Coming aboard Ozark in Season 3, production designer David Bomba’s challenge was to tap into the style established for the series’ first two seasons, while honing exciting visual elements that. Ozark is an American crime drama streaming television series created by Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams for Netflix and produced by Media Rights Capital. 1 2 3 The series stars Jason Bateman and Laura Linney as a married couple who relocate their family to the Ozarks for money laundering. Despite its name, the series is not actually filmed in The Ozarks, which may come as a surprise to fans. The series is set at the waterfront resort at the Lake of the Ozarks, but most of the. The Big Muddy Casino from Ozark was filmed in Savannah, Georgia Savannah is about a four and half hour drive from Atlanta. So it was surprising that they made the Missouri Belle filming in Stone Mountain but the Big Muddy Casino all the way in Savannah for Ozark. Whatever part of the Ozarks this is at seems sparsely populated. They don't need to make money from the casino to wash cartel cash but it has to look like a legitimate success to make this work. I don't see how they can clean $50-100M through that old riverboat every month like Marty was planning.

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Sometimes the setting of a film or television series can feel so integral that it practically becomes a character in its own right — and the name of the omnipresent un-sentient character in Jason Bateman's new Netflix show is right there in the title. But where is Ozark filmed? The geographical region is a visceral part of the drama series; like the fecund Louisiana bayou of True Detective or the sweat-soaked Florida Keys of Bloodline or the grimy Baltimore streets of The Wire. And that fact is all the more impressive when you consider the fact that none of Ozark was actually filmed in the Ozarks.

For those unfamiliar with the region, the Ozarks contain the biggest mountain range between the Rockys and the Appalachians, with the highland area situated mostly within southern Missouri. (Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas also contain portions of the region that decrease in size respectively.) The area is perhaps most famous for the Lake Of The Ozarks, a massive reservoir created by damming the Osage River, whose winding shape earned it the nickname 'the Missouri Dragon.'

Filmgoers outside of middle America may be most familiar with the Ozarks from the movie Winter's Bone, the indie drama centered within the rural region that earned Jennifer Lawrence her first Oscar nomination and launched her to worldwide fame.

Ozark creator Bill Dubuque — the screenwriter behind the Robert Downey, Jr. crime drama The Judge and the Ben Affleck crime thriller The Accountant — was inspired by a childhood spent working and living in the Ozarks. According to a profile on Dubuque and his show in the Springfield News-Leader, the writer was employed as a deck hand at the Alhonna Resort & Marina on Lake Of The Ozarks while attending school in the '80s. 'He was a good employee,' Alhonna owner Shirley Gross-Russel told the News-Leader. 'I think it's pretty awesome that he would take his teenage experience and turn it into something.'

Although Gross-Russel recounted to the News-Leader how the cast and crew visited Alhonna to research the location and the property, production for Ozark never actually took place in the Ozarks, ironically enough. According to the article, after studying Dubuque's former place of work extensively, the crew built a near-replica of Alhonna on Georgia's Lake Allatoona, a manmade reservoir (like Lake Of The Ozarks, appropriately) located about a 45-minute drive northwest of Atlanta.

The reason for choosing Georgia over Missouri likely has to do with the Peach State's attractive tax incentives for film and television productions. Those tax credits make Georgia one of the most popular shooting locations in the country — the state is perhaps most notable for being the home of the recently-constructed Pinewood Studios in Atlanta, where Disney has filmed every Marvel Studios movie since Ant-Man.

While it's clear that Dubuque and his crew are devoted to recreating the region's atmosphere as faithfully as possible, some residents of the actual Ozarks are skeptical about the decision to film a show called Ozark outside of Missouri. 'I think it is just going to glamorize the lake, make it look more like California than it is,' Tommy Taylor, the owner of a bar on the lake, told the News-Leader. 'Realistically, there is not really any drug cartels or money laundering going on.'

Other residents are more optimistic. 'I think it could expose all of the great things that the Lake Of The Ozarks has to offer to the millions of people who watch Netflix,' said Tim Jacobsen, executive director of the lake's Visitors Bureau.

To the show's credit, there was someon-location filming done — in Chicago, where Bateman's character lives with his family before moving to Missouri. But when it comes to all the scenes that take place in the Ozarks, well, as a character on Bateman's previous television series would say, 'It's an illusion, Michael.'

If you are on Facebook, then you are probably familiar with the following type of plea:

'Just finished watching (insert TV show here) and now I need a new one to binge watch! Any recommendations?'

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One of the most popular titles to turn up on those threads these days is Ozark, a Netflix series starring Jason Bateman as an accountant turned drug money-launderer who relocates from Chicago to the Lake of the Ozarks.

While the drama has introduced Missouri's magnificent lake to the wider world; It turns out the show wasn't even filmed there.

Minus a few fleeting scenes, hardly anything was shot in in the Show-Me State. Georgia's Lake Allatoona stood in for the Lake of the Ozarks during filming. (General consensus is that Georgia's generous tax incentives lured the production south.)

This may leave fans of the show wondering which state they should visit to get the proper Ozark experience.

The answer? Both. There are plenty of spots in each locale where you can follow in the footsteps of the Byrdes, Langmores and Snells.

The Blue Cat Lodge(Canton, Georgia)

The good news is there really is a Blue Cat Lodge. The bad news is it was only created for the show and isn’t technically open to the public.

The film crew commandeered a shuttered bar & grill on Lake Allatoona and turned it into the Blue Cat Lodge. Fans can still admire the Blue Cat from the outside, however, and maybe even pose for a selfie in front of the bar’s distinctive catfish-laden neon sign.

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Be sure to check out Little River Marina across the street, as this is the dock where the Langmore men work in the show.

Alhonna Resort(Lake Ozark, Missouri)

This lakeside resort in Missouri is the real Blue Cat Lodge. The creator of Ozark, Bill Dubuque, spent his teen years working here—doing everything from laboring on the dock to barbecuing for guests—and used it as inspiration for the Blue Cat Lodge.

You'll find boat rentals, a swimming pool along with a casual bar and grill called Bobber's where—just like in the show—you're certain to see Cardinal baseball games being broadcast in the summer.

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Bagnell Dam(Lake Ozark, Missouri)

The Lake of the Ozarks is a manmade reservoir, and the mammoth concrete structure that holds the water back is the Bagnell Dam.

Driving over the Bagnell Dam is the official 'I'm here!' moment of any trip, and the surrounding “strip” offers enough diversions to keep any Ozark fan busy for an hour or two.

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You will find arcades (complete with claw games, feats of strength and skeeball alleys), plenty of kitschy gift shops and even oddities like a giant fiberglass statue called Chief Bagnell here.

This area is featured in an early episode when young Jonah Byrde ill-advisedly wanders off on his own.

Jones Bridge Park(Peachtree Corners, Georgia)

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Inside this Georgia park, you will find the stream where FBI agent Roy Petty and Russ Langmore first strike up a friendship over fly-fishing.

It's a scenic and serene spot and if you bring your pole you can get out in the water and cast for yourself.

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Lover's Leap (Linn Creek, Missouri)

Perhaps the most iconic shot of the entire series, the Byrde's are perched on this scenic overlook gazing at the grandeur of the lake during the end of the first episode.

Long a local secret, if you head here you will get a fantastic vantage point over the Lake of the Ozarks and a small taste of what makes this place so special.