Five production companies have announced that they plan not to film in Georgia after Gov. Brian Kemp signed the controversial heartbeat abortion law.
On Tuesday (May 7), Kemp signed one of the most restrictive abortion bills in the country, banning abortions after six weeks or when doctors can detect a heartbeat starting January 2020.
In response, various production companies are boycotting Georgia as a filming location – something that could seriously harm the state’s economy – according to the Hollywood Reporter.
CEO of production company Killer Films, Christine Vachon, announced on Twitter that the company will “no longer consider Georgia as a viable shooting location” until the abortion law is overturned.
Killer Films will no longer consider Georgia as a viable shooting location until this ridiculous law is overturned.
— Christine Vachon (@kvpi) May 9, 2019
David Simon, who runs Blown Deadline Production, also took to Twitter to announce the boycott of the state until “we can be assured the health options and civil liberties of our female colleagues are unimpaired.”
“I can’t ask any female member of any film production with which I am involved to so marginalize themselves or compromise their inalienable authority over their own bodies,” he wrote. “I must undertake production where the rights of all citizens remain intact.”
Can only speak for my production company. Our comparative assessments of locations for upcoming development will pull Georgia off the list until we can be assured the health options and civil liberties of our female colleagues are unimpaired. https://t.co/WTb0tj95zH
— David Simon (@AoDespair) May 9, 2019
Nina Jacobson of Color Force, the production company behind hits like Crazy Rich Asians and American Crime Story, agreed with Simon, saying, “Ditto.”
Ditto https://t.co/ArJ1EYxSco
— nina jacobson (@ninajacobson) May 10, 2019
Mark Duplass of Duplass Brothers Productions called other production companies to action on Twitter, asking them to pledge “not to film anything in Georgia until they reverse this backwards legislation.”
Don’t give your business to Georgia. Will you pledge with me not to film anything in Georgia until they reverse this backwards legislation?
— Mark Duplass (@MarkDuplass) May 9, 2019
Neal Dodson of CounterNarrative Films also put his company on the list of companies pulling out of filming in Georgia.
Add my company CounterNarrative Films (w/ #jcchandor & @annagerb) to the list. No Georgia filming on any of our projects until this law is gone. We’re with you @kvpi @MarkDuplass & @AoDespair https://t.co/KL4hFogV1y
— Neal Dodson (@nealdodson) May 10, 2019
Georgia gives tax incentives to production companies, giving up to 30 percent back, explaining why 455 productions were filmed in the state last year – bringing in around $2.7 billion in direct spending. Major projects like The Walking Dead, Stranger Things, and Black Panther were filmed in Georgia.
The pressure and potential economic threat coming from production companies, as well as potential challenges in court from groups like the ACLU, could get the law overturned before it even goes into effect in January.
Pregnancy and abortion don’t only affect straight cis women. In fact, bisexual and lesbian women are almost twice as likely to get pregnant earlier in life – before the age of twenty – than straight women.