Bringing ‘Homeland’ home

More to know about Showtime’s upcoming series and its connections to Charlotte:

1. Domestic shots of the show were filmed in the Mountainbrook neighborhood near SouthPark, and other filming has taken place in a cabin on Lake Norman. Damian Lewis’ character lives in a one-story ranch home on Knob Hill Court. Production giant Fox 21 also rented space to film parts at the old Phillip Morris plant in Concord and at an empty Clariant plant which once made textile dye.

2. Why here? Fox 21chose North Carolina because of the competitive tax breaks the state offers the film industry. They picked Charlotte and the SouthPark area, in particular, because the architecture of the homes resembles homes in suburban Virginia, where the show is set. Parts of uptown Charlotte are a good double for Washington D.C.

3. “Homeland” is chock-full of some of Hollywood’s finest minds when it comes to thrillers. The show’s director, scriptwriters and producers have, between them, worked on Showtime’s serial-killer series “Dexter” and Fox thrillers “24” and “The X-Files.”

4. Stallings resident and professional makeup artist John Bayless worked with the cast during filming. Bayless’ prosthetic work on the HBO miniseries “John Adams” won an Emmy in 2008. Bayless’s resume includes dozens of television series, miniseries and movies, including “Cold Mountain,” The Prestige” and “Patriot Games.” Bayless’s wife, June, founded Matthews Playhouse community theater, and John Bayless helps build sets and do performance makeup at the Playhouse when he’s not working on another set.

5. “Homeland” is modeled on “Prisoners of War,” an Israeli TV series about two Israeli soldiers who return to their families after 17 years in a Syrian prison.

Read the full article CharlotteObserver.com