Hollywood Celebrities And Production Companies Plan To Boycott Filming In Georgia After Controversial ”Heartbeat Bill”

Several independent production companies and Hollywood actors have vowed to boycott filming in Georgia after state Governor Brian Kemp signed what’s been dubbed the “heartbeat bill,” which bans abortions in the state once a fetal heartbeat is detected. 

The imminent ban on filming in Georgia will be pretty detrimental, seeing as the state has successfully provided the entertainment industry with tax incentives for the last few years, which has brought numerous film crews to the state, and in turn, created a local economy worth billions of dollars. 

Major television shows like AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead,’ Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’ and obviously FX’s ‘Atlanta’ are regularly filmed in the state, as well as scenes from superhero blockbusters like ‘Avengers: Endgame’ and ‘Black Panther.’ According to the official film office for the City of Los Angeles, FilmLA, Georgia holds claim to 17 out of 100 of the highest-performing U.S. feature films, coming in first place beating out California.

According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia has issued $800 million in tax credits in the 2017 fiscal year. The Georgia Performance Measures Report shows that the state also pulled in $9.5 billion in spending costs. It’s reported that more than 400 productions took place in Georgia last year alone.

Independent companies seem to be leading the boycott; first with David Simon, creator of HBO’s ‘The Wire’ and ‘The Deuce,’ releasing a statement saying Georgia would be pulled from its list of potential filming locations. Simon tweeted last week, “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.”

Actress Alyssa Milano, who is currently shooting Netflix’s ‘Insatiable,’ vowed to boycott filming in Georgia if the ban went through. In a statement to Buzzfeed News, Milano said she would not return for another season if filming continued in Georgia.

Famed creators Jordan Peele and J.J. Abrams, who is scheduled to begin shooting their new HBO show ‘Lovecraft Country’ in Georgia soon, released a statement saying they would be moving forward with production in the state but plan to donate all “respective episodic fees” to Georgia’s ACLU and Fair Fight Georgia, which are already preparing for a legal battle over the abortion law.

They released a joint statement saying, “In a few weeks we start shooting our new show, ‘Lovecraft Country,’ and will do so standing shoulder to shoulder with the women of Georgia. Governor Kemp’s ‘Fetal Heartbeat’ abortion law is an unconstitutional effort to further restrict women and their health providers from making private medical decisions on their terms.  Make no mistake, this is an attack aimed squarely and purposely at women.”