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The current abortion ban in Georgia is shaking Peach State's thriving film and television industry.
Netflix said it would "rethink" the entirety of its investment in the state, where the streaming giant filmed its hit series "Stranger Things" and the next science show -fiction "Raising Dion" starring Michael B. Jordan. The law on abortion is promulgated next year. This is the first major studio to oppose the abortion ban imposed by Georgia earlier this month.
"We have a lot of women working on productions in Georgia, whose rights, as well as millions of others, will be severely restricted by this law," said Ted Sarandos, president of Netflix.
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content leader, said Variety. "That's why we're going to work with the ACLU and others to fight it in court. Since the legislation has not yet been implemented, we will continue to film there while supporting partners and artists who wish to do so. If this were to come into effect, we would rethink our entire investment in Georgia. "
See: Netflix will "rethink" filming in Georgia if abortion law comes into effect
It's the last heavyweight in the entertainment industry to draw a line in the sand – or, more accurately, in Georgia clay.
Earlier this month, Georgia's governor, Brian Kemp, signed one of the country's most restrictive anti-abortion laws, which bans the procedure once a fetus's heartbeat is over. detected, which can take just six weeks before many women realize that they are pregnant. . Georgia joins Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Ohio to sign recently these so-called "vicious bills" aimed at challenging the landmark decision of the Supreme Court, Roe v. Wade, made in 1973, which legalized abortion at the national level.
Now, many abortion rights advocates in Hollywood have avenged themselves by pledging to withdraw their film and television projects from the state. Georgia has become a film center known as "Y" allywood after setting up a 30% discount in 2008. This led to the construction of the 18 studios at Pinewood Atlanta Studios and 400 acres of backlot, where blockbusters like Marvel, owned by Disney's "Black Panther" and "Avengers: Endgame" from Cinematic Universe were filmed, as well as Lionsgate's "Lunger Games" trilogy. The zombie AMC shot the movies "The Walking Dead" in Senoia, Georgia. More than 300 new businesses have moved or expanded in Georgia to support the boom of the entertainment industry. And state officials estimate that 455 films and projects were completed in Georgia last year, injecting $ 9.5 billion into the local economy, including $ 2.7 billion in direct spending.
In fact, the film and television industry represents more than 92,100 jobs and total salaries of nearly $ 4.6 billion in Georgia, according to the Motion Picture Association of America, a professional association that represents the top five film studios at Hollywood. They include Walt Disney Studios
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, owned by Viacom
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Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures
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, the Comcast owned
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Universal Pictures, AT & T's
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Warner Bros. and Netflix. Georgia is now the third largest film and television production center in the country, behind California and New York.
Netflix was the first studio to announce the ban. Indeed, MarketWatch also contacted these studios, as well as Hulu and Amazon Studios
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plus Pandora Radio, which expanded its operations in Georgia. They have not yet responded, nor referred MarketWatch to the MPAA, whose chief spokesman, Chris Ortman, responded with the following statement: "The film and television production in Georgia supports more than 92,000 jobs and brings significant economic benefits to communities and families. It is important to remember that similar legislation has been attempted in other states and has either been ordered by the courts or is being challenged. The result in Georgia will also be determined by the judicial process. We will continue to monitor developments. "
Related: Nearly half of women who abort live below the federal poverty line
In other words, the MPAA plans to wait to see if the law will come into force next year. After all, North Carolina passed a "Toilet Bill" in 2016 prohibiting transgender people from using the bathroom of the kind they identify with, which led to boycotts that included including the cancellation by Bruce Springsteen of a planned concert in the state and Lionsgate.
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announcing that he would not do any more business there. The law was subsequently partially repealed in 2017 as a result of boycotts and public outcry.
Actors, directors and producers have made their voices heard more than studios about the heartbeat bill in Georgia. Actress Alyssa Milano, who was a leading activist in #MeToo, was among the first to call for a boycott of Georgia. "I will do everything in my power to get as many productions as possible – including" Insatiable "- to get out of this state that continues to put forward an oppressive and hurtful policy that contradicts all that the world stands for. entertainment industry, "she told The Wrap.
Milan also sent a letter to the governor of Georgia stating that she would never work in that state until the law was respected. This letter was also signed by the star of "Avengers: Endgame", Don Cheadle, Amy Schumer, Alec Baldwin, Ben Stiller and Laverne Cox. , Patricia Arquette and dozens of other celebrities.
Actor Jason Bateman, who plays in Netflix's "Ozark" show and in "The Outsider" of HBO, which are currently shooting in Georgia, told The Hollywood Reporter that he would boycott Georgia if the "law of the heartbeat" came into effect. "I will not work in Georgia or in any other state that is so much at odds with women's rights," he said.
While directors JJ Abrams (Bad Robot Productions) and Jordan Peele (Monkeypaw Productions) announced that they would continue filming HBO's "Lovecraft Country" in Georgia for the time being, they pledged to donate their salaries at the American Civil Liberties Union and Fair Fight Georgia reported. Governor Kemp's "Fertility Law" on abortion is an unconstitutional effort to further prevent women and their health care providers from making private medical decisions on their terms, "they said. a joint communiqué. "Make no mistake, it is an attack aimed outright and deliberately on women."
Related: Abortion bans generate donations for Planned Parenthood, the National Women's Organization, and so on.
Filmmaker Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer, who are touring Hillbilly Elegy in Georgia next month, also told The Hollywood Reporter that they would make a donation to the ACLU in the meantime, and planned to shoot projects. future in other states if this "oppressive legislation" will come into force next year.
Some smaller production companies, such as David Simon's Blown Deadline Productions, creator of "The Wire," Duplass Brothers Productions, Killer Films, and CounterNarrative Films have also criticized the ban and pledged to boycott the state. .
"I can not ask any female member of a film production with whom I am involved to also marginalize or compromise their inalienable authority over their own bodies. I must undertake a production in which the rights of all citizens remain intact. Other filmmakers will see that, "tweeted Simon. Nina Jacobson, producer of "Crazy Rich Asians" and "The Hunger Games," retweeted Simon, saying "Idem".
Kirsten Schaffer, executive director of Women In Film, told MarketWatch that the non-profit organization has compiled a list of states defending abortion rights offering tax cuts and incentives productive, including California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Nevada and New Jersey. , New Mexico, New York and Washington. "A woman's right to choose her body is fundamental to her personal and professional well-being," she said in a statement. "We support people who choose not to take their production to Georgia or to work in Georgia because of the draconian anti-choice law recently signed by their governor."
On the other hand, heavyweights like Tyler Perry, whose namesake studio is based in Georgia, have remained silent about it. And more than 2,000 women have signed the Change.org "We Work Here" petition launched by The Women of Film in Georgia, which asks people not to boycott the state. "It is with considerable frustration that we have seen our government and our current governor trying to circumvent our national laws and undermine the ability of women in Georgia to make their own reproductive health decisions," they wrote. Again, "[we] made career choices that allowed us to stay here where we built a community, a family, a home. "And they add that they really need" allies "on the ground in Georgia, who will join them to become" the resistance of the interior. "
Georgia's former governor, Stacey Abrams, has also asked abortion rights activists to help local reproductive rights organizations, instead boycott the state, which could hurt its citizens. She also tweeted to the actress Milano that "if we differ in strategy, we stand together".
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