ATLANTA — More film and television studios are pulling the plug on productions in Georgia after Governor Brian Kemp signed the highly-controversial LIFE Act, also known as the "heartbeat bill" into law.
Executives like Christine Vachon of Killer Film and Mark Duplass of Duplass Brothers Productions have fired up a Twitter storm opposing the newly signed laws.
The measure outlaws abortion as soon as a doctor can detect a heartbeat in a fetus, limiting the window of time to approximately 6 weeks after gestation.
The bill passed the Georgia Senate on March 22 and has returned to the House for review of changes. The House voted 92 to 78 to approve the bill. The bill needed 91 votes to pass, so a single vote pushed it over the line. Lawmakers voted down a motion to reconsider action.
“Don’t give your business to Georgia. Will you pledge with me not to film anything in Georgia until they reverse this backwards legislation,” Duplass wrote on Twitter.
“Killer Films will no longer consider Georgia as a viable shooting location until this ridiculous law is overturned,” Vachon wrote in a statement.
"We filmed Catching Fire and Mockingjay there because Georgia has excellent crews, locations and production rebate that = more $ on screen. I love Atlanta but I’m more attached to a woman’s right to choose," chimed in Hunger Games producer Nina Jacobson, ColorForce Films.
Another Twitter user Helen Wheels replied to Jacobson tweeting, "So basically red state Georgia offered you tax incentives that lured you there. Stay in California, pay your fair share, support the policies you claim to believe in. Problem solved. "
Georgia’s booming entertainment industry significantly impacts the economy, with an array of television shows and films like Marvel’s “Avengers: End Game,” “Stranger Things,” and a host of other productions currently filming throughout its surrounding counties.
“We are the number one filming location of the world,” Lee Thomas, deputy commissioner of the Georgia Film, Music and Digital Entertainment Office, told 11Alive.
Governor Brian Kemp, Speaker David Ralston and Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Pat Wilson joined Georgia’s film industry leaders back in March for the annual Film Day at the Capitol to celebrate and recognize the importance of Georgia’s thriving film and television industry.
At the heart of that spending is jobs. The Motion Picture Association of America says movie and TV production is responsible for more than 92,100 jobs and nearly $4.6 billion in total wages in Georgia. Several hundred businesses have relocated to Georgia so that they can be closer to TV and film production here. The state has also seen hundreds of millions of dollars in studio space built here over the past few years.
Actress Alyssa Milano, who is currently filming the second season of Netflix’s hit show “Insatiable” has taken action with peers about this issue.
Milano along with 50 actors signed a petition against Kemp’s Bill.
The bill makes an exception for rape and incest, allowing abortion up to 20 weeks. But it requires women to file “an official police report…alleging the offense of rape or incest” in order to qualify for the later-term abortion.
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