Will Smith moving production of new film out of Georgia over election law

[DonViejo]

BY JUDY KURTZ - 04/12/21 10:35 AM EDT

Will Smith says he's moving production of his latest thriller — in which he stars as a runaway slave — out of Georgia over the passage of a Republican-backed election law in the state.

"At this moment in time, the Nation is coming to terms with its history and is attempting to eliminate vestiges of institutional racism to achieve true racial justice," Smith and director Antoine Fuqua said in a joint statement through his media company on Monday.

"We cannot in good conscience provide economic support to a government that enacts regressive voting laws that are designed to restrict voter access," the pair said.

"The new Georgia voting laws are reminiscent of voting impediments that were passed at the end of Reconstruction to prevent many Americans from voting," Fuqua and "Bad Boys for Life" star Smith said.

Link to tweet

more
https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/547669-will-smith-moving-production-of-new-film-out-of-georgia-over

[Sibelius Fan]

1. Bravo!

[Lunabell]

2. Well done!

I hate it for the regular folks of Georgia, especially in Atlanta, but something must be done.

[meow2u3]

3. K&R for consequences for voter suppression laws

[maxsolomon]

4. Most of the Marvel films are partially made there.

The problem is, the GQP are motivated by spite as much as anything. Sanctions will make them dig in their heels. It confirms their victimhood.

[mnhtnbb]

5. I hope they move it to NC.

NC used to have a lot of movie production until the Repubs took control of the state legislature here and ran the movie industry out because of their obsession with bathrooms.

[littlemissmartypants]

29. Seems to be slowly recovering. We just had a group doing a shoot

Which lasted almost two months not too far from me here for the 'This Country' project. I'm hopeful.

This Country
http://imdb.com/rg/an_share/title/title/tt11447470/



❤

[mnhtnbb]

31. I used to run down to Wilmington pretty regularly about 15-20 years ago

Either going myself or taking my son when he was in junior high to be an extra on a shoot. Dawson's Creek always needed "teen" extras.

[littlemissmartypants]

32. That's awesome. I got to watch shoots with

Jennifer Hudson in The Secret Life of Bees and Melissa MaCarthy and Susan Sarandon in 'Tammy' it was so much fun.

Is your son still acting?

[mnhtnbb]

33. He ended up

at Yale School of Drama doing a masters in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism. That morphed into going for a doctorate in the same discipline. He's in the process of finishing his dissertation. Along the way he did some acting as an undergrad in college (both in English and in German) and went to Berlin for 10 months on a Fulbright scholarship to study German theater before going to Yale.

Now he says the coronavirus may have destroyed his career. There are NO jobs. He has one more year "allowed" on obtaining his doctorate, so he'll be back at Yale in the fall for the academic year during which they provide financial support, hoping that live theater will come back. He's been in Chapel Hill this year living with his partner working on his dissertation. His partner is a tenured associate professor at UNC.

It sucks. He turns 31 at the end of the month. Spent his 20's preparing for a career in academia/theatre and poof!

He has had a rough time. When he was in third grade he had a sudden loss of vision, which turned out to be Stargardt's Disease, a juvenile genetic form of macular degeneration. He sees with his peripheral vision, but is legally blind. Doesn't drive. He's never let it slow him down, but now, if live theater doesn't make a return, who knows what he'll do?

[littlemissmartypants]

34. Wow. I don't know what to say. Does he write? Tell him

Littlemissmartypants said to keep the faith and never stop believing in his dreams.
And that...

Sometimes when God closes the door, he forgets he left the window open.

I believe live entertainment is coming back. It has to. It's what makes us civilized. And who wants to live without sword swallowing, poi juggling, fire breathing, drum circles, belly dancing and poetry readings?

It's going to come roaring back because the pendulum always swings and in this case, wildly. He is going to have more opportunity than he can currently imagine.

Unfortunately, live performers of all sorts have been disproportionately affected by this pandemic and they/we are representative of the very stuff we need to help us cope in times like these.

What does he think of Bread and Puppet in Vermont?

https://breadandpuppet.org/

Has he considered teaching voice and diction? Or doing accent reduction consulting? It can be very lucrative once you get started and word of mouth starts generating leads for you. Doesn't require any fancy equipment and can be done remotely.

Non native speakers of English are a large contingent who are aware that they improve their chances of employment with reduced accents while being bilingual, which is already enhances their employability.

Gosh, thanks for sharing your stories. I wish I could come up with more. Please tell him that I wish him all the best.

❤ pants

[Fla Dem]

6. Tyler Perry has a whole Production Co in Atlanta.

[George II]

7. We've been wondering what Tyler Perry is thinking about all of this. I'm surprised he hasn't...

...made any public statements about it yet.

[hlthe2b]

8. He made a brief statement but nothing suggesting a halt to business there.

[George II]

9. I'll look for that. I see someone posted similar as I was typing my post. I would have thought....

....he'd be more outspoken.

[Dustlawyer]

21. His billion dollar studio is there, not just shooting a movie on location.

[Auggie]

15. I imagine it would an expensive move for an already established production ...

so I'll understand if any ongoing efforts remain in Georgia.

[Politicub]

16. Perry tries to play both sides here. If there is a statement, it will be generic

in nature.

[Deuce]

30. I tend to agree...

[joetheman]

10. Move to Virginia...they are trying harder. OR

Move to W. VA and employ the former coal miners and shut Manchin's face up. he would probably hate that.

Turn W. VA purple. A good livelihood never hurts.

[Cha]

27. Good Idea about Va.. I've asked about

where are they agoing?

Link to tweet

[Upthevibe]

11. Good for Will!

I called Tyler Perry's HQ in Atlanta but couldn't get through to a real person. I ended up leaving a msg. on a voice mail...

[malaise]

12. Well done Will

[KPN]

13. Kudos to Will Smith and director Antoine Fuqua. nt

[Corgigal]

14. Will Smith

said they are not going back. He’s putting his money where his mouth is. Good for him.
I heard him on Pod save America say that.

[PatrickforB]

17. Very good!

[Jay25]

18. Great! Losing money is the only thing that will get through to these asshats.

[Skittles]

20. excellent statement

well done, Mr. Smith

[rickyhall]

22. Will is the man.

[DENVERPOPS]

23. Awesome

A black guy running away from a state with a film about a black guy running away from a state.

IMO perfection!

[Bucky]

24. I wish Marvel Films would follow suit

[Cha]

25. Love Will Smith & anyone who's Fighting

FIRE with Fascist Drooling Scum of the Earth!

Go Nuclear on his their Nazi Shit.

[Cha]

26. Rt TY.. Tweet pic of Smith & Fuqua!

Link to tweet

Wonder where they're going? We knew this isn't Cheap!

[appmanga]

28. There are those who don't want boycotts...

...because "they hurt working class folks". I get that, but the only color that matters, especially to Republicans, is green. Those who vote for the people who create these laws have to be induced to make other choices. Asking them nicely doesn't work.

[calimary]

35. Thank you, Will!

Courage and leadership. And the willingness to take a stand.

Good to see. And such a contrast with the sniveling, conniving, cheating Georgia legislators and governor. Not only coming up with these hideous anti-democracy moves but to execute them in an attempt to cling to power and screw your state’s voters, and then signing it into law in secret, behind closed doors.