Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1260764
H O M E L A N D | P E R S P E C T I V E 7 3 In its fourth season, Homeland abandoned cozy stages in Charlotte, North Carolina, and relocated to Cape Town, South Africa, on the other side of the globe. While the previous seasons used international locations, Israel for the pilot and season two, and Puerto Rico and Morocco for season three, season four would inaugurate a new format for the series, in which the writers would recalibrate and relocate each new season to reflect and exploit some soon-to-be news headlines. This new order launched in Cape Town, where an ample crew base and a vast landscape allowed the show to dream big. And thanks to the local talent and bountiful settings, this offshore production of Homeland was a success. Remarking upon how the show managed to squeeze all the Pakistan we could out of the Western Cape, a crew member exclaimed, "We sucked the marrow out of that bone!" Along with its important place in world history and its iconic status for humanity and culture, erlin also sports over one hundred years of film history rooted at Bablesberg Studios. It is believed that season five of Homeland was erlin's first foray into American episodic television. Crew orientation went something like, "You have no idea how fast and how far we are going to run!" and "This experience will not seem fair!" The Berlin Art Department and production team readily scaled up to meet the challenge, kicking things off with a -acre Syrian refugee camp and significant interior set builds. The show moved to New York City for season six with the "Beware of the freight train!" speech down pat. Not surprisingly, Local folks barely shrugged. Soon after a jaunt to Morocco and settling into a 4-out-of-5 borough footprint, the surprise result of the presidential election derailed Homeland's future-tense plotline. The writers rebooted midstream and handed down a whole new set of to-dos. It was about this time that the critical question of "Why?" was answered from the back of the swing truck, "because it's frickin' Homeland!" Season seven offered a slight respite as the production settled in Richmond, Virginia, with a DC storyline that was familiar to our Charlotte roots. Nonetheless, we were still receiving scripts that some would consider "un-producible." By now history proved that no matter how difficult the set list might be, we would be producing that script. Richmond got it done—with a short assist from the original Charlotte team, before the company left southern soil to shoot the season finale in udapest. Each season begins with the phone call, and Homeland's eighth and final season was no different. Prior to the call, there is little known about what story will be told, or where the shoot will take place. The writers incubate each storyline with a process that includes a lengthy meeting with America's intelligence community, asking them, "What is keeping you up at night?" I answered the phone, and executive producer Michael Klick revealed that the plot will be based in Kabul, and we will also need Moscow and Germany and Doha and the West Wing. All options were on the table, and our venerable scout-van family set forth to sort it all out. Various scenarios were conjured up, Morocco came to the forefront, and the West Wing set still standing in Virginia was held on to. While scouting Morocco, word came down that a US Army Combat Outpost (COP) in the Korengal Valley would also be needed. Malta and Jordan were also scouted to determine where the best options would lie. And the idea of additional locations was kept open, such as Europe and Dubai, and then "home" to Virginia for the White House. In the end Morocco was selected, with Casablanca (Kabul) as the show's base, including stage sets (requiring a West Wing re-build) and the Atlas Mountains for the COP. At this point, I learned that the mountain seuences would involve - Black Hawk helicopters. Jump-starting a season of Homeland is akin to standing on the edge of a towering cliff and jumping with your friends into a cold rushing river. It's been a most amazing adventure to fall, splash, and dog paddle to shore with these characters over the past many years and across many lands. Perhaps Homeland's best gift is the friendship and trust that A. US ARMY COMBAT OUTPOST (COP) STEEDLEY. CONCEPT ILLUSTRATION IN SKETCHUP AND PHOTOSHOP BY JOHN D. KRETSCHMER. B. US ARMY COMBAT OUTPOST (COP) STEEDLEY UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT RANCHO DELUXE.