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Michael Sheen and stars protest against government art cuts ...

Michael Sheen, Dame Helen Mirren, Julie Walters joined forces with other stars to write a letter to the government to protest against cuts to arts funding in Britain.

The letter, published in the magazine The Observer, Sunday, was organized by actors' union Equity. It comes after officials last year drew to a close, the UK Film Council, which financed the Oscar-winning films including The King's Speech, as part of a range of measures to reduce costs.

Harry Potter star Walters is also an appeal to Heads of Government to protect local organizations in the community arts and theater, adding: "This is where tomorrow will hit shows come from and where the stars of the future learn the trade we have become world famous for. Cut funding at the local level deprives a community of its cultural orientation and the public to come from a generation of talent. "

Before the last election, the government promised to pave the way for a "golden age" for the arts. The reality could not be further from that.With the reductions announced in Spending Review last year, the withdrawal of huge amounts of support from local authorities, the abolition of the British Council Film and financial pressures faced by arts councils and the BBC, we are currently facing the greatest threat to the funding of arts and culture have been known for decades.

These cuts are deep and affect not only those working and training in regional theater, independent arts, dance of the BBC, the British film, festivals and theater in education, but also those who have access to the arts through awareness and education programs, community and youth groups and social care. Nationally, the return of cultural investment is staggering. Performing arts and film industry contributes more than £ 7 billion to the economy each year. If we are serious about rebuilding our economy, culture should not be an easy target for cuts.

We must remember that many of our most internationally recognized artists and creative workers hired at Baftas, Oscars and Emmy started in regional theaters and small theaters.

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