Hollywood mega-producers J.J. Abrams and Jordan Peele say they will film their upcoming HBO horror series, Lovecraft Country, in the state of Georgia, but they will be donating their profits to the effort to oppose the Peach State’s fetal “heartbeat” law that protects the life of infants in the womb.
Many denizens of Hollywood, such as activist Alyssa Milano, have been urging the film industry to boycott the burgeoning film industry in Georgia. But Abrams and Peele seem ready to go ahead with their plans to film there despite the calls to boycott.
J.J. Abrams, of the re-booted Star Trek movie franchise fame, and Peele, who recently re-booted the Twilight Zone series, will film the Lovecraft Country series out of Atlanta, Georgia, they affirmed. But they will do so “standing shoulder to shoulder with the women of Georgia,” the pair said in a statement, according to Deadline.
“In a few weeks, we start shooting our new show, Lovecraft Country and will do so standing shoulder to shoulder with the women of Georgia,” Abrams and Peele said in their statement. “Governor Kemp’s ‘Fetal Heartbeat’ Abortion Law is an unconstitutional effort to further restrict women and their health providers from making private medical decisions on their terms.”
“Make no mistake, this is an attack aimed squarely and purposely at women,” they concluded. “We stand with Stacey Abrams and the hardworking people of Georgia and will donate 100% of our respective episodic fees for this season to two organizations leading the charge against this draconian law: the ACLU of Georgia and Fair Fight Georgia. We encourage those who are able to funnel any and all resources to these organizations.”
Recent polls in the Peach State suggest that voters are closely split on the law. A poll from early in April, taken just before the bill was signed into law, found 49 percent opposing the law while 44 percent supported it. Another six percent had no opinion.
Some few film companies have signed onto the boycott. The Los Angeles Times notes that the response to the boycott has been mostly “muted.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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