In the wake of the anti-abortion legislation that recently passed in Georgia — as well as in Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, and others — there’s been questions about how the entertainment industry would react. Georgia has become one of Hollywood’s most frequented destinations. One of their favorite clients: Marvel, who films all the MCU titles — even the ones set in far-off Africa — in Atlanta.
So far Disney, who owns Marvel, has been quiet about its next step, even as Netflix has threatened to pull out of the state and other celebrities — including Amy Schumer, Jason Bateman, and Mark Duplass — have vowed not to film in a state with such restrictive abortion laws. Wednesday, Bob Iger, the corporation’s CEO, broke his silence, telling Reuters it would be “very difficult” to keep filming there.
“I think many people who work for us will not want to work there, and we will have to heed their wishes in that regard. Right now we are watching it very carefully,” Iger said. He added that should the law actually come into effect, he didn’t “see how it’s practical for us to continue to shoot there.”
Under Georgia’s new laws, abortion would be banned as early as six weeks after pregnancy, under what Governor Brian Kemp called the “fetal-heartbeat bill.”
Since the legislation passed, the state has already lost such productions as the Netflix show The Power, Kristen Wiig’s Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, and an upcoming movie from Ilana Glazer. If productions continue to pull out, it would be devastating to the local economy: Last year, 455 productions filmed in Georgia, while 900,000 people work in the state’s entertainment industry. And remember: At this point Disney owns a giant chunk of that industry.
