her machine.

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Firth welcomes ratings decision

22 October 2010 Last updated at 04:33 ET

Colin Firth has welcomed the British Board of Film Classification's decision to lower the rating of his new film The King's Speech from 15 to 12A.

"It's wonderful news," said the actor at the film's London premiere. "They did the right thing."

The film's UK distributors had launched an appeal after the BBFC rated it 15 for its use of strong language.

Tom Hooper's film shows King George VI being encouraged by a speech therapist to swear to overcome a stammer.

The BBFC said it had "applied its formal reconsideration process" and decided the language was not aggressive or directed at any person.

The film has been reclassified as 12A with the consumer advice that it "contains strong language in a speech therapy context".

Continue reading the main story

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It's a triumph for the fact you have to make a decision in context"

End Quote Tom Hooper Director, The King's Speech

Had The King's Speech been released with a 15 certificate, no-one under that age would have been allowed to see it.

Now, however, no-one beneath the age of 12 can see the film - out in the UK on 7 January - unless accompanied by an adult.

Speaking on Thursday night, Hooper said he was "elated" by the BBFC's move, which he called "a triumph for the fact you have to make a decision in context".

"I'm incredibly thrilled and incredibly grateful and I hope it means more people will go and see the film," he continued.

The director had earlier attacked the original ruling at a press conference for the film, saying "my head is in my hands about it".

Firth had also expressed dismay over the 15 rating, which was originally passed on 15 October.

"It would be very interesting actually for somebody to do a study as to who the people are that would complain about that stuff (bad language), before they would complain about the violence," he told reporters on Thursday morning.

It was subsequently reported that the BBFC had reclassified The King's Speech following the comments.

But the BBFC said the rating was changed before the press conference took place and that it had informed the film company of its decision on Thursday morning.

Actor Geoffrey Rush, who plays the monarch's unconventional therapist, said the swear words were "not [used] in any abusive or hurtful context."

The BBFC's language guidelines for a 12A release say that the use of strong language must be infrequent.

Helena Bonham Carter and Timothy Spall were among other cast members to attend the film's premiere, held in London's Leicester Square.

Bonham Carter plays Firth's wife - the future Queen Mother - in The King's Speech, part of whose funding came from the recently axed UK Film Council.

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Sopel breaks hip in scooter crash

21 October 2010 Last updated at 15:09 ET

Newsreader Jon Sopel has broken his hip in a crash on his motor scooter on his way to Westminster to front the BBC's Spending Review coverage.

The 51-year-old's scooter skidded on wet leaves and he fell on to the road on Wednesday morning.

Passers-by offered Sopel help but he thought his injury was not serious and continued his journey to Westminster.

It was only when the pain became unbearable that he headed for a central London hospital, he said.

"I thought I had just given myself a dead leg at first and that the pain would ease - but it didn't; it became unbearable."

In a statement the BBC said: "He was desperate to be part of such an important day in the political calendar, but instead went into surgery just as prime minister's questions were starting and came round after George Osborne had sat down.

"The operation was successful and Jon is now recovering in hospital.

"He has been told he will probably need several weeks to recuperate before returning to work."

Sopel presents the Politics Show on BBC One and presents on the BBC News Channel.

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