It seems that anytime a state enacts a law Hollywood does not like, be it pertaining to religious freedom or transgender bathrooms, the industry threatens a boycott. Now, because Georgia wants to protect the unborn, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has threatened to remove all Hollywood production crews from the state.
According to The Hill, the WGA East and West chapters announced on Tuesday in a joint statement that Georgia would become an “inhospitable place” for those in the film industry if the “draconian, anti-choice measure” became law.
“This law would make Georgia an inhospitable place for those in the film and television industry to work, including our members,” the WGA statement read. “If the Georgia Legislature and Governor Kemp make HB 481 law, it is entirely possible that many of those in our industry will either want to leave the state or decide not to bring productions there. Such is the potential cost of a blatant attack on every woman’s right to control her own body.”
HB481 passed the Georgia state Senate last week and seeks to ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected.
Should the WGA follow-up on its threat, the state of Georgia could indeed be economically impacted due to it being the third-largest production market in the United States behind New York and California. The Hill has more:
Blockbuster movies such as “The Hunger Games” and television shows like “The Walking Dead,” “Stranger Things” and “The Vampire Diaries” have been filmed on location in the state.
The state announced that a record number of 455 productions were shot in Georgia in 2018, earning $49.5 billion in total economic impact.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that more than $2 billion in tax credits have been given out over the past decade, leading to companies filming in the state and generating tens of thousands of jobs.
In an op-ed for Deadline, actress and notorious feminist Alyssa Milano, the woman who unapologetically referred to MAGA hats as the new white hoods, accused Georgia of forcing women into pregnancy, saying the bill would make it the most “regressive state in the country.”
“It should instead be called a ‘forced pregnancy bill’ — because it would outlaw abortion before a woman even knows that she is pregnant,” she said. “It’s the most anti-woman bill of its kind in the country, and it sends the exact wrong message about the kind of state Georgia’s leaders wish to create. In short, HB 481 would make Georgia the most regressive state in the country.”
She continued, “To Georgia’s leaders: You have worked hard to showcase your state and bring in filming projects that have had a multiplier impact on your state’s economy, but these projects are not a given. I urge you to think hard before making Georgia a state that is not welcoming of women. I urge you to defeat HB 481 and continue to be ‘The Hollywood of the South.'”
Georgia is, of course, not the only state to face a boycott from Tinseltown over conservative legislation. Earlier this year, Netflix announced it would be boycotting North Carolina for having the audacity to say that men and women should use bathrooms corresponding to their biological sex.