Depending on your age or the amount of alcohol you’ve had to drink, you most certainly realize movies like Star Wars are not shot on location in space. Captain America did not actually level an entire building in Washington D.C while filming The Winter Soldier. Production crews were not sent on interstellar travel to the planet Jakku to document the escape of Rey in The Force Awakens. Most individuals believe that these big productions all take place in Hollywood but really…they’re filmed all over. One of these locations is Pinewood studios in Georgia, which is where the Marvel films Ant-Man and Captain American: Civil War were filmed. These films generally provide some very nice revenue for the state, with Ant-Man reportedly spending over $100 million during its production. The potential for future film revenue may be leaving Georgia at light speed due to a proposed new bill for the state, largely labeled as anti-gay.
This bill is known as HB – 757 and would allow faith-based organizations, pastors or churches to refuse to perform a marriage based on their religious beliefs. In other words if the church does not believe in same-sex marriage, they would be permitted to refuse to perform it. One of the problems that seems to be seen with the bill is the vague language in which it provides. While the main point seems to be these entities being able to refuse gay marriage, some experts believe the bill could also allow interracial couples or other religions to be refused as well. Regardless of where one may fall on the matter, Disney and Marvel are none to pleased. In regards to the bill a Disney spokesperson said this,
“Disney and Marvel are inclusive companies, and although we have had great experiences filming in Georgia, we will plan to take our business elsewhere should any legislation allowing discriminatory practices be signed into state law”
With the massive slate of upcoming films on the way from Marvel and Disney, that could be a huge loss in revenue with just these two companies alone…which they aren’t. Several other major corporations have also voiced their opposition to the bill including the NFL, Apple, Coca-Cola, and AMC. The Walking Dead, which is currently in its sixth season also films in Georgia and AMC have also released their own statement about the bill,
“As a company, AMC Networks believes that discrimination of any kind is reprehensible,” the company said. “We applaud Gov. [Nathan] Deal’s leadership in resisting a previous version of this divisive legislation and urge him to reject the current version as well.”
Governor Deal has said in the past that he would reject any discriminatory legislation but in the event the bill is passed, it could be pretty costly for the state of Georgia.
