Disney CEO warns Georgia abortion law would make it 'very difficult' to film in the state

Walt Disney Co. Chairman and CEO Bob Iger said he doubts the company will continue filming in Georgia. Photo / AP

Disney's chief executive, Bob Iger, said on Wednesday it would be "very difficult" for the company to continue filming in Georgia if the state's highly restrictive abortion law is carried out.

Iger's comments, made in an interview with Reuters, were the strongest sign yet that Hollywood could pull back from Georgia, which has lured television and film producers with generous tax breaks, but has also at times repelled the industry with its politics.

"I rather doubt we will" continue filming in the state, Iger said. "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."

Within a day, two other major media companies said that they, too, would reconsider filming in Georgia.

In a statement on Thursday, NBCUniversal said that if the Georgia law was upheld after legal challenges, "it would strongly impact our decision making on where we produce our content in the future."

WarnerMedia, the parent company of HBO, CNN and other major channels, sounded a similar note.

"We will watch the situation closely and if the new law holds we will reconsider Georgia as the home to any new productions," the company said in a statement. "As is always the case, we will work closely with our production partners and talent to determine how and where to shoot any given project."

This week, Ted Sarandos, the chief content officer at Netflix, had said the company would "rethink our entire investment in Georgia" if the law went into effect.

"We have many women working on productions in Georgia, whose rights, along with millions of others, will be severely restricted by this law," Sarandos said. "It's why we will work with the ACLU and others to fight it in court. Given the legislation has not yet been implemented, we'll continue to film there — while also supporting partners and artists who choose not to."

The law, signed by Gov. Brian Kemp on May 7, effectively bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, a time when doctors can usually start detecting a fetal heartbeat. Some women are unaware they are pregnant at that stage.

It is expected to be challenged in the courts before it is put into effect. Anti-abortion activists hope it could lead to the Supreme Court re-evaluating its 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalised abortion nationwide.

Dozens of celebrities have vowed to boycott the state, while others have said they would stay put but donate earnings to groups fighting the new law. Some productions, including the coming series "The Power" and a Kristen Wiig movie, have canceled their plans to shoot in the state.

In 2016, several major studios, including Disney, threatened to boycott the state if it enacted a bill that would strengthen protections for opponents of same-sex marriage, a proposal many in Hollywood saw as anti-gay. The bill passed the state legislature but the Republican governor at the time, Nathan Deal, vetoed the bill, averting what various businesses said could have been an exodus from the state.

Georgia has become a major filming destination in the last decade, bringing an estimated 92,000 jobs to the state and $2.7 billion in revenue. The state allows productions to claim a 20 per cent tax credit, as well as an additional 10% for using the state's peach logo in its closing credits.

Disney has shot several blockbusters in the state, including Black Panther and Captain America: Civil War. Netlfix's productions in the state have included Stranger Things and Ozark.

Written by: Daniel Victor

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