Spike Lee tells Hollywood to 'shut it down' in Georgia

LOS ANGELES — A filmmaker who once called Georgia home is joining the fight against Georgia’s new abortion law.

Director and Morehouse College graduate Spike Lee said the time to make a difference is now and called on Hollywood to boycott filming in Georgia in order to drive change.

[READ: Disney CEO: Filming in GA will be 'difficult' if heartbeat law goes into effect]

"They got to shut it down," Lee said in an interview along the Red Carpet in Los Angeles on Thursday.

He encouraged production companies not to do business in Georgia because of the so-called heartbeat abortion law banning abortions once a heartbeat is detected, which is around six weeks of pregnancy.

[READ: WarnerMedia, NBCUniversal considering leaving Ga. if abortion law goes into effect]

“I know it's going to affect people's livelihood. But that's how things change, you know?” Lee said.

The film industry brings in about $9 billion a year in Georgia.

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“If you boycott the state, those of us who live here, who would donate money to the ACLU or Planned Parenthood to fight this thing, we might have to leave to get another job,” film industry worker Sara Riney said.

[READ: Producer Ron Howard says he will boycott Georgia if abortion law takes effect]

Lee acknowledge that a mass exodus of film productions would hurt people living in the state, but he compared it to the civil rights movement.

“There were black bus drivers in Montgomery, and they were affected by the boycott, but so be it. You've got to be on the right side of history,” Lee said.

[READ: Peele, Abrams to shoot HBO drama in Georgia, donate fees to fight ‘heartbeat' bill]

It seemed to be almost a direct response to former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.

She said just last week, that elected officials are rejecting the voices of the people they are supposed to represent, and a boycott would hurt hardworking Georgians.

"If their voices are silenced, if they are not seen and not heard, then the policies that are passed do not reflect their needs," Abrams said.

[READ: Alyssa Milano, movie industry take 'Heartbeat Bill' fight to state Capitol]

She plans to go to Hollywood next week, to meet with movie and TV producers in hopes of talking them out of leaving Georgia.

NBC Universal, Disney, Warner Media and Netflix have said they would film elsewhere, if the abortion law takes effect.

The heartbeat abortion law is set to take effect in January.

Associated Press