AMC Joins Disney, WarnerMedia, And Sony In Threatening To Leave Georgia If Abortion Law Passes [Updated]
By Hoai-Tran Bui/June 2, 2019 9:30 am EST
Disney may halt production of its films and TV shows in Georgia if the state enacts its controversial abortion law, Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger said.
A ban on abortion that Georgia’s Republican governor signed into law earlier this month has been cause for much uproar in the film industry, which has flocked to the state for an enticing tax credit offered to film and TV productions. But the abortion ban, which is due to take effect on January 1 if it survives court challenges, has caused several of the 455 productions that shoot in Georgia to pull out of the state. If Disney, which films many of its Marvel Studios productions like Avengers: Endgame and Black Panther in Georgia, were to pull its productions, it would be a major blow to the state’s economy.
Iger told Reuters it would be “very difficult” to continue filming in Georgia if the abortion law goes into effect. The Disney CEO finally broke the House of Mouse’s notable silence on the issue, which has shaken Hollywood since Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed a ban on abortion after a doctor can detect a fetal heartbeat — about six weeks into a pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant — into law on May 7.
“I don’t see how it’s practical for us to continue to shoot there,” Iger told Reuters in response to a question of whether Disney would keep filming in Georgia in the wake of the abortion ban. “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.”
Georgia has become a popular location for many film and TV productions due to a tax credit offered to companies that spend $500,000 or more on production or post production. As of 2018, more than 92,000 jobs and 455 productions currently reside in Georgia, according to the state and the Motion Picture Association of America.
However, Georgia’s anti-abortion legislation could soon lose the state its revenue stream. The loss of Disney in particular, which accounts for a huge portion of the Georgia productions, would be a major blow to the state. Georgia is one of eight states to pass anti-abortion laws this year with the intention of pressuring the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that established a women’s right to privacy in her choice to terminate a pregnancy.
