LOS ANGELES, May 12, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Hollywood producers have flocked to
the southern US state of Georgia in recent years, lured by its low taxes and
affordable lifestyle.
But the Peach State has offended many in the industry by passing abortion
laws that are among the country’s strictest — and the backlash is growing.
A coterie of film stars led by actress-activist Alyssa Milano, including
Alec Baldwin, Don Cheadle, Ben Stiller, Mia Farrow and Amy Schumer, had
threatened in late March to refuse to work in Georgia if it adopted the new
abortion restrictions.
But the state’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp, signed the bill into law
on Tuesday.
Several independent film and television production companies have since
pledged to boycott the state unless the legislation — which bans abortion as
soon as a fetal heartbeat can be detected, generally in the sixth week of
pregnancy — is rescinded.
“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,” said David Simon, the creator of several
successful TV series including HBO’s “The Wire.”
“Killer Films will no longer consider Georgia as a viable shooting location
until this ridiculous law is overturned,” the company’s CEO Christine Vachon
wrote on Twitter.
Actor-producer Mark Duplass chimed in: “Don’t give your business to
Georgia.”
– ‘Tooth and nail’ –
Milano, the onetime star of “Charmed” and “Who’s the Boss?” — whose
profile has risen as the #MeToo movement has taken hold — said she would
honor her March pledge.
“I will fight tooth and nail to move ‘Insatiable’ to a state that will
protect our rights,” Milano told BuzzFeed News, referring to her current
series on Netflix.
“I will do everything in my power to get as many productions as possible,
including ‘Insatiable,’ to move out of this state.”
She said she was contractually required to complete another month of
filming in Georgia, but added that she would leave the show if production
were not shifted elsewhere for subsequent seasons.
– ‘Blood money’ –
Georgia offers filmmakers and production companies a number of enticements:
a far lower cost of living than in Los Angeles, a variety of landscapes and,
since 2008, tax credits of up to 30 percent.
Blockbuster movies like Marvel’s “Black Panther” and “Avengers: Infinity
War” were filmed in the state; television series including “Stranger Things,”
“Ozark” and “The Walking Dead” have also been shot there.
Last year, more than 450 productions were set in Georgia, where they spent
the non-negligible sum of $2.7 billion.
But the new law could be a tipping point.
“I understand the tax breaks are terrific, the geography diverse, the cost
of living cheap… but by criminalizing abortion after six weeks, Georgia
Gov. Brian Kemp just turned the millions you save, and the billions you
infuse into the state economy, into blood money,” Los Angeles Times critic
Mary McNamara wrote in a column.
“Blood from all the women and girls who will now have to resort to knitting
needles and kitchen table ‘doctors’ to terminate their pregnancies,” she went
on.
– Caution from major studios –
The Writers Guild of America, representing screenwriters, said the law
would make Georgia “an inhospitable place for people who work in the film and
television industry.”
But the major studios — with huge financial stakes at issue — have
remained largely quiet.
Chris Ortman, a spokesman for the Motion Picture Association of America —
which represents some of Hollywood’s biggest heavyweights: Paramount, Sony,
Universal, Disney, Warner Bros. and Netflix — said the group would continue
to “monitor developments.”
“It is important to remember that similar legislation has been attempted in
other states, and has either been enjoined by the courts or is currently
being challenged,” Ortman said.
“The outcome in Georgia will also be determined through the legal process.”
The film industry, he added, supports 92,000 jobs in Georgia.
McNamara doesn’t buy that wait-and-see approach.
“Hollywood needs to leave now,” she wrote.