Marvel’s shift to the U.K. highlights a hidden cost of Georgia’s film crash: health insurance instability for workers

In recent years, however, Marvel has increasingly shifted its productions to the U.K. (1), moving away from Georgia as a primary filming base.

At its peak, the state's film industry supported more than 75,000 jobs (2) and generated more than $4.4 billion in annual production spending in 2022, according to state industry data (3) — making it one of the largest production hubs in North America, second only to California in some rankings (4).

But that boom is winding down, and the impact is increasingly felt not just in production volumes, but in something more fundamental — healthcare.

When film work stopped meaning stable healthcare

For years, Georgia's production surge created an uncommon kind of stability in an otherwise freelance- and contract-heavy industry.

More than 400 productions were active in a single year (2), creating overlapping schedules that let crew members move from one project to the next with little downtime.

In the U.S. entertainment industry, healthcare access is closely tied to work hours and earnings thresholds. Under major union plans, such as those covering film and television workers, eligibility for health insurance depends on meeting minimum annual earnings requirements.

For example, under plans like the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan (5), workers typically need to earn at least $28,090 (the 2026 threshold) in covered income to qualify. Essentially, that means piecing together enough work across multiple productions — not relying on a single employer.

When work is steady, coverage tends to follow. When it slows, the safety net starts to tear.

By the most recent fiscal year (2025) (1), Georgia's production spending had fallen to roughly $2.3 billion — nearly half its 2022 peak. The number of productions has also dropped sharply, from more than 400 to the mid-200s.

That drop doesn't just mean fewer jobs; it also makes it harder for workers to hit the thresholds needed to keep their health insurance.

Crew members who once moved from one Marvel production to the next are now facing longer gaps between gigs. Soundstages are sitting idle, and smaller vendors are seeing less consistent work.

The result isn't just a smaller workforce — it's a more fragmented one, where healthcare coverage depends on increasingly unpredictable schedules.

Why 'Hollywood of the South' started to unravel

The slowdown didn't come from a single decision. It was driven by overlapping forces across the industry.

The 2023 writers' and actors' strikes shut down much of the U.S. film industry for months, creating an estimated (6) $6 billion or more in lost wages and economic activity across production-heavy states, including Georgia.

Hundreds of projects were delayed or paused, cutting off the steady flow of work crews rely on. But the shift was already underway before the strikes.

Global film production had already moved away from its post-pandemic peak. Worldwide box office sales reached about $33.9 billion in 2023, down from $42.3 billion in 2019, reflecting slower recovery (7) and more selective greenlighting by studios.

That shift has reduced the total number of production days available — a significant change for workers paid gig to gig.

Inside the Walt Disney Company — Marvel's parent company — that shift was structural. The studio has reduced its output (8) and has increasingly relied on contractor-based labor. Rather than maintaining large permanent teams, production crews are assembled on a project-by-project basis.

That model reflects a broader reality in the industry. Estimates vary, but industry data (9) suggests roughly 55% of U.S. film workers are freelance- or contract-based nationally.

That change has had a significant impact on healthcare stability.

Contract-based work typically does not guarantee continuous eligibility for employer-linked benefits. Instead, workers must accumulate enough qualifying hours across scattered projects — something that becomes harder as production volume declines.

A different kind of film economy

Marvel has increasingly anchored its production in the U.K., where a different labor model changes the equation — including a publicly funded healthcare system that isn't tied to employment in the same way.