May 10, 2019

Actors and Filmmakers Are Refusing to Work in Georgia Because of Its Latest Abortion Restriction

“I can’t ask any female member of any film production with which I am involved to so marginalize themselves or compromise their inalienable authority over their own bodies.”

Alyssa Milano, left, delivers a letter to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's office detailing her opposition to HB 481 at the State Capitol Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in Atlanta.John Bazemore / AP

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Several filmmakers and actors are refusing to work in Georgia after the state passed a law on Tuesday that bans abortion after about six weeks gestation, when a fetal heartbeat can be detected, before many women even know they are pregnant.

Among the production companies refusing to shoot in Georgia are Duplass Brothers Productions, which produced the Netflix documentary Aspergers Are Us; Killer Films, which has produced several Academy Award-winning and -nominated films, including Boys Don’t Cry and Still Alice; and Blown Deadline Productions, which is owned by David Simon, the creator of The Wire.

Georgia has become a popular filming site in recent years, thanks to tax incentives that were implemented in 2008; earlier this year, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp estimated that the entertainment industry employs 200,000 Georgians and has generated more than $60 billion in economic activity in the state.

Popular TV shows like Sharp Objects, The Walking Dead, and Stranger Things have filmed in Georgia, as well as multi-million-dollar films like Black Panther and Avengers: Endgame.

Filmmakers have been tweeting their opposition to Georgia’s abortion restrictions.

Actors are also outraged by the new law, and some of them are refusing to work in Georgia as a result. Alyssa Milano threatened to quit the Netflix show Insatiable, which is filmed in Newnan, Ga. She wrote an open letter to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Speaker of the House David Ralston denouncing the bill—50 actors, including Mark Hamill, Sophia Bush, and Amber Tamblyn, have signed their support to it.

After Kemp signed the six-week ban into law earlier this week, Busy Philipps gave an emotional speech on her late-night talk show Busy Tonight about the abortion she had as a teenager.

“No bill that criminalizes abortion will stop anyone from making this incredibly personal choice, but these laws will put more women at risk,” Philipps said. “Every woman deserves compassion and care, not judgment and interference when it comes to their own bodies.”

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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