Virtue Signalling Hollywood Threatens To Boycott Georgia Over Heartbeat Law
Film production crews: “It’s not going to affect the politicians and the actors …. They’re still going to keep going to work in other places …. But with us here, it’s going to destroy us.”
Back in 2008, Georgia enacted a series of tax and production incentives that resulted in Georgia becoming known as the “Hollywood of the South.” Not only were the tax incentives appealing but union rules were also less strict than those in California (a factor in Vancouver becoming the Hollywood of Canada).
Now Hollywood is attempting to use its financial clout and cultural leverage to influence abortion law in Georgia by threatening to leave the state if Georgia’s new “heartbeat” law goes into effect. The list of Hollywood entities making this threat is quite extensive and includes Netflix, Disney, NBCUniversal, and others.
BREAKING NEWS: WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal become latest Hollywood studios to threaten to boycott Georgia – following Disney, Marvel and Netflix – over restrictive abortion law. The industry is worth some $9.5 billion and is responsible for more than 92,000 jobs in Georgia.
— Dave Vescio (@DaveVescio) May 31, 2019
The Hollywood Reporter reports that “Viacom, CBS, Sony, AMC, NBCUniversal and WarnerMedia Go Public Against Georgia Abortion Law.”
Georgia had to know what was at stake, so it will be interesting to follow how Hollywood’s blatant attempt to influence policy in the state plays out.
Hollywood threw down the gauntlet on Thursday in lining up and threatening to pull their business out of states that have adopted severe anti-abortion laws.
Billions of dollars in production are at stake. States and countries alike vie for their slice of the current content boom. But apparently no one counted on political pushback from the dream machine.
As of Thursday, nine media companies – Netflix, Disney, WarnerMedia, Sony, AMC, NBCUniversal, STX Entertainment, CBS with its premium cable company Showtime and Viacom – have now warned that they might pull their productions out of states that pass bills banning abortion.
. . . . The studios were still silent, for three weeks.
But as the abortion issue has gathered steam with unexpected force and speed in the past three weeks, as one state after another has signed its own version of a heartbeat bill — Louisiana, Alabama and now Ohio is poised to do so — Hollywood started to feel the heat from its own community.
That clearly led to the avalanche of opposition this week. One statement after another suggested that the media companies hope that the courts will solve the problem for them, but warned they would not work in states that enact these laws.
It may be true that many of these laws will not withstand a court challenge, as they are in open defiance of federal law.
But for the moment, Hollywood and the red states are headed for a showdown.
It is worth noting that this is little more than virtue signalling on the part of many of these Hollywood entities.
For example, the Daily Caller notes that Disney is threatening Georgia over its abortion law but still partners with China (which is currently holding Muslims in detention camps).
The Walt Disney Company is considering boycotting Georgia over its new abortion law, even as Disney profits from doing business in China, a notorious human rights violator that is putting Muslims in internment camps.
Disney CEO Bob Iger told Reuters on Thursday the company is likely to cease filming in Georgia if the pro-life law takes effect.
. . . . Disney apparently has no issue with doing business in China, which has undertaken mass detentions of Uighur Muslims, placing them in internment camps.
Disney opened a $5.5 billion resort in Shanghai, China, in 2016. Iger called Shanghai Disney the company’s “greatest opportunity since buying land in Florida.” Disney partnered with a state-owned company, Shanghai Shendi Group, for the resort.
Meanwhile, the Daily Caller also notes in another article, Netflix is continuing production in Egypt, where abortion is illegal in almost all cases, and in Jordan, where it is severely restricted.
Netflix plans to step up production in the Middle East, notably Jordan and Egypt, where abortion is illegal, after mulling a company boycott in Georgia on account of the “heartbeat” abortion bill.
Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, Ted Sarandos, stated, Tuesday, that the company would “rethink” its Georgia investments if the “heartbeat” abortion bill takes effect.
Netflix’s expressed reluctance to produce content in regions with strong anti-abortion laws seemingly does not extend to the Middle East, where recently the company has been ramping up the number of undertaken projects, according to Variety.
. . . . Netflix is working on its third Arabic original, titled “Paranormal,” Variety reports. The show will be based on a series of Arabic horror books written by Egyptian author, Ahmed Khaled Tawfik, according to Variety. The show will be produced in Egypt, where abortion is punishable by imprisonment in almost all circumstances, according to the Pew Research Center.
. . . . “Jinn” is a Netflix produced teen drama with supernatural elements that was shot in Jordan, according to Variety. In Jordan, abortions are “very restrictive” and only legal when it is deemed that the mother’s physical and mental health are at risk or fetal impairment is determined, according to Haaretz.
These companies do not want to pull out of Georgia; it’s a financially attractive place to produce their product.
Various actors have reportedly pulled out of productions scheduled to be filmed in Georgia, so this may contribute to the virtue signalling, but these actors are being incredibly selfish and not taking into account the thousands of people who work on film crews and will be deeply harmed.
Film production crews in Georgia are fighting back against Hollywood studios and actors who are proposing a boycott of the state after Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill that would ban abortions after a heartbeat is detected.
. . . . “It’s ultimately hurting more people than it is going to do any justice,” a 39-year-old best boy grip told BuzzFeed News about a possible boycott. The grip preferred to remain anonymous because, like many other staffers who spoke to BuzzFeed News, he was afraid of losing his job.
After moving to Atlanta to work in production and having spent the last six years in the TV and film industry, the grip is now worried about what a Hollywood boycott would mean for him and his family.
“It’s not going to affect the politicians and the actors,” he said. “They’re still going to keep going to work in other places like they always have. But with us here, it’s going to destroy us.”
Real lives, those of the unborn and of the non-elite “little people,” simply don’t matter to Hollywood. They are focused on their regressive ideology, their preening virtue signalling, and their unwarranted sense of self-importance.
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Comments
Waiting for these businesses to issue a statement stating that if you’re pro-life please don’t use their services or buy their products.
The solution is quite simple. Everyone who is pro-life needs to boycott the products produced by these 9 companies. Once their political activism begins to effect their bottom line they will quickly chance their tune. DO NOT SPEND YOUR MONEY ON PRODUCTS BY Netflix, Disney, WarnerMedia, Sony, AMC, NBCUniversal, STX Entertainment, CBS with its premium cable company Showtime and Viacom!
Conservatives, speaking in general terms, tend to be pretty forgiving and will look at entertainment as separate from a given actor’s or company’s political beliefs.
Personally, I have a rather long and ever-growing “No Buy” list, but I respect the choice of others to continue to spend their money on leftists who despise them because they appreciate their talent (or the convenience of a given product/service, and etc.).
I like being positive and have a “buy list” to reward the organizations that support my view point. But, I also note who is against my view points and adjust somewhat.
I hope there are some conservative organizations that try to increase their businesses in the red states to help those impacted by the decisions.
Great point, Liz! I have an unofficial “To Buy” list, too, with actors like Kevin Sorbo and Kirk Cameron topping the list. I seek out and buy whatever they are in, even if it’s not great stuff. I have to say, though, that I did enjoy Cameron in the Left Behind series.
The middle area for me is the actors who I know to be leftists but who don’t diminish or attack people who don’t think as they do. They’re all acceptable to me; it’s when they cross that line into activism and hate that I pull back my hard-earned dollars.
So, while I will not watch anything Morgan Freeman is in (or narrates, voice-overs), I am okay watching things with Sandra Bullock because she keeps her views to herself (though she does let things slip now and then, I don’t feel like she actively loathes America or we deplorables).
We all have our own preferences, of course, and that is what makes us both weak/ineffective and strong (in the ways that matter). We don’t mob think/boycott like the left, so our personal boycotts/buycotts aren’t as effective, but we don’t sell our souls to be with the “in” crowd, either.
There’ve been exceptions, of course, like when we all went all-in for Chick-fil-A, the NRA, even MyPillow, but mostly, we do our cultural boy- and buy-cotts individually. As God and the Constitution intended. 😛
Boy and buycotts are only effective when one side of the political divide does not care much about the activities of the other side. Otherwise, they tend to be watered down by the counter-activism.
Of course, that doesn’t stop the front-runners from feeling important and inflating their egos.
Oops, that should read CHANGE not chance
Sounds like a win-win to me. Georgia rids itself of abortion and Hollywood promises get out and stay out. I don’t see the problem. I wish they would get out of CA.
“”I wish they would get out of CA.””
They’re staying. Everybody else is leaving.
Only the most successful shows and expensive movies film in Cali these days. The union costs are exorbitant and the state’s taxes on production are crazy high. Lefties like Michael Moore and his ilk won’t film there because they don’t want to pay “their fair share” when they can film for less elsewhere (D’oh!).
Hypocrites? Sure. But the bottom line is the bottom line. Most shows start filming in Vancouver or Georgia, and then if it’s a hit, they can afford to move to Cali (to accommodate the spoiled actors who see earning $500K+ per ep as a hardship).
It was a joke. Get over yourself. Like all jokes, it has a grain of truth – California has lost a million residents, and more all the time.
Heartbeat?
Didn’t you get the memo? The preferred term is now “embryonic pulsing.”
Paging Mr. Orwell, paging Mr. Orwell.
First, the Hollywood loonies promised to leave the country if “W” got elected? We elected him. They didn’t leave.
Then they promised to leave the country if Trump got elected. We elected him. They’re still here.
Now they are vowing to stay out of Georgia if the abortion ban isn’t reversed? I think Georgia should get that in writing first. Make an official contract. Then sue them for breach of contract if they again renege.
The Hollywood narcissists have no clue what they believe.
Gee.. They’re saying that they MIGHT pull out. Call me when they make a statement that they HAVE pulled out.
You see, virtue signalling is cheap. Giving up tax incentives and production expense savings are expensive and its real money at that point. Yeah, and it’s the investor’s money.
Let’s see how this plays out..
Disney partnered with Shengi Shanghai Group. Shotgun marriage. The Disney folks are now in China’s backpocket. They’re wholly compromised by this “Florida of the Orient” deal.
Muslim detentions? The Party have been imprisoning, murdering and labor camping followers of Confucius since 1949. They labeled anyone with ancestry of wealth as capitalist roaders, struggled them, dispossesed them of all portable and non-portable property and pushed them out of five story windows or starved them at Detention House #00.
And the F’rs at Disney boycott Georgia? That takes nerve, backed by a lot of feigned historical ignorance.
Life and Death in Shanghai.
The money will win out over this publicity stunt.
They came here because it cost less and is much easier to do business.
The law will most likely be thrown out or severely restricted anyway and they can claim victory and keep doing what they are already doing.
Well. At some point we’ll find out who’s serious about dead babies.
Of course there will be costs. Only the socialists think anything worthwhile is free.
Okay, say they pull out of Georgia. Where are the going to go? New Mexico is courting them but we don’t have the infrastructure needed to support a huge influx and let’s be honest… any film or TV show filmed here is going to look like it’s in… New Mexico. We can’t replicate NYC or Paris like Atlanta or Toronto can. I’ve heard reports they’re looking at Alabama and Mississippi. Have they taken a look at their abortion laws lately? They’re not going to be able to bully either of those states.
My hope is that they can’t bully Georgia, either. If Georgia folds to this, it will establish a pattern going forward of outsiders vetoing the votes of the state. Not good.
That said, Georgia’s law is intended to provoke a Supreme Court battle, so it will be stayed until / if it gets there. Hollywood is virtue signalling at this point because it doesn’t think the law will go into effect (and it probably won’t).
It is now massively important that Florida pass a similar law. If AbortionDisney is anywhere near serious about any of this, all Disney properties will have to be taken down to bare ground [OK, swamp in most cases]. Disney cruises will have to base elsewhere. Of course AbortionDisney can fight back. I could see them doing abortion cruises on their ships with the abortions only taking place outside Florida waters.
Subotai Bahadur
God bless Georgia politicians for standing up for life. Of course they’ll get all kinds of shit for this, but they are on the right side of the real truth.
Heartbeat… the presumptive origin of consciousness from around the 5th week. The tell-tale hearts beat ever louder.
The hypocrisy of these entertainment people continues to astound me. Maybe Iger will better clarify his position by opening an abortion clinic in the magic kingdom. Perhaps a law is needed requiring an FBI like trigger warning before every movie reminding patrons that the makers of the movie support abortion so people know where their dollars are going.
I was going to post something about “pulling out” or “paying for diapers and diplomas” and … I’ll stop there. It’s all about responsibility and owning your mistakes as opposed to taking the easy way out (and in this context snuffing out a life).
Hell, in most states if you get caught whacking a pet, or even wildlife off season, you could end up in jail and face a stiff fine. Something is wrong with the collective values and morality of our nation.
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out
Michael Jordan
– says all people buy his shoes
– he has his beliefs
– but he does not go out of his way to insult 50% of his customers
More liberals should take a hint
Television and movie production is not going to leave Georgia any time soon.
In the first place, Georgia actually offsets nearly 1/3 of the production costs of shooting in the state. That is a big chunk of change. And, it gets bigger when you factor in the reduced production costs [cost of living, taxes and labor costs] realized by shooting in the state. Then you have the generally good weather in Georgia and the fact that you can find almost every type of outdoor location except desert and high mountains, within a two hour drive of Atlanta. And, then you have the fact that the people in the state are friendly and supportive of the industry.
No, the entertainment industry is not going to leave Ga anytime soon. This is just an attempt to look socially conscious and to appease the liberal talent wienies.
See, this is the root of the problem. When government interferes with the free market and creates artificial activity that would not naturally occur, it’s ripe for this sort of extortion. Those engaging in the artificial activity can decide not to, and where are you then? You invited the snake into your house; don’t be surprised when it bites you.
i don’t see what the problem is…
anyone put out of w*rk by the boycott, should it actually come to be, can always learn to code.
😎
I think the corporate world shouldn’t intervene in politics and politics shouldn’t intervene in the corporate world but it happens and it’s all about the money.
But what is the real problem to give women the right to choose for themselves? This is an honest question as I do not live in the US.