Spike Lee insist that all Hollywood production companies leave Georgia over “heartbeat” bill.
What We Know:
- In May, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed a “heartbeat” law, making abortions illegal. The law states that women cannot have abortions after a fetal heartbeat is established, which is about six weeks into the pregnancy.
- Director Spike Lee has called for all Georgia-based production companies to ‘shut it down’. Lee’s goal is to boycott the booming industry in the state in order to hopefully create change.
- Many companies have established routes in the state and made a home for themselves. Because of this, many studios want to wait and see if the law actually goes into effect next year before making any major decisions. Big companies such as Disney and Netflix have also had reservations about working in the state if the law does indeed go through. Netflix currently films some of their productions in Georgia. Chief Content Officer, Ted Sarandos, said that Netflix would “rethink our entire investment in Georgia,” if the law went through.
- Sam thinks that it would be hard on the lives of those who work in Georgia based production companies to just move at a moment’s notice. Lee understands this but feels it is necessary. “I know it’s going to affect people’s livelihood. But that’s how things change, you got to be on the right side of history, and the state of Georgia and those other states, they’re wrong,” Lee told the Associated Press.
- If major production studios decided to relocate, Georgia’s economy would take a serious hit. The film industry gives Georgia’s economy a $9.5 billion boost annually.
This story is still developing as we have to wait and see what decisions are made if the abortion law does indeed go into effect.
